This afternoon the 23rd ranked Bearcats kicked off their highly anticipated season here at Razorback Stadium where they took on the No. 19th ranked Razorbacks in a Top 25 showdown to start the season. This is the first time the Razorbacks kicked off the season ranked against another Top 25 team since 1974. The Bearcats announced some news this morning as Pete Thamel of ESPN reported Ben Bryant would be the starting quarterback for the Bearcats, which was expected after having a tremendous camp. The Bearcats also got some massive news as junior center, Jake Renfro will be out for this contest, and fear is he may miss the 2021 season after suffering a knee injury ahead of this one, Renfro was a fundamental piece of the Bearcats offensive line that was returning all their starters from their championship team a season ago, a big blow for Luke Fickell and the Bearcats, but expect redshirt freshman Gavin Gerhardt to step in for the injured Renfro alongside Jeremy Cooper, Dylan O’Quinn, Joe Huber, James Tunstall up front versus a very dominant Razorback defensive line.
Bearcats quarterback Ben Bryant talked about when he found out he would be the starter for today’s contest.
“I found out at the end of camp just before our final scrimmage, right before family day. I think they felt like I had the better camp, that was kind of the main thing they were looking at. I felt like the whole team had confidence in me, coach had confidence in me, I think we started to get that good chemistry together the week we got back from camp. I’m just looking forward to getting better, and I think this team will do really good.”
The Bearcats defense, who was one of the nation’s best defenses in 2021, would be looking to find a way to keep K.J Jefferson in the pocket, after leading the team in rushing a season ago, while throwing for nearly 2600 yards, 21 touchdowns, K.J Jefferson is listed at 6’3″, 245 pounds. Coach Fickell knew the task at hand with a dynamic playmaker like Jefferson, as the Bearcats defense would look to keep the experience quarterback in the pocket and force him to make those tough passes and beat them with his arm, and not his legs.
“They led the SEC in rushing last year. He is very dynamic in what he does, he can throw the ball, he is a dual threat guy, not just to run, but to run you over.”
The Bearcats were battled tested early on the opening drive, after K.J. Jefferson found Matt Landers for a 17 yard gain, but the Bearcats defense would stand tall after a huge stop by Wil Huber on 3rd and 8 would force the Razorbacks to punt early, putting the ball in Ben Bryant’s hands. The Bearcats would move the chains after picking up a big 3rd down run from Ryan Montgomery on third and 3. Bryant would keep the chains rolling after escaping a collapsed pocket to pick up the first down with the help of the offensive line with a late push. The Bearcats first drive would end after a 38 yard gain from Jadon Thompson, would be erased after Bryant would try to squeeze a ball to Tyler Scott on the out route were Dwight McGlothern would read the route perfectly and take it back to the Bearcats 29 yard line. Bryant was 5 for 5 on his opening drive before the interception. The Razorbacks would then capitalize off the Bearcats turnover as Jefferson would take it in for the Razorback touchdown from 15 yards out to give the Razorbacks an early 7-0 lead.
The Bearcats would look to settle in here at Razorback Stadium after an early turnover gave the Razorbacks all the momentum after the early interception that resulted in a K.J. Jefferson, but the Bearcats were looking to respond, but they were forced to punt from deep in their own territory after a three and out after Bryant couldn’t connect with redshirt freshman Will Pauling who was wide open in the middle of the field before slipping. Pauling, a speedster for the Bearcats was looking to see a lot of targets come his way on the two drives. The Bearcats defense would stand tall though forcing a 3 and out, giving the Bearcats the ball at midfield after a shanked punt from Max Fletcher, the Bearcats would start to drive after a big penalty from the Razorbacks would set the Bearcats up at the 30. The Bearcats would have some opportunity to put some points on the board but failed to execute after kicker Ryan Coe missed a 25-yard field goal, after starting with great field position, the Bearcats couldn’t capitalize as they trailed 7-0 at the end of 1.
The Bearcats defense would stand tall to start the 2nd quarter after forcing a 3 and out, after a big time stop in the gap from Ivan Pace on Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, as the defense was holding their ground early despite the early touchdown run by Jefferson, the Bearcats defense wasn’t missing a beat. The Bearcats would come out and look to move the chains, after Bryant finds Tre Tucker in space, and the speedy wide out picks up 26 on the play, the Bearcats would take their first shot of the day at the endzone where Bryant would just overthrow a wide-open Tyler Scott, that could’ve resulted in a touchdown and flipped some momentum, but missed opportunities would continue to hurt the Bearcats early on, but would pin the Razorbacks at their own 3 yard line to start. The Bearcats would see their heart and soul of the linebacker room in Wil Huber slow to get up following a Rocket Sanders rush, where he would look to head to the locker room with trainers, so a huge thing to keep an eye on for the Bearcats moving forward.
The Bearcats defense continued to dominant the battle up front forcing Jefferson to throw the ball and limit him in the run game, but the Bearcats would look to find some momentum heading into the half where they rail the Razorbacks 7-0 with four minutes left in the first half. The Bearcats would look to get something going after Charles McClelland bounced outside and had a huge 35 yard gain to start the drive, and the Bearcats would face a 4th and 2 before Bryant connected with Will Pauling to keep the drive going late in the first half. However, the Bearcats would continue to leave points on the board after Ryan Coe missed his second field goal attempt of the game, this time from 48 yards out just off the upright.
The Razorbacks would capitalize off the missed field goal however, following a 37 yard rush by Rocket Sanders, Jefferson would connect with tight end Trey Knox on a jump pass for the touchdown to give the Razorbacks a 14-0 lead heading to the break. The story of the first half was missed opportunities as the Bearcats had many opportunities to make a game changing play but couldn’t convert, Bryant missed a streaking Tyler Scott for what couldve tied this game at 7 early, but also the two missed field goals hurt the Bearcats especially late in the half, where the Razorbacks would convert for a touchdown after the Coe missed field goal. The Bearcats defense has looked great outside that, Ivan Pace is showing why the Bearcats made him a priority this offseason once he entered the portal. The senior recorded five tackles, 1.5 of those for loss, as the senior was very disruptive early. On another note Gavin Gerhardt has stepped in very well for the injured Jake Renfro and has been a bright spot up front for the Bearcats offensive line that has only allowed one sack so far today.
The Bearcats offense would start to click to start the second half, after a 12 yard out route by Will Pauling started the momentum, the Bearcats would march down the field for the next 4 minutes shredding the Razorback defense. Bryant missed a wide-open Tyler Scott on an in route that could’ve resulted in a touchdown, but the Bearcats would stand tall after a Corey Kiner 5-yard touchdown run would put the Bearcats on the board where they trailed 14-7, as the local Cincinnati kid would get his first career touchdown in the red and black. The Bearcats were looking to establish a pass heavy offense early and it was starting to wear on the Razorback defense to start the second half. The Razorbacks would respond with an 8 play, 75 yard drive that started with a 29 yard completion to Rashod Dubinion, that followed with a failed flea flicker attempted, but Jefferson would eventually find Jadon Haselwood for a 19 yard touchdown the following play and the Razorbacks would match the Bearcats energy here to start the second half where they now lead 21-7.
The Bearcats offense would settle right back in though where Bryant would connect with Tyler Scott down the left sideline on a beautiful 30 yard catch, that would eventually free up Nick Mardner, the Hawaii transfer for a 35 yard touchdown to give the Bearcats some huge momentum to start the second half, where they came out firing as they looked to shred the Razorback defense and cut the lead to 21-14. Bryant was starting to settle in here to start the second half and it was starting to look like a whole new game, as the Bearcats were starting to rip open the playbook and look to be aggressive to start the half.
