Speaker 1: We get to know the Cougar's opponents and rivals. Right now,
I need to know the faux segment. Tod Cougar Sports
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the folk segment. Want to get to know the Cincinnati
Bearcats from the eyes the voice of those that cover
the team on the daily, on the weekly and have
insider knowledge as to what the identity of the Cincinnati
Bearcats team is and what they're motivated by. As they
welcome in the BYU Cougars and BYU's won all three
of the matchups. Is the fourth and they get them
at home so they can knock off a team play spoiler.
Speaker 1: Are they motivated? And you know, are they healthy?
Speaker 2: Are they healthy enough to knock off a b YU
team that's rolling pretty good coming off a big win
over TCU. We're gonna break it all down it's gonna
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the hotline and welcome in Dan Horde, the voice of
the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Speaker 1: Dan, how you.
Speaker 3: Doing, Ben, I'm great, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2: Hey, a pleasure of blessing to talk some ball with you.
How would you describe the season of the bear Cat?
Does far.
Speaker 3: Well? Good? But disappointing the last couple of games. They
went from seven to one to seven and three. Last
year they were five and two and didn't win another game.
So they're trying to avoid another end of season swoon,
at least this year. With seven wins, they know they're
going to a ballgame, but I think this Saturday night
they're determined to show, you know what, we're more like
the team that was seven and one than like the
team that's dropped to in a row.
Speaker 2: How would you describe the culture of the Cincinnati Bearcats
locker room led by coach Scott Saderfield?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: How many years has he been there now?
Speaker 2: And what type of culture has he built in order
to keep this team on track?
Speaker 3: Cheer three for Scott Saderfield, and I would say the
culture might be the biggest strength this team has, not
just because of him, but because they have tremendous senior leadership.
They have two three time captains, one on each side
of the ball that time, the all time Cincinnati record
for most captainships. Gavin Gerhart, their starting center who's approaching
fifty career starts. He's a three year captain. Their nose tackle,
Dante the Godfather Corleone, one of the best nicknames in
college football. He's a three time captain. So those two
guys really lead the way. It's one of the biggest
reasons why they have gone from a team that struggled
in year one in the Big Twelve two years ago
to one that is at least still mathematically alive in
the shot at going to the Big Twelve championship game.
They would need a lot of help to get there,
and obviously they would need to win against BYU on
Saturday night, but the simple fact that they're still in
the hunt with two games left in the regular season
is a good sign for where this program is going
new coming.
Speaker 1: Well, let me take a step back.
Speaker 2: Cincinnati was once upon a time a power part of
a power conference. They were relegated to non power conference.
Now they're back into a power conference. We're looking at
I remember when we were looking at the new Big Twelve,
it was Cincinnati, you know, BYUUCF, these new kids on
the block, etc. And if you look at the wins
and losses and the impact that they'd had over the
previous decade, they were very similar in resume. They quite
honestly were some maybe had higher peaks than others at
certain times, but they were all pretty similar. How do
you feel that Cincinnati's made the transition comparative to their
counterparts thus far in the Big Twelve.
Speaker 3: Well, the tough part for Cincinnati is that they moved
into the Big Twelve the same year that they had
a coaching change. Had Luke Fickle stayed and not gone
to Wisconsin where obviously he's had some hard times there,
but he really had it going at Cincinnati, there would
not have been such a big drop off when they
moved to the Big Twelve. But when you ever have
whenever you have a coaching change, and this day and age,
with a wide open transfer portal, it's really hard to
keep guys on the roster, and that's what happened at Cincinnati.
So they took a step backward. Now they're back on
the climb. I'll say this, whatever league Cincinnati has been
in in the past, within a relatively short period of time,
they're one of the better teams. And I think that's
happening in the Big Twelve. There's tremendous high school football
in the state of Ohio. It's not California, it's not Texas,
it's not Florida, but it's probably fourth on the list
for the most talent in any state. So Cincinnati has
that advantage when it comes to recruiting. And again, whatever
league the Bearcats have been in, eventually they've become one
of the better teams of the league. Not necessarily the best.
That's going to be hard in the Big twelve to
be the premier program in this league. But I do
think Cincinnati is going to likely be one of the
better teams consistently going forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's you know Houston too. You know, Houston, you
know has done well. They've definitely had their ups and
downs in the transition. But these new kids on the
blocks that didn't necessarily have all the resources that the
other programs have had for so long to create a
new competitive and I think they're they're very competitive, right,
They're they're they're good football programs and they're rising into
prominence in the within the power structure Cincinnati.
