All Bearcats

The All Bearcats UC Football MVPs

Cincinnati has a chance to be the first Group of Five team ever to crack the College Football Playoff.

Russ Heltman

The All Bearcats UC Football MVPs
The All Bearcats UC Football MVPs /

CINCINNATI — The 2021 college football regular season has come and gone, which means it's time to name the All Bearcats' Most Valuable Players in every phase of the game.

UC has already placed multiple names like Desmond Ridder and Coby Bryant on finalist ballots for national awards. The program just finished off it's second 12-0 regular season ever. Time will tell if they get honored when the awards come down the line in less than three weeks. Let's get to our MVP picks on offense, defense, and special teams.

Offensive MVP: QB - Desmond Ridder

The Bearcats run the ball, play defense, and don't turn the ball over (16th in TO diff/game, +0.7). Ridder cements that mantra; he is playing his best football over the final stretch of his Cincinnati career.

Ridder passed for 3,000 yards (fifth in AAC), 27 touchdowns (second in AAC), and eight interceptions (third-most in AAC) during the regular season. The latter number ticked up down the stretch of the season on the back of a few tipped passes, but Ridder has been largely lights out in 2021.

The senior's 8.9 yards per attempt ranks first in the conference (t-16th nationally), as does his 162.2 passer rating (11th nationally). The efficiency shows up on tape as well. Ridder earned a 91.7 PFF Grade this season after never cracking 76.3 in his first three seasons. Ridder found another gear with his downfield accuracy in 2021.

The threat of his legs also helped the Bearcats rank second in the country this season in EPA/carry. Cincinnati runs a complete offense in Clifton, and Ridder's aided that over his legendary career.

Defensive MVP: DL - Curtis Brooks

By far the toughest choice on one of the elite defenses in college football. Curtis Brooks gets the nod over Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner because of his direct impact at the line of scrimmage. Gardner is always cooking up trouble on the outside, and when Brooks was at his best this season, it was very difficult to score on Cincinnati.

Brooks finished the year with 46 tackles (t-33 among all DL), 11 tackles for loss, and six sacks. The senior controlled the pace of games in the middle and led all bearcats in sacks while finishing t-26th nationally.

The fastest path to sacks is right up the middle, and Brooks proved that to be true for the Cincinnati team. If the sixth-year veteran keeps up his strong play (3.5 sacks in the last four games) the Bearcats can keep making history in the 2021 postseason.

Special Teams: CB - Arquon Bush   

The Bearcats' special teams ranked 77th in Bill Connelly's SP+ before a stellar showing in one key area this past weekend. Cincinnati blocked a punt and two kicks against East Carolina, marking their fourth block in two games. That boosted them up five spots to No. 72 in special teams SP+.

Senior cornerback Arquon Bush picked up two of those big plays, and the final one led to Sauce Gardner's scoop-and-score touchdown. It is no secret the Bearcats should probably stop kicking field goals. They rank last in the country in field goal percentage (43.5%) and 98th in extra point percentage (96.5%).

Kicking is the one weakness on this team, but player's like Bush are using a sixth sense to find their outstretched hands on the football. The senior leads a punt unit that ranks seventh nationally in net field position (+6.4 yards) and 44th in Football Outsiders punt return efficiency metric (-0.09).

Special teams is often the great equalizer between evenly matched teams. Bush and the forgotten phase will play a role as the competition stiffens in the postseason.

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Published
Russ Heltman
RUSS HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

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