The Cincinnati Bearcats are officially starting a new era in 2023. They are in a new conference and have a new head coach to lead the charge of the new era for the Bearcats. Scott Satterfield is the new head coach, replacing Luke Fickell who went to Wisconsin. Will the Bearcats be able to continue to be a tough team or will the new conference lead to a different route for the Bearcats? Here is the preview for the 2023 Cincinnati Bearcats.
Offense
The Bearcats offense is getting a serious retool in 2023. Cincinnati got a new head coach and a new quarterback as Ben Bryant transferred to Northwestern. With Bryant out that leads to Emory Jones, a transfer from Arizona State who is poised to be the new starter for Cincinnati. Jones played eight games for Arizona State last season where he threw for 1,533 passing yards to go along with 7 passing touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He will have to lead a brand new group of receivers to the promise land. Dee Williams (Louisville), Donovan Ollie (Washington State), and Xzavier Henderson (Florida) are looking to help replace their top six receivers from a season ago. The Bearcats need this group to be consistent if they want to succeed on offense.
The running back core is strong here in Cincinnati. They have two good running backs in Corey Kiner and Myles Montgomery that should take a step forward in the right direction in 2023. Montgomery has the big-play ability and Kiner is going to be the guy to get them through the trenches during the tough downs. The Bearcats offensive line only has one returning starter in center Gavin Gerhardt. They also are learning a new blocking scheme, and now have three transfers entering their starting lineup. Left guard Trevor Radosevich (Penn), right guard Luke Kandra (Louisville), and right tackle Deondre Buford (Kentucky) are going to be the three transfer starters for Cincinnati. The Bearcats need this offensive lineman group to pick up the new blocking scheme quickly if they are going to want to contend in the Big 12.
Defense
The Bearcats have some talent returning, but they also brought in some good transfers as well. On the defensive line, the Bearcats are led by sophomore nose tackle Dontay Corleone who had a tremendous freshman campaign. He is also joined by Malik Vann and Jowon Briggs to form a great defensive line trio. I think this has the potential to be a very special trio on the defensive line. The linebacker core is getting a huge boost with transfers Dorian Jones (Louisville) and Daniel Grzesiak (Utah State). These two will be in charge of the defense and making sure everybody is aligned correctly.
In the secondary, they got some big names coming back and they added some threats from the transfer portal. Coming back they got Sammy Anderson Jr and Bryon Threats to be the leaders in the secondary for the Bearcats. They also added Jordan Young (Florida) and D.J. Taylor (Arizona State) from the transfer portal. Those two can help solidify this secondary group. Also, I can’t forget the big name playmaker at the nickel Deshawn Pace. Pace was a big reason why they made the college football playoff in 2021. He will need to return to that form if they want to compete in the Big 12.
Win Total Bet
The win total is set at 5.5 on the FanDuel Sportsbook, with the odds on the over at +132 and the under has the odds at -162. It’s Satterfield’s first year, they are in a new conference, and a lot of changes are happening to this program. I think Cincinnati is going to have some growing pains moving into the new conference. They stay under the 5.5 win total, but the odds are too high for me to even consider taking. Cincinnati could be a thorn in the Big 12’s side, but I think they stay at five wins in 2023 and not higher.
Schedule Predictions
Blowout Win vs Eastern Kentucky (1-0)
Win at Pittsburgh (2-0)
Win vs Miami Ohio (3-0)
Loss vs Oklahoma (3-1)
Win at BYU (4-1)
Loss vs Iowa State (4-2)
Loss vs Baylor (4-3)
Heartbreaking Loss at Oklahoma State (4-4)
Loss vs UCF (4-5)
Loss at Houston (4-6)
Win at West Virginia (5-6)
Loss vs Kansas (5-7)
