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Are the Cincinnati Bearcats for Real?
Our Resident Cincinnati Bearcat Expert Thinks So!
9/26/09
Some said that the University of Cincinnati Bearcats weren’t “that good” and
that they would be exposed by the Oregon State Beavers. Surprise, surprise; the
Bearcats became the first team to escape Reser Stadium with a win since 1998
last week. Their opponent this week will be the Fresno State Bulldogs, a team
that tried to go score for score with Boise State last week and failed. It’s
pretty safe to say that the Bearcats will win this game, but the Bulldogs have a
shot at covering the generous +16.5 spread, +17 a some
sportsbooks.
Tony Pike played like a future NFL QB last week against Oregon State. The senior
completed 31/49 passes for 332 yards and 2 TDs. He helped Cincinnati convert
5-14 on 3rd down and 1-1 on 4th down. WR DJ Woods showed that Gilyard isn’t the
only capable WR in town while catching 7 passes for 117 yards and a TD. He had a
long run of 45 yards. Gilyard wasn’t too shabby either catching 9 passes for 65
yards or a TD. Sophomore RB Isaiah Pead had 11 carries for 46 yards and a TD.
The defense did best of all, holding the potent Beavers offense to just 18
points.
The Cincinnati Bearcats (#14 AP, 3-0) have played exceptionally well this year.
Many pundits expected them to fade away after last year’s Big East Championship
and Orange Bowl appearance. However, it appears that they only got better. The
offense has been firing on all cylinders. QB Tony Pike has thrown for 923 yards
and 8 TDs thus far, and WR Mardy Gilyard has 6 TDs. Although Cincinnati will
take to the air more often than not, they have reliable runners in Isaiah Pead
and Jacob Ramsey. The defense has been very strong as well, holding Rutgers to
15 points and Oregon State to 18. That is amazing for a group that returned just
a single starter this year. Coach Brian Kelly will count on the defense to stop
Fresno State. There is no doubt that Cincinnati will score on the Bulldogs, so
if they shut them down offensively it will be game over.
The Fresno State Bulldogs played valiantly last week, but in the end the Boise
State Broncos proved too much for them. Boise State got off to a quick start in
that game and the Bulldogs were playing catch up most of the time. A late
explosion in the fourth quarter sealed the game for the Broncos. Fresno State QB
Ryan Colburn passed for 187 yards 1 TD and 2 INTS, but it was RB Ryan Matthews
that anchored the offense. The junior found the end zone 3 times on 19 carries
and picked up 234 yards. He will need similar production this week for Fresno
State to pull off the upset. The defense did bad, giving up 51 points. They were
simply overmatched.
QB Ryan Colburn will have to pick up the pace for Fresno State. The Bulldogs
need him to cut down on errors and to find open receivers. RB Ryan Matthews has
done very well thus far, especially against Boise State. He could find problems
with the Cincinnati defensive line, but I still expect for him to have a good
game on the whole. The Fresno defense needs to press Tony Pike and keep him on
his toes the whole game. Keeping him off balance and forcing him to throw INTs
is the only way they can win this game.
This game is an easy pick straight up; Cincinnati. However, I like Fresno State
getting 16.5 points. I’d buy the line up to 17. This is coming from a UC
student and fan. I love the Bearcats, but I’m not naïve. They are due to
have a flat game. This game has seen some two way betting action this far. The
infamous Dr Bob released this Fresno State as a strong opinion on Thursday Night
and the line immediately dropped to 15.5. But within the next 30 minutes, some
sharps saw some value laying the 15.5 and pushed the number right back up to
-16.5 and even -17 in a spot or two. We'll side with the good Dr on this one.
We'll take Fresno State at +17 or better.
If you're looking for more picks this week, be sure to check out all of our available options. We have a full service consensus report, a very popular service called the Consensus Club as well as a group of very talented handicappers picking games each and every week. We also have a sports monitor site which monitors all of the top handicappers in the land.
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