This Saturday the Bearcats (2-1) welcome in Big 10 foe, Indiana (3-0) to Nippert Stadium for their final non-conference game of the season where the Bearcats will look to make it 29 straight games won in Nippert Stadium, which is the second longest active streak in all of college football. The Bearcats traveled to Bloomington last season where they defeated the Hoosiers 38-24 behind a dominant second half effort in front of the Hoosiers largest home crowd since 1985, as this was one of the monumental wins last seasons for the Bearcats en route to the College Football Playoff. The Hooisers come into this match 3-0 on the season, but all three matches have been close ones as two of those have been decided by a field goal, including their Week 3 matchup versus Western Kentucky where the Hoosiers held on to win 33-30 in overtime at Memorial Stadium. The Bearcats on the other hand are coming off a 38-17 victory over Miami as they reclaim the Victory Bell for the 16th straight season.
“Now on to Indiana, this is going to be a great challenge for us. I know this is something I know we have looked forward to obviously getting them into our home stadium excited for Nippert Stadium to be rocking, in one of the tougher stadiums to play in all of college football and that is what I would expect on Saturday,” said Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell.
Let’s take a look at this weekend’s match however as the Bearcats are looking to make it 29 in a row at Nippert Stadium, but they know they have a great task at hand as Indiana is coming into this season 3-0, but have also seen some injuries plague their team early as there are reports surfacing that the Hoosiers will be on their third string center due to injury, which could mean the Bearcats defensive line have a field day in terms of guys like Jowon Briggs, Dontay Corleone, Jabari Taylor, Eric Phillips, Noah Potter up front as they can get to the back field and make Conner Bazelak in to some pressure throws which could result in the Bearcats getting some turnovers and we saw that in the past last season as Deshawn Pace came away with a huge interception late in the 4th quarter to seal the deal for the Bearcats last season after trailing as much as 14-0 early before completing the comeback to remain perfect in their historical season.
We have seen Ben Bryant throw the ball around a little more this season as he is 68-of-97 on the season completing 70% of his passes where he has thrown for 863 yards and seven touchdowns this season, but the Hoosiers are returning a secondary that consists of a lot of veterans from last season’s team, including the likes of Taiwan Mullen, Devon Matthews who play key roles in the Hoosiers secondary along with returning players like Jaylin Williams as well in that mix. The Bearcats are coming off a game where Bryant threw for 337 yards on the day, which was a season high, as he threw for three touchdowns as well to lead the Bearcats in their 38-17 victory over Miami. However, 225 of those were to Tre Tucker and Tyler Scott who combined for 15 catches for 225 yards and a touchdown as they became the first wide receiver duo to go over 100 yards each since 2016 versus Tulsa. However, expect the Bearcats to get the offense rolling early as they welcome a big to rival into Nippert Stadium execution and starting fast will be key for the Bearcats after a slow start versus Miami.
