Notre Dame football: Cincinnati could spell trouble for the Irish

Notre Dame football 2021 Opponent Preview: Cincinnati

Cincinnati 2020

A year later, most people seem to forget that Cincinnati came into the 2020 season needing to prove that they were capable of being the top dog in the AAC. UCF was, and depending on who you talk to still is, the conference’s premier program.

2019 had seen Memphis win the conference though, over Cincinnati. The Tigers returned almost everyone, and that meant that Cincinnati was a popular but unproven pick in big games.

Then, once the season got started, it was clear that opt-outs had drained Memphis and UCF while coaching issues didn’t help either program. SMU, the other major threat to Cincinnati, has yet to win a big game under Sonny Dykes, and that would only continue.

For Luke Fickell and the Bearcats, though, everything came together. Their offense was systemic and effective, though no one would accuse them of being explosive. Meanwhile, the defense was dominant, particularly in the secondary, which helped them shut down explosive AAC offenses.

Cincinnati managed to play two out of conference games, with the AAC letting its member schools play as many as they could get in, winning both games over Austin Peay and Army. From there, they broke into conference play with a disappointing 28-7 win over a terrible USF team. At this point, there were serious questions about whether quarterback Desmond Ridder could lead them to a New Year’s Six Bowl.

He answered those questions the very next week, though, with a 42-13 over a ranked SMU team in Dallas. They followed this by rolling a Memphis team reeling from opt-outs 49-10. By now, the Bearcats were dominant, and after a couple of roll-over opponents, they found themselves at UCF.

This would be their most difficult out-of-conference game, surviving the Knights 36-33.

The next week, and to finish the regular season, Cincinnati was supposed to play Tulsa, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. Tulsa, however, felt this was to protect the conference’s NY6 hopes, as the two would have to play the next week for the conference championship game.

This time, instead of at Tulsa, Cincinnati got to host, though. The weather was terrible and Tulsa kept it close, but Cincinnati did walk away with their second AAC championship, and first outright. They were part of a three-way tie with UCF and Memphis for the title in 2014.

It would be announced that they were headed to the Peach Bowl to play Georgia. For most of the game, Cincinnati looked better than Georgia, holding the Bulldogs wide receivers in check.

However, starting tackle James Hudson was ejected right before halftime, and the offense faltered from there, unable to properly block Georgia for most of the second half. A 14 -point fourth quarter for Georgia cost Cincinnati their perfect season.

Still, despite the ending disappointment, the Bearcats were left in a prime position to make another push in 2021.