Cougars look to spoil Bearcats’ CFP dreams
CINCINNATI — The University of Houston is all that stands between Cincinnati and a date with history.
The stakes are high Saturday in the American Athletic Conference championship game at sold-out Nippert Stadium (3 p.m., ABC), as the No. 21 Cougars (11-1) will look to play the spoiler role and derail the fourth-ranked Bearcats’ bid for a 13-0 season and spot in the four-team College Football Playoff. Even for a program that began playing football in 1885 and had two national championships in the early 1960s, this is one of the biggest games in Cincinnati history.
“They are in elite company when you are talking about the top four College Football Playoff teams,” UH coach Dana Holgorsen said. “They’re in right now. We’ve got our hands full.”
Since a season-opening loss to Texas Tech, UH has been one of the hottest teams in the country with 11 straight wins. A victory Saturday would secure a spot in a New Year’s Six game, likely the Fiesta Bowl.
This is the second straight AAC championship game appearance for the Bearcats, who beat Tulsa on a last-second field goal in 2020. UH is playing in the title game for the first time since 2015.
“We’re on track,” Holgorsen said. “We’re excited about the opportunity Saturday, but we’re also excited about the future and where we are going.”
Here are five things to watch:
UH rush vs. Desmond Ridder
The way to stay in the game against Cincinnati is to get pressure on quarterback Desmond Ridder, the two-time AAC Offensive Player of the Year. Many teams have tried, and most have failed. Ridder can beat you in many ways. He’s a solid decisionmaker who efficiently runs the offense, and he can run. “We’ve got to get him on the ground when we have an opportunity to,” Holgorsen said. “Cincinnati poses a bunch of challenges. That’s just one of them.” Cincinnati
allows just a 19 percent pressure rate, No. 3 nationally according to ESPN’S SP+ advanced metrics, and averages 46 points when opponents get less than a 15 percent pressure rate. When opposing teams can get more than 15 percent pressure, the Bearcats’ average drops to 35 points. The Cougars rely on an aggressive defensive front and can bring pressure from all angles. UH is tied for third nationally with 43 sacks. What makes the Cougars so effective is they do not rely on just one player; seven players have at least three sacks, led by D’anthony Jones (seven), Derek Parish (5½) and Logan Hall (5½).
Pick a corner
Do you like your “Sauce” spicy or mild? UH would rather just hold the Sauce. Cincinnati’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, a threetime ALL-AAC first-team selection and Defensive Player of the Year, joins Coby Bryant to form what many believe may be the best cornerback tandem in the nation. Both are finalists for the Thorpe Award, which honors the best defensive back in college
football. Gardner has allowed only 14 receptions on 32 targets this season and a 12.0 opponent passer rating that’s second-best in the country, according to Pro Football Focus. He hasn’t allowed a touchdown in his college career, a span of 1,008 snaps. Bryant, who is named for the late Kobe Bryant, is third among active players with 45 passes defended (10 interceptions, 35 pass breakups). “No. 1 (Gardner) is getting all the All-american praise, and he’s the best corner in the country … unless No. 7 (Bryant) is,” Holgorsen said. “And then they say, ‘Well, what about No. 9 (Arquon Bush)?’ I’m like, ‘No. 9 might be better in a year.” But don’t sleep on UH’S cornerback duo of Marcus Jones and Damarion Williams. Jones leads the nation with five interceptions, all coming in the final month of the regular season, and his 12 pass breakups are tied for fourth. Yet Jones’ defensive prowess has been overshadowed by his weekly highlight-reel on kick returns (more on that later). Williams is the Cougars’ secondleading tackler (51) and has one interception and seven breakups.
What’s UH’S injury situation?
Holgorsen said the Cougars are as healthy as they’ve been all season. In the week leading up to Saturday’s game, Holgorsen said all of his key players practiced, among them linebacker Donavan Mutin, running back Alton Mccaskill and wide receiver Nathaniel Dell. Mccaskill, the AAC’S Rookie of the Year, has a team-high 844 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. He’s been a workhorse all season, and it perhaps has caught up with him; he’s left in the first half of the past two games with a stinger in his shoulder area. UH will ask Mccaskill, along with Ta’zhawn Henry (503 yards, 7 TDS) to pace the rushing attack one more time. Dell, the Cougars’ top receiving target with 1,027 yards and 11 TDS, missed most of the second half last week after taking a hit to the head. The return of Mutin — who took a week off while going through concussion protocols after a scary hit in the Memphis game — is crucial for the Cougars. He’s the team’s leading tackler (65), a team captain and an emotional leader. “Looks like the same Donnie to me,” Holgorsen said. “He’s the one out there running the show out there for us defensively.”
Avoid mistakes
The first to blink could decide this game. To have a chance, the Cougars will need to play their best game of the season. That means avoiding turnovers. Both teams are among the nation’s best at forcing turnovers: Cincinnati is third with 28 and UH is tied for 11th with 23. The Cougars have just two fumbles this season, and quarterback Clayton Tune followed a four-interception performance in the first game with a stretch of 191 consecutive passes without one. In the past seven games, Tune has completed 68 percent for 2,043 yards with 19 touchdowns and two interceptions. He matched a career-high with four TD passes last week at Uconn.
Be special
In Friday’s news conference, Holgorsen and Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell brought up the importance of special teams. Holgorsen went a step further, showing his team video from last year’s 38-10 loss to the Bearcats that he called “one of our worst special-teams performances in the three years that I’ve been here.” A year later, UH leads the nation in blocked kicks (six) and blocked punts (four) and features Marcus Jones, the AAC’S Special Teams Player of the Year who has returned two kicks and two punts for touchdowns this season (and is tied for the NCAA career record with nine). “He’s electric,” Fickell said. Cincinnati counters with Tre Tucker (25.4 yards, one TD) on kickoffs and Ryan Montgomery (11.4 yards) on punts. The Bearcats have blocked nine kicks. If there is an issue for Cincinnati, it’s been the kicking game. Cole Smith, whose 34yarder won last year’s AAC title game against Tulsa on the final play, lost his starting job earlier in the season, and replacement Alex Bales is just 2 for 5 on field goals.