Speaker 3: Okay, they're just gonna say, with with all due respect
to Houston, Houston does not have anything close to the
recent history that Cincinnati has in college football. Now, to
their credit, they're having a good year under Willie Fritz
and Houston is in Texas, so there's a lot of
talent there. But I do think the big difference between
the two programs is that Houston, for whatever reason, just
doesn't seem to have moved the needle in fan interest
in Houston. If you look at their games now, there
there always seems to be a lot of empty seats
at their games. Cincinnati was in the fourteen College Football
Playoff four years ago. Yep. So this program has been
at a much higher level than Houston, certainly in the
last ten to twenty years.
Speaker 1: No no doubt.
Speaker 2: I mean, like I said, when I was evaluating these
teams b YU, Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati from a total
wins losses standpoint, they were pretty similar by resume when
they were getting invited, is what I was getting at.
And you know, since two thousand and six, you know,
Houston's gone to a lot of bowl games.
Speaker 1: They've had you know, double digit win seasons.
Speaker 2: I think in they had a thirteen win season, a
ten win season, ten win season.
Speaker 1: The twelve win season.
Speaker 2: They've been respectable, is what I'm getting That's why they
got the invite. And so I think Cincinnati, though, was
one of the favorites to be at the top of
the food chain and make the biggest impact when they
made the transition back to the power for structure, and
I think we're seeing that right now.
Speaker 3: I would agree with that. Cincinnati since two thousand and
eight has played in the Orange, Sugar, Cotton, and Peach Bowls.
As I mentioned, they qualified for the fourteen Playoff in
twenty twenty one, the only team outside of the then
Power five to do it. So this is a football
program that has had its ups and downs, largely when
they've had coaching changes, they take a little step back
before they're good again. But if you go back to
when Mark D'Antonio was the head coach in the mid
two thousands, that's really when Cincinnati started to climb, and
by and large it's been a very successful program ever since.
Speaker 2: How would you describe the nil offering right now within
the Cincinnati program and the resources that are being allocated
to the athletic department in order to stay competitive in
the modern era.
Speaker 3: Certainly not at the top of the pyramid in the
Big twelve, and that's going to be a challenge going forward.
I don't know that Cincinnati will ever be one of
the biggest spenders in the Big twelve. But they're spending enough.
They've got really good players on the roster that they've
been able to retain, and they just moved into a
palatial football facility, the Shakeley Indoor Practice Facility. I've talked
to a lot of NFL scouts that have come through
Cincinnati since the building opened. They say it's the best
they've been to. So in this day and age, I
don't know if that moves the needle as much as
it once did back in the normal recruiting days, when
it was about relationships and facilities and wins and losses
and fan support. I think something like that would have
made a gigantic difference. Now the number one thing seems
to be nil in many instances, so you have to
be competitive in that area, but every little bit helps.
Then they do have a magnificent facility now to train in, practice,
in hang out, in et cetera.
Speaker 2: Do you feel I don't know how many active players
Cincinnati has in the NFL, but I know they've done
a pretty good job of developing NFL talent.
Speaker 1: How does that outlook?
Speaker 2: What's that perspective there on development and attracting NFL talent?
Speaker 1: And putting them in the league.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's been really good. So Travis Kelcey, Jason kelce
before retired, Sauce Gardner. They've got some problem in players
in the NFL that are among the best at their position.
If you go back to the I guess it was
the twenty twenty season, twenty twenty one season, so the
twenty twenty two draft, they had nine players selected. They
were among the most of any team in college football
that year. So that definitely helps. I think high school
players want to, oh, can you help me reach my
ultimate goal and get to the NFL. And every time
a Bearcat has success on Sunday, that helps.
Speaker 1: No doubt about it.
Speaker 2: Let's pivot over to this game BYU versus Cincinnati. BYU's
three and zero against the Bearcats all time. But the Bearcats,
I think are built a little bit different than those
three other teams that Bay you've played in the past,
and it's going to be a competitive one at Nippert Stadium.
Give me a little breakdown of maybe the current health
status of the Cincinnati Bearcats team and what they're looking
to maybe execute on the field at home this weekend.
Speaker 3: Getting healthier, that's the good news from Cincinnati's perspective, they
have not had one of their two best running backs
in the last two weeks, Evan Pryor. I think he
is back on Saturday Night. They did not have their
fastest wide receiver last week, Caleb Goodie, who's among the
fastest in the country. He is definitely back on Saturday Night.
I mentioned Dante Corleone early in this conversation. He might
be one of the best defensive tackles in the country,
but he hurt his ankle in week two or three,
I can't remember which, but he missed a few weeks
and frankly has not been dominant for the most part since.
