Know the Foe: Get to Know Cincinnati Ahead of Oklahoma State's Homecoming Matchup
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are underway "America's Greatest" homecoming as they host the Cincinnati Bearcats in a Big 12 battle.
The Cowboys are hunting their fourth straight win and momentum heading into the final Bedlam matchup for the time being, whereas the Bearcats are hungry for their first Big 12 win since joining the conference this season.
With potentially nasty weather and a unique matchup, this could be a close, fun matchup. Hear from AllBearcats.com's Russ Heltman to have this matchup broken down from a different perspective.
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How serious is this Cincinnati front seven? How will that impact Ollie Gordon's impact or the Oklahoma State blocking game?
Russ Heltman (Follow him on X/Formerly Twitter): This part of the game is where Cincinnati can drive an upset. The Bearcats' best defensive players outside of Bryon Threats all reside on that front headlined by Dontay Corleone, Eric Phillips, and Daniel Grzesiak. They rank 27th nationally in rushing EPA allowed this season thanks to those guys.
Stopping Corleone on run downs and getting the ball out fast against a pretty bad secondary will be a must for OK State to stay on schedule. Cincinnati has created 32 pressures over the last two games but just four sacks off them because of quick passing.
With the Bearcats' run game, how much of an impact will the Cowboys' linebackers have to make? Will this essentially open up the passing game for Cincinnati?
Russ: Speed and sound gap filling is a must against a UC rushing attack ranked 11th nationally in yards per game (214). They are running this new outside zone scheme (to UC) better and better each week.
Right guard Luke Kandra is used to that offense from his Louisville days and he's leading the way with some great blocking this year. UC fans would love to say the run is opening up the pass, but it really hasn't happened.
Though Oklahoma State has a three-man look up front, will the Bearcats be able to protect Emory Jones under center?
Russ: Emory Jones has not shown he can elevate a lacking receiving corps, (or his own game very much) and whether it be blown blocks, a long time to throw, or bad pocket awareness, UC allows too many sacks (two per game, 66th nationally).
It's been a bad mix of mediocre play from Jones, inability to separate in the middle of the field from anyone outside of Chamon Metayer, and shaky blocking (62.3 PFF team pass block grade, 84th nationally).
If OK State's secondary can stay sticky, their front should be able to take down Jones multiple times on Saturday night.
READ MORE: How to Watch Oklahoma State vs. Cincinnati: Kickoff Time, TV Channel and Odds
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Kade has been covering a wide variety of teams ranging from the NFL to the NBA and college athletics since joining Sports Illustrated's On SI in 2022