Game Preview: UC Ready to Take Series-Lead Against Miami

The Battle for the Victory Bell series is tied at 59-59-7.

© Stephanie Scarbrough/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — The Victory Bell is on the line this Saturday in another rendition of the UC/Miami (OH) football rivalry. Luke Fickell's crew bounced back in a big way last week by defeating Kennesaw State 63-10.

Now they have a chance to take the all-time lead in this series that started in 1888—the first college football game in Ohio. 

The RedHawks (1-1) are 22-point underdogs heading into this game, and ESPN's FPI has Cincinnati winning 94.2% of the time. UC is ranked 12th in Bill Connelly's SP+ rankings, while Miami sits at 90th.

Time to kick off the preview of UC's oldest rivalry.

Respect The Opponent

That's the clear theme for the Bearcats this week after taking care of business as a top-20 team should against KSU. The Bearcats came into that game with a hunger that losing breeds. Every box got checked last week, save for the penalty yardage.

Now they need to carry that mentality into a history-flipping matchup against Miami.

"I have said it since the day I got here," Fickell said at his weekly press conference. "I will say it today and I say it every day in the meeting, end practice with it, rivalry is about respect. There is no greater respect that I have got for this rivalry. The team will understand that the team will know that, and we will prepare that way. To me, that's the key to what it is. There are a lot of guys on our team that probably don't know a whole lot about the rivalry. We talked about it in fall camp, we spend a little bit of time making sure we go through it and talked about it. It is in our book."

Every matchup in this rivalry is important, but it holds even more weight when you get a chance to take the series lead. Cincinnati has not lost to Miami since 2005, and this chance goes to show how much progress UC has made as a program over the past 17 years.

“59-59-7? Believe me, the team knows," Fickell noted. "They knew that when we went over it in fall camp that we haven't held the lead since 1915, and that is 59-59-7 all time. There are a lot of guys that we have got that are from different areas that don't know a lot about it. Our job is to make sure that we teach them about it from the get-go, most importantly, make sure that they respect what it is that they are part of. They definitely know that, and they definitely know we haven't had a lead since 1915.”

The RedHawks are playing a backup quarterback after Brett Gabbert's week-one injury, despite the mismatch, UC can't let its guard down this week. It's easy to get complacent when you haven't lost to a team in 15 matchups. Yet, the Bearcats are used to being chased after all of their success over the past two seasons.

The coaching staff and the players can lean on those staples this Saturday.

Respectable Defense

Miami head coach Chuck Martin has built a solid program in the MAC since arriving in Dec. 2013, and the defense has been a big part of that. The RedHawks calling card is a stout rush defense (45 yards per game allowed, fifth nationally) led by linebacker Ryan McWood.

The sixth-year player leads his team with 18 tackles (1.5 TFLs), and a half sack. McWood is complemented by fellow linebacker Ty Wise (nine tackles, two sacks). According to Football Outsiders, Miami ranks 59th after their one FBS game in touchdown rate allowed (25%), and 55th in busted drive rate (12.5%).

One game is hard to read into, but look past the 37-13 scoreline against Kentucky. You'll see that the defense only allowed two touchdowns on the day, and the Miami offense went 3-of-14 on third down to put them in a bind. The RedHawks can be had in the passing game—allowing 241 yards per game thus far (87th nationally).

Ben Bryant threw for 206 yards, a touchdown, and an interception on 21-of-31 passing last year in Eastern Michigan's 13-12 win over Miami. 

He'll need to improve on those marks Saturday.

Gabbert Out, Smith In

Miami had an entrenched starter at QB heading into this season, but that went out the window late against Kentucky. According to Martin, Gabbert suffered an injury that will keep him out "awhile" after coming into this season ranked seventh in program history with 5,609 passing yards, completion percentage (.579), and passing touchdowns (41).

Enter Aveon Smith, who went 14-of-22 passing for 155 yards and three touchdowns in their 31-14 win over Robert Morris. He became the first Miami quarterback to throw at least three touchdown passes in his career-opening start since Andrew Hendrix in 2014.

A pair of those scores went to the RedHawks' top receiver in Mac Hippenhammer. The senior has notched 11 catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns in 2022. Hippenhammer is the head of this passing game snake. He accounts for 37% of the team's receiving yards, 29% of the catches, and 2-of-3 receiving TDs.

Arquon Bush & Co. have a clear top option to stop on Saturday in what will be Bush's final appearance against the RedHawks.

"Super important this rivalry's been here for a long time," Bush said this week about finishing his career undefeated against Miami. "We are on a 15-game winning streak, and we don't want to lose that. We just want to keep the streak going. Just continue playing football, respect the rivalry, and just do what we supposed to do."

The game kicks off from Paycor Stadium at noon ET on Saturday. Fans can watch on ESPNU via fuboTV. Start your free trial here.

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

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