The 2023 season for the Cincinnati Bearcats comes to a close Saturday evening with a home tilt against the Kansas Jayhawks. The introductory season of the Scott Satterfield era has been far from ideal, but the Cats can gain some momentum with a home win and head into the off-season on a high note. The 7:30 kickoff will be a night to honor the seniors and enjoy one last rendition of ‘Nip at Night’. Here’s a preview and keys to the game as Cincinnati tries to take down the Jayhawks.
2023 Finale: Cincinnati vs Kansas Preview
Kansas’ Big Picture
Kansas comes into this one with a 7-4 record, 4-4 in conference. It spent several weeks ranked in the various polls but has seen some major injury issues. Returning starting quarterback Jalon Daniels was the pre-season Big 12 player of the year. Daniels battled a back injury all season and only appeared in three games. Back-up Jason Bean played most of the year and did a solid job. He had the Jayhawks in a good spot until he went down with a concussion a few weeks ago. It’s since been Redshirt freshman Cole Ballard under center. It’s yet to be seen if Bean will be back against Cincinnati; it could be Ballard running the show again this week for Kansas.
Jayhawks on Offense
Ballard hasn’t been hyper-efficient since he got thrown into the fire two games ago. He has just 286 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions thus far. As for his pass-catching weapons, there are several names that contribute. Lawrence Arnold and Quentin Skinner are big-bodied targets for the young quarterback. Arnold leads the team in every receiving metric with 576 yards on 35 catches and three scores. Skinner has 23 grabs for 435 and two. Luke Grimm and tight-end Mason Fairchild are also weapons through the air.
With the current questions at quarterback, Kansas is going to rely on the run a lot. This is no problem for them. Running back Devin Neal is a hometown hero for Kansas and has become somewhat of a Kansas great. He’s nearing 3,000 career rushing yards, and if he has an average game of 100 yards, he’ll hit it Saturday night. He has 33 career touchdowns and over 500 carries. This season, he has 1,100 yards and 14 total scores.
Kansas is a high-powered rushing attack, with Daniel Hishaw as a very nice compliment to Neal. The sophomore running back has 574 yards on the year and eight touchdowns himself. Hishaw can play, and he and Neal are going to get their share on the ground. It’s vital for Cincinnati to keep these Kansas running backs in check as much as possible.
The Kansas Defense
The Kansas defense looks a lot like Cincinnati’s in a lot of ways when looking in comparison to the rest of the country. In many key stats, the teams sit very close to each other. They both hover around the middle of the pack out of the 133 FBS teams.
Linebackers Rich Miller and JB Brown anchor the linebacker position. Miller is second on the team in tackles with 54 this year. The run defense is probably the weakest part of this Kansas defense, which plays nicely to the hand of Cincinnati. It lets up 170 rushing yards per game, ranking 97th in the country.
The secondary for Kansas has some quality players holding it down. One outside corner is Mello Dotson, who has two pick-sixes on the year and clearly has nice ball skills and play-making ability. The other side is a familiar name for Cincinnati fans, but a different player with similar skills is another Cobee Bryant. Safeties Kenny Logan Jr. and OJ Burroughs are first and third on the team in tackles, respectively.
Kansas has some nice guys on the front four that can get to the passer. Edge rusher Austin Booker has eight sacks on the year and has a shot at rushing the passer at the next level. Jereme Robinson is his counterpart, and he has four and a half sacks.
Keys to The Game
Hold Against the Run
In a very similar way to recent games against the likes of UCF and West Virginia, both teams are going to run it. Neal and Hishaw lead a very good ground game for Kansas. Cincinnati gives up about 160 rushing yards per game, but that number is skewed by averaging 263 against in the last three. That includes a whopping 424 last week against West Virginia. Defensive linemen Dontay Corleone and Jowon Briggs, along with linebackers Jack Dingle and Dorian Jones, have to come to play.
Frustrate the QB
If Bean can go, he will. He’s the better option for the Jayhawks. Kansas head coach Lance Leipold did say that he anticipates him being ready, but it’s to be seen if it’ll be him or the young Ballard. This key is more prevalent if Ballard is back there, but getting pressure on the young quarterback can get the Cincinnati defense off the field quickly.
Play Like There’s Nothing to Lose (There isn’t)
This season has become a wash for Cincinnati. It’s the last game of the careers of many seniors who have done incredible things in the system. It’s not the way they wanted to go out, but there’s one more chance to go out and play. The year hasn’t been fun for Cincinnati fans; additionally, there hasn’t been much to root for on offense in particular. It would be awesome to see some big shots, more zero blitzes, and maybe even some trick plays. Something to make it a show for these seniors and fans that have stuck around for so long.
Outlook
This game means nothing for the season for Cincinnati. However, it needs to go out and compete. This off-season is going to be huge, and having a good taste in the mouths of coaches, players, and fans is crucial. With the transfer portal being so accessible, getting things in the right direction going forward is a must. Tight-end Chamon Metayer for Cincinnati has already entered and won’t be in a UC uniform again. This hurts the offense quite badly, and preventing any more of this starts on Saturday night.
Cincinnati comes in as home touchdown underdogs to Kansas in this season finale. It should be as lively an environment as it can be for a 3–8 team with a black-out, ‘Nip at Night’ crowd. We’ll see if Satterfield and Co. can end the season on a high note.