But a couple of weeks ago he started to look
better and feel better. Then they had a bye. He
was even healthier last week. So I think there's a
chance that Byu is going to have to deal with
Dante Corleone at his most dominant, which would definitely help
the Cincinnati defense. If you look at this team this year,
it's been great on offense, it's been okay on defense,
opportunistic on defense. They get stops in the red zone.
They've got decent number of fumbles for us. They don't
have as many interceptions as they would like, but the
offense for the most part has been exceptional. Now last
couple of weeks it hasn't been quite as good. Brendan
Sorosby has thrown a few picks. Utah was able to
get a lot of pressure on him in that game
a few weeks ago. I'm sure BYU will try to
on Saturday night. But for the season, it's been one
of the better offensive teams in the country, certainly one
of the most efficient.
Speaker 2: It's led by a fantastic quarterback, a fantastic leader, a
captain of men.
Speaker 1: And what do you expect from him in this game?
Speaker 2: Do you think he bounces back from these two losses
and can lead the Bearcats to victory over the Cougar
is a highly ranked B WHATYU Cougar football team?
Speaker 3: Well, it's certainly capable of it. Brendan Sorosby's had a
great year. I think there was a stretch there where
he was climbing on NFL draft boards to the point
that maybe he was being considered as a Day two pick.
I think his draft stock has taken a shot a
bit over the last couple of weeks, and maybe that's
good for Cincinnati because he does have a year of
eligibility left and they would love to have him back.
But he's a really good player, and he's a true
dual threat quarterback, much like bear Bachmeyer. He's capable of
running and throwing. He's had exceptional games of doing either
or both, and they're going to have to count on
him to have a big game to have a chance
against BYU. It's an excellent opponent. So Brendan Soresby can't
have the type of game that he had last week
where he threw a couple of bad picks. Do that
against BYU and you're not going to win.
Speaker 2: How would you evaluate and great out the trench warfare
battles that Cincinnati has.
Speaker 1: Been combating with.
Speaker 2: Right, How good is this offensive and defensive line for
the Bearcats? Can they win the line of scrimmage versus
the BWAYU Cougars.
Speaker 3: It's one of the best offensive lines in the country.
Cincinnati has only surrendered three sacks all year, and they
face some really good defensive lines in the Big Twelve,
So that's one of the reasons why the offense has
been so efficient. The offensive line is outstanding. The defensive line.
I would not describe as outstanding. It's solid. If Dante
Corleone can be his dominant self like he was prior
to the ankle injury, that would help a lot. I
think they've got some decent players on the defensive line.
Jalen Hunt is a decent player. Micah Coleman coming back
from an achilles injury, hasn't had a great year, but
he looked great last week. He had two and a
half tackles for loss in a sack. So they've got
some decent players on the defensive line. But if you're
comparing the two units, the offensive line as far superior
to the defensive line, what.
Speaker 2: Would you say are the weaknesses of this team? If
it has any I don't know if it has any
glaring weaknesses.
Speaker 3: I would say the most questionable unit on the team
is probably the secondary, and I would say the cornerbacks
in particular. I don't want that to sound like they're bad.
They're not bad. But if you had to pick out
one unit that you would say, all right, that's maybe
the most questionable unit on the team. I would probably
start with the cornerbacks. They've got good speed at the position,
they don't have good size at the position, so that's
been an issue. At times. They've been flagged for a
pretty high number of defensive pass interference or defensive holding penalties.
So again, not a glaring weakness. I think they're okay there,
but in comparison to the other position groups, that's probably
the one that's been the most up and.
Speaker 1: Down from a scouting report standpoint.
Speaker 2: I know you've interacted with players and coaches this week.
What have they said about this BYU team that's coming in,
you know, to take on a Bearcats team that is
maybe licking its wounds over the last two weeks.
Speaker 3: I would say two things get brought up over and
over again as I've talked to Cincinnati players and coaches.
Number One, DYU doesn't beat itself, which I think is
a real compliment when it comes out of the mouth
of a coach in particular, coaches always always respect teams
that you know, don't make the type of self inflicted
wounds that cost you games, and BYU by and large
has not done that. Secondly, everybody's talking about the physicality,
so DYU has exceptional offensive and defensive lines. That's definitely
a concern for Cincinnati in this game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's UH.
Speaker 2: It's something that I think by U has prided itself
in not turning the ball over and hopefully taking the
ball away. The turnover margin battles have been the majority
of them won by b YU this UH.
Speaker 1: This year.
Speaker 2: How has Cincinnati been at protecting the football this season
and taking away the football.
Speaker 3: For the most part this year, good at protecting it,
not as good at taking it away, particularly when it
comes to interceptions. They forced a good number of fumbles.
Of course, there's always a little bit of luck involved
there as to whether you're going to recover it or not.
