This Saturday the Bearcats (1-1) make the trip down to Paycor Stadium where they will take on instate rival Miami (OH) RedHawks (1-1) in the Battle for the Victory Bell. Saturday’s contest will be the 126th meeting between both programs as the Two square off for the Battle of the Victory bell, as this rivalry is the longest FBS non-conference rivalry in all of college football, as the all-time series is tied up 59-59-7, where the Bearcats have won the last 15 meetings dating back to 2005 where the Redhawks defeated the Bearcats 44-16. The Bearcats are searching for their first series lead since 1915, which is 107 years ago, so the Bearcats know what is at stake, but this time they have some inside advice as linebacker Ivan Pace, Jr., was actually a member of the Redhawks the previous three seasons before transferring to Cincinnati this past spring.
“I have said it since the day I got here, rivalry is about respect. There is no greater respect that I got for this rivalry, the team will know and understand that and that’s the key. There may be a couple of guys who don’t know much about the rivalry, when they walked in the door on Sunday following the game Saturday, the first and foremost thing, the most important thing they understood is what rivalries are all about, and what this rivalry means to us and the program,” said Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell.
The Redhawks are coming off 31-14 victory over Robert Morris last week, but they saw starting quarterback Brett Gabbert go down with injury in the team’s 31-13 loss to Kentucky in Week One, which has forced the RedHawks to roll out Aveon Smith under center, Smith a redshirt freshman has only saw action in one game as a true starter and that was last week versus Robert Morris, where he led the Redhawks to a 31-14 victory behind a strong performance where he went 14-of-22 for 155 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Smith will have a huge task at hand with the Bearcats defense as they are coming off a weekend where they have created two forced fumbles, had two defensive scores after a Ja’Von Hicks pick-six, and a Jabari Taylor scoop in score in the teams 63-10 victory over Kennesaw State.
The Bearcats defense has been anchored by former RedHawk standout Ivan Pace, who was named the MAC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, where he finished with 125 tackles, which was good for 10th in the nation a season ago before deciding to come home and join his brother Deshawn in the heart and soul of the Bearcats defense.
The Bearcats however saw a couple players go down in their 63-10 victory over Kennesaw State, two of those guys were super senior Malik Vann and redshirt freshman Will Pauling, as we elaborated on earlier in the week both those guys are expected to miss extended time with injuries. Vann, returned to the Bearcats for his 5th season after battling injuries all of last season, was poised to have a huge year for the Bearcats and has now seen his season cut short once again by injuries.
