The Mustangs come into this matchup averaging nearly 490 yards of offense per game and it all starts with senior quarterback Tanner Mordacai. Mordacai has completed nearly 61% of his passes this season as he has thrown for 2,015 yards and 15 touchdowns in the team’s first six games. Mordacai is currently ranked third in the nation in passing yards per game where he averages 336 yards per game, but as we all know it is no secret that the Mustangs like to sling the ball around the yard, but one guy that stands out on offense for the Mustangs along with Tanner Mordacai is senior wide receiver Rashee Rice. Rice is currently ranked 4th in the nation as he has recorded 49 receptions for 761 yards and four touchdowns on the season and has shown to be one of the top offensive threats in all of college football and is someone to keep a name on as Rice has shown his ability to be a deep ball threat as well as a very reliable target for Tanner Mordacai and has been a vocal point in Rhett Lashlee’s offense since taking over the head coaching duties before the 2022 season.
The Bearcats defense will have another tough challenge on their hands, like they did two three weeks ago vs Tulsa in the match up with Keylon Stokes, another top five wide receiver in all of college football through the first six weeks. Mordacai knew the Bearcats defense would be tough to get anything going offensively last season, but now that Sauce Gardner and Coby Bryant are off doing big things in the NFL I truly expect the Mustangs to come out firing on offense and look to attack the Bearcats secondary as the Mustangs are averaging nearly 35.5 points per game on offense and it all starts with the passing game.
The Mustangs however do like to attack the run game while in the redzone, as senior running back Tre Siggers leads the team with 60 carries for 229 yards and four touchdowns on the season. Siggers presence in the red zone could be an ultimate factor for the Bearcats defensive line which continues to be one of the best defensive line groups in all of college football, but we saw what USF did two weeks ago and the Mustangs are probably going to game plan a little similar to what USF did.
However, the Bearcats offense knows what they have to do to get back on track after a bye week which came at a perfect time especially seeing how many players exited the USF match due to injury at times. I expect this weekend to be a breakout game for tight ends Josh Whyle and Lenny Taylor as the Bearcats offensive is getting back to full strength. The Mustangs though however have some play makers on defense and let’s start with senior defensive tackle Elijah Chatman. Chatman, was a first team all AAC Preseason selection coming into this season and has been able to disrupt the quarterbacks through the first six weeks as he has recorded three sacks and four tackles for loss. Chatman was named to the Bronko Nagurski Watch List, along with the Outland and Rotary Lombardi Trophy Watch Lists coming into the season.
Another player that sticks out to me on this Mustang defense is junior linebacker Jimmy Phillips. Phillips is the anchor of the Mustang defense and has recorded a team high 34 tackles on the season to date. The Mustangs linebacker core is what makes their defense good as Phillips, Shanon Reid and Issah Salde-Matautia have recorded 89 tackles between the three of them and that shows the willpower their linebacker core has, so the Bearcats high powered offense knows that those three will play an immediate impact come Saturday.
The Bearcats lead the all-time series 5-1 as they have won the last three matchups with the Mustangs dating back to 2019 as the teams have only faced each other in American conference play as the Bearcats are looking to end the series on a positive note before making the transition to the Big 12 after this season.
