Photo Courtesy: Dominic Ceraldi
By DaVince “Dino” Wright
Game Info
#21 Cincinnati Bearcats vs SMU Mustangs
Saturday – October 22 – 11:00 a.m.
TV: ESPN
Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, TX.
Records Before the Game
#21 Cincinnati Bearcats (5-1, 2-0 American)
Southern Methodist University Mustangs (3-3, 1-1 American)
This is not where the Mustangs were planning to be. The team is 3-3 overall and 1-1 in conference. The Mustang defense has given up an average of 29.5 points a game to opposition, but on the offensive side of the ball they are averaging 35.5 points per game. When you look at this, one would think, “They should be undefeated, but it’s only numbers!” Let’s take a closer look at this week’s Mustangs match up in Dallas.
Conference is still wide open
SMU is 1-1 in conference and with a win at home this weekend it could really help the team close the gap between sitting at number 8 in conference to being in 3rd place.
#21 Cincinnati Bearcats
The Bearcats are riding a 5-game winning streak coming into Dallas to take on the Mustangs. The Bearcats has wins over: South Florida, Tulsa, Indiana, Miami-Ohio and Kennesaw. The Bearcats offense is scoring 38.2 points a game while the defense is allowing 21.2 points on that side of the ball. Keep an eye on Bearcats quarterback Ben Bryant. He has 1561 passing yards with 15 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. His job will be to dismantle the Mustangs defense and he can.
SMU Mustangs
The Mustangs defense will have their hands full with the Bearcats offense Saturday morning. Let’s face the facts that the Mustangs are struggling on defense by giving up 223 passing yards through the air and 209 yards rushing to opposition. The key for the Mustangs will be stopping the Bearcats rushing attack. Charles McClelland has 502 rushing yards with 5 touchdowns. He’s averaging 6.6 yards per carry and the Mustang defense is giving up 5.8 yards to opposing ball carriers.
Prediction
ESPN has the Bearcats with a 60.1% chance of winning on the road this week. I hate picking against my hometown team, but Cincinnati is the better team overall. I’m taking the Bearcats by 13 on the road in Dallas.
Final Score
Bearcats – 31
Mustangs – 18
