After a dominating performance against Florida last weekend, the Michigan Wolverines are looking to build on that success this Saturday against Cincinnati at The Big House in the home opener.
The Bearcats come to Ann Arbor 1-0 after knocking off Austin Peay 26-14. The Governors have won one game total in the last four seasons.
Austin Peay actually outgained Cincinnati 313-248 yards, but turned the ball over twice. It was an uninspiring win for the Bearcats, who are now coached by former Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell.
Cincinnati went 4-8 last year with a win over its lone Big Ten opponent, Purdue. Tommy Tuberville stepped down as coach after the year, opening the door for the school to hire Fickell away from the Buckeyes.
Cincinnati redshirt junior quarterback Hayden Moore went 17-of-28 passing for 151 yards and three touchdowns after winning the starting job in camp. Senior running back Mike Boone ran 19 times for 100 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought Moore did pretty well and didn’t have any turnovers,” BearcatReport.com editor Jason Stamm said. “He probably could’ve had a little better start. I think they’re going to open the playbook with him a little more now that they’re getting more comfortable with him, and he’s getting comfortable with the offense. It was pretty conservative against Austin Peay.”
Stamm thought the Cincinnati coaching staff was trying not to open up the playbook too much because they didn’t want the Michigan coaching staff to have everything on tape, but that likely won't be the case this weekend.
Boone is the leader of the offense, taking over the running back spot opened up by Tion Green, who is currently a member of the Detroit Lions.
“I don’t know if he does anything really spectacular,” Stamm said of Boone. “But he’s solid and a pretty dependable guy. He gets the job done.”
He will be counted on to attempt to penetrate the Michigan defensive line, something Florida running backs were not able to do while rushing for a net of 11 yards.
Stamm noted if Cincinnati has any chance of winning, it’ll have to turn the game into a shootout, something that will be tough to do against Michigan’s defense. He explained the biggest positive for the Bearcats from game one is that the offense was able to hold onto the ball and not turn it over.
“If I’m Luke Fickell, that’s the thing I’m most happy about so far,” Stamm said. “They can’t turn the ball over.”
In the receiving group, sophomore Thomas Geddis is the player to watch. He is Moore’s favorite target, and caught four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown last week. He’s tall and skinny, standing 6-5 and weighing 185 pounds.
Michigan, while relatively healthy, has not said whether redshirt junior cornerback Brandon Watson will be able to play this weekend after being hurt in game one.
On the defensive side of the ball, Stamm said Cincinnati’s secondary is clearly the team's strength, holding Austin Peay to 89 yards through the air. However, the run defense allowed 224 yards to Governors backs, and will likely struggle against Michigan’s trio of fifth-year senior Ty Isaac, sophomore Chris Evans and junior Karan Higdon. The threesome combined for 220 rushing yards against Florida.
“The run defense has to get better,” Stamm said. “They have to control their gaps better than what they did against Austin Peay. Michigan is going to get its yards. There’s still work to be done on that defense.”
The Bearcats allowed 20 first downs, but were solid on third downs, holding the Governors to three conversions on 16 attempts. However, they struggled with fourth-down defense — Austin Peay was successful on three of its five tries.
“The secondary is definitely a strength, but they have work to do up front,” Stamm said. “They need more push. A lot of that is gap control.”
Junior safety Malik Clements led Cincinnati in tackles last weekend with a whopping 18. Sophomore linebacker Perry Young was second with 17, and senior linebacker Jaylyin Minor had 10. The team had just one sack, recorded by junior safety Tyrell Gilbert. Sophomore defensive end Bryan Wright added an interception and five tackles.
Cincinnati’s offensive line did not allow a sack or a quarterback hurry all game.
Stamm gave his prediction for the contest, a 42-10 Michigan win.
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