Hell is real.
The Bearcats learned that last time they trucked up I-71 to Columbus and they're about to learn again.
The good news for Cincinnati is that they have narrowly avoided a second Bosa brother who would have gleefully recreated what is almost certainly the most-gifed, and maybe the most iconic moment in Cincinnati football history.
The bad news is, the second Bosa has been replaced by a 6-foot-5, 265-pound mutant that goes by the extremely fitting nickname "The Predator."
But it won't be just him, the Silver Bullets are going to fly today, and they already have Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell – the guy who used to coach them – totally guessing. Because, you see, that scheme that held a top-50 offense to -14 yards in the first half was as vanilla as it gets.
As for the other side of the ball, I'll admit that Ohio State's offenses sputtered a bit after dropping 28 points in a single quarter, but that would still be more than Cincinnati's offense put up in 65 percent of their games since Luke Fickell took over as head coach.
One day, Cincinnati will win its first game against Ohio State since the addition of the forward pass, but it will not be this day. But hey, at least those players get to fulfill their childhood dreams of playing in Ohio Stadium and being coached by a Buckeye legend.
And I mean that – Fickell is a Buckeye legend. Cincinnati fans, enjoy him. You should. But in the back of your minds you'll always remember that he loves us more.
Word of the Day: Expunge.
THAT PREGAME FIX.
- Game preview.
- Depth chart.
- Five things to know about Cincinnati.
- Tyler Friday, Tyreke Smith and Rashod Berry are back.
- Coaches are feeling fine about the offensive line.
- Luke Fickell is staying "very unemotional."
- Newfound confidence for Baron Browning.
- Jashon Cornell is moving back to defensive tackle.
- Ohio State is looking to defend the 'Shoe
- Ryan Day values smart decisions at QB.
- Game trailer.
- Game poster.
- 10 reasons to hate.
- Roundtable.
- Across the Field.
- Mid-week notebook.
- The situational.
- Picks against the spread.
OH, THEY KNOW. Either the owners of this Cincinnati brewery are closet Buckeye fans or they're the most self-aware Bearcat fans I've ever encountered in the wild. Either way, it's incredible.
Peep the photo choice:
UC vs OSU watch party at Taft's Brewpourium Saturday! Kick off is at noon & each time UC scores a touchdown, all pints of beer are half priced until the next UC possession @BearcatJournal will be in the house, too! pic.twitter.com/2Czpa2y8Dr
— Taft's Brewing Co. (@TaftsBrewingCo) September 5, 2019
This brewery knows damn well they ain't giving out a single half-priced pint today and I have never appreciated a promotion more.
HERMAN TALKS BURROW. The showdown against Luke Fickell ain't the only matchup of once-friendly foes this weekend as Joey Burrow is taking on both the guy who recruited him and the guy who coached him when he plays Texas' Tom and Tim this week.
I don't think they'd ever admit to being scared of the Amish Rifle, but there certainly seems to be some concern amongst the Steers.
From Wescott Eberts of Burnt Orange Nation:
“I love Joe,” Herman said on Monday. “I recruited him. I got to know his family. He’s a coach’s kid — his dad is the defensive coordinator at Ohio University. He reminds me of our guy.”
On Wednesday, Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando echoed the thoughts of his head coach by doubling down on the comparison to Longhorns junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger, as did Beck before Orlando. But what is it specifically about Burrow that reminds the Texas coaches of Ehlinger?
“He’s physically, mentally tough, he’s uber competitive, he’s a leader among leaders, so to say you gotta pressure him, as with any good quarterback, you do, but we got DB coaches that are saying, hang on, can we cover him every now and, again, too, and give my guy some help. So you’ve got to vary the looks,” Herman said.
I have absolutely no idea how this game is going to turn out, but I know I'm going to tun the hell in.
I'M TRYING MY BEST, OKAY? So I went 1-4 last week.
Losses included: A Stanford strip sack touchdown to blow Northwestern's cover with 20 seconds left on the clock, Ohio State going up 28-0 in the first quarter and somehow not covering 27.5, and USC's quarterback tearing his ACL and fumbling inside the Fresno State 15 yard-line in the first half while up 10 points as a 13.5-point favorite.
But we bounce back!
Clemson -17 against Texas A&M
This line confused the hell out of me because folks, Clemson will be covering this by halftime (and continue to cover it throughout the game – I'm looking at you, Buckeyes).
I get that Texas A&M looked good and Kellen Mond played like a damn Heisman contender against *checks notes* Texas State. I understand that Trevor Lawrence looked rusty (in a game they still won by 38, by the way). I also get that A&M played Clemson tough last year.
I think this line is an overreaction to all of that. Clemson is the best team in the country right now and I think they showed that by winning by 38 and in a game where their all-god quarterback went just 13-for-23 for 168 yards with a touchdown and two picks.
Plus, the public bettors are SLAMMING Texas A&M with almost 80 percent of the bets going towards the Aggies. Yes, I'll gladly fade the public by picking the defending national champions.
Miami -5 against North Carolina
Again, this feels like overreaction to these teams' first games. I know Miami looked offensively anemic against Florida, but as a whole I think the Hurricanes honestly looked better than I expected. Jarren Williams played fine in his first real college playing time and North Carolina's defensive line ain't in the same galaxy as Florida's. Meanwhile, North Carolina beat South Carolina – which is also not a particularly great team – in a pretty ugly game. I'll take the Canes, especially coming off a bye week.
Michigan -22.5 against the troops
I don't want to do it, but this is just the right play. Michigan looked fine and Army did not look sharp at all against Rice, who just got crushed to Wake Forest. I wanted to see the upset, and was looking forward to this game all offseason, but I now think Michigan's going to roll in this one. And if there's anyone who doesn't give a damn about putting a beatdown on a service academy, it's the dude who relentlessly stalked a 10-year-old kid in a laser tag game so he could win and rationalized it by explaining that it "seemed part of the game."
Florida Atlantic +13 against UCF
Hey, I'll ride with Lane Kiffin and almost two touchdowns against a UCF team that wasn't tested at all last week. I think the Owls are better than they played last week and started to put it together a bit after getting punched in the mouth in the first quarter. I think there's more value in outscoring Ohio State for three quarters (even if it wasn't the first team) in a loss than dunking on a mediocre FCS team. I think Florida Atlantic will be more ready to play than the Knights. I'm not saying they'll win, but they won't lose by two touchdowns.
Tennessee -3 against BYU
This is my second pick of the day that I will be actively rooting against, but like, they aren't going to lose back-to-back games to pretty bad teams, are they? (I sure hope they are,
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. 73-year-old gives birth to twins... Forest grows in the middle of a football stadium... The story of cannibalism that came true... DNA findings suggest the Loch Ness monster might be a giant eel... A hidden Japanese settlement is found in the forests of British Colombia...