But for the past two years now they just have
not come up with enough interceptions. And since they play
a three to three five defense most of the time,
you've got the extra defensive back back there. Iowa State
kind of popularize this defense and one of the reasons
why the Cyclones have been so good is that year
after year after year they turn it into a bunch
of interceptions. Cincinnati has not been able to do that
so far this year, and they didn't do it last
year either.
Speaker 2: How do you see this game playing out? You've seen
a lot of Cincinnati football over the years. You know
this squad better than anybody. How do you see this
game play out at Knipert Stadium.
Speaker 3: I'll say this, I think one of the big steps
that the Cincinnati football program is looking to take in
year three under Scott Saderfield is to win its biggest
home games. That's what premier elite programs do. When you
get a good team on your home field, maybe even
a team that's a little bit better than you are
in terms of talent, you find a way to win
those games. Cincinnati has approached that point. They beat Arizona
State last year when Arizona State won the league title.
That was at Nippert Stadium. They've got a home win
over Iowa State this year when the Cyclones were still
in the top twenty five. So they've had a few
games like that, but they don't have one yet under
coach Satderfield. That would be like beating DYU on Saturday Night,
number eleven in the country ahead of you on the
you know, the conference totem pole when it comes to
the standings, a team that's got a ton to play for,
much like you do. That is the mission for Cincinnati
on Saturday night to try to win one of those
gigantic home games that tells everybody in the conference going
into Knippert Stadium is going to be difficult going forward.
Speaker 2: One last thing before we let you go, appreciate you
hopping on to discuss the Cincinnati Bearcats team and what
it does well and what the environment also is going
to be like. You have two questions for you before
I let you go. One of them is this the
College Football Playoff Comittee dropped their rankings and gave some
respect to the Big Twelve. I would say some respect
because you know, you got Texas Tech at the top
of the food chain. BYU said one lost team, and
they justified keeping BYU out at the top ten because
they lost to Texas Tech, a top five team on
the road at Lubbock, and it wasn't a competitive game,
even though the scoring margin was I think the smallest
scoring margin twenty two points in their victories thus far
this season. But bat Moore jor Mark said, I am
thrilled to see the Big Twelve conference getting the respected deserves.
I said a Big Twelve Football media days in July
that we would earn it on the field, and we
continue to do that.
Speaker 1: Do you think the Big Twelve is getting the.
Speaker 2: Respect it deserves as a powerful conference versus the Big
ten in the SEC.
Speaker 3: No, not yet. I think it is slowly moving in
that direction, but it doesn't happen overnight. Let's face it,
when Texas and Oklahoma left, it hurt the reputation of
the conference, fairly or unfairly. Just to have two big name,
blue blood type programs exit made everybody think, Wow, the
Big Twelve is not going to be as good going forward.
I think it's every bit as good, and Texas wasn't
winning league championships in this league anyway for the last
several years. Oklahoma typically did, so it just takes time.
I do think that things are moving in the right
direction for the conference in terms of the national reputation.
I do think that most people look at the Big
Twelve as the third best league, clearly ahead of the ACC.
So that's a good step. But they're just going to
have to continue to win big games for people to
think that they've closed the gap on the Big ten
of the SEC.
Speaker 1: Great stuff.
Speaker 2: Any recommendations for our fan base that's heading out to
MIT Nippert Stadium and heading out to Cincinnati.
Speaker 3: Tea, Well, sure you know when in Rome, right, So
coming to Cincinnati. Yeah, if you're coming to Cincinnati and
you've never tried Cincinnati style chili, you probably at least
need to try it now. Skyline Chile is the most
famous franchise. There are several different places in town that
do this, but if you're going to try it for
the first time, you should probably try it at Skyline.
This is not Chile as it's thought of in most
of the world. This is not coming a bowl with
ground beef and kidney beans and kind of be somewhere,
you know, closer to a soup. This is something that
is typically served on spaghetti, so it's like Costa sauce
on top of spaghetti with a giant mound of orange
cheddar cheese. I know it sounds disgusting, but it's delicious.
So that's one thing that anybody coming from Utah to
Cincinnati for the first time should try. Secondly, we have
a famous local ice cream maker, Greater's ice Cream, that
is some of the best ice cream in the world.
Oprah has it shipped to her every month. She gets
the black raspberry chip shipped to her monthly. It's amazing.
So definitely try Greater's ice Cream. And if you're up
for it.
Speaker 2: Skyline Chilling Dan Horde, Ladies and gentlemen, the voice of
the Cincinnati Bearcats. It'll be a bear Bach myr versus
a Bearcat bear down there in Cincinnati. We appreciate you
hopping on to preview it. Thanks so much, my pleasure,
Thanks for having me on. All right, there you have it, guys.
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