The 2022 Cincinnati Bearcats season kicks off against Arkansas down in Fayetteville, Arkansas against the Razorbacks. The bearcats are looking to build off of the success of the 2021 team which had their best season In school history, going 13-1 and capturing the American Athletic Conference (AAC) championship and earning a birth in the College Football Playoff against Alabama.
Offensive Challenges:
Leading into the new season the Bearcats have one major question, who will be the one to replace Desmond Ridder and lead the offense for this season. That competition is between redshirt sophomore Evan Prater and redshirt senior Ben Bryant.
Neither has had significant playing time being behind Ridder, but that will change this season as one will step into the starter role to lead the new look Bearcats offense.
With the impending move to the big 12 on the horizon, Luke Fickell looks to take the bearcats to even higher levels than before. To accomplish that task the Bearcats will have to take the field without the likes of Desmond Ridder, Sauce Gardner, Alec Pierce, Coby Bryant, and others after the 2022 NFL Draft.
Season Outlook:
Starting the season on the road against an SEC school will be a great starting point to tell how the Cincinnati Bearcats 2022 season may play out once their season gets underway and the team moves on to their other non-conference games and eventually into conference games.
With this being the first meeting between the two teams it will be an interesting matchup as the teams come from very different conferences and backgrounds, but both have something to prove throughout this season.
When all is said and done at the end of the game I predict the Bearcats will stand on top of the Razorbacks thanks to the play of their defense that has been turned into an elite unit over the past few seasons under Luke Fickell.
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