The Bearcats defense
The Bearcats defense wont be a concern heading into the 2022 season despite losing Sauce, Coby, Beavers, Dublanko, Cook, Brooks and Sanders. The Bearcats defense balled out today and really made it hard for Prater, and Bryant to get comfortable ibn the pocket. Look for Wil Huber to be the vocal leader in the linebacker room, as he looks to fill the shoes of Joel Dublanko and Darrian Beavers. Jaheim Thomas has also had a great spring and has shown a lot of promise here in the recent weeks. The Bearcats linebacker room has been a very dominant point early this spring, as Ty Van Fossen, Wil Huber, Deshawn Pace, Jaheim Thomas look to fill the linebacker slots, but also don’t forget on transfer Ivan Pace, the brother of Deshawn, he was the MAC Defensive Player of the Year a season ago, and will provide the Bearcats defense some opportunities to really change some things schematically and create problems for opposing teams. I don’t think Kerry Coombs really has to worry about the defensive backs, as Taj Ward, Todd Bumphis, Justin Harris, and Arquon Bush are the names to keep an eye on for the Blackcats secondary. Kerry Coombs returning to Cincinnati, is going to be something fun to watch this season and Bearcats fans are happy as can be to have him back in his hometown of Cincinnati. The Bearcats were led by Jabari Taylor on the defensive line. Along with guys like Eric Phillips, Jowon Briggs, who are stepping in for the guys like Curtis Brooks, and Myjai Sanders who played a huge role for the Bearcats defense the last two seasons en route to the College Football Playoff.
Kicking Game
The Bearcats struggled in 2021 in the kicking game as kicker Cole Smith was able to convert on just 50% of his field goals in 2021 despite battling injury, the Bearcats converted on roughly 44% of their field goals last season, which led to the Bearcats attacking the transfer portal as they landed former Delaware Kicker Ryan Coe. Coe, has been a bright spot early on camp as he has a strong leg, as the 6-foot-3 senior was knocking them down from anywhere between 48-52 yards this spring. Which is a huge need for the Bearcats as they saw themselves leave a lot of points on the field last season due to the kicking game. Coe is coming off a year where he knocked down 14-of-17 FG’s with his longest being 53 yards back on September 18th in Delawares 45-13 loss to Rutgers. Coe will provide some great opportunities for the Bearcats offensively and looks to be the clear starting kicker here in spring camp. Coe, nailed a 48 yarder to end the spring game on Saturday.
