Cincinnati Bearcats vs West Virginia Mountaineers Football Preview

In the 2009 college football season, yes, this particular matchup did figure to decide the Big East championship. In 2008, it snuck up on the ranks of pigskin pundits, and this year, it has outright ambushed the college football cognoscenti.

It's a startling but real truth to behold: Cincinnati's wins over West Virginia in 2008 (under unexpected circumstances) and in 2009 - when everyone anticipated a battle for league supremacy - decided a full season of Big East football. Now, in 2011, the same scenario is coming to pass... and nobody in the league can believe it.

A game that few figured would have been a critical contest at the beginning of the season has turned into a tussle loaded with Big East title implications. West Virginia will travel to play Cincinnati in Paul Brown Stadium before a crowd that could be as pro-West Virginia as it is pro-Cincinnati. If West Virginia wins, it has a chance to get back into the Big East race after a disappointing home loss to Louisville. If Cincinnati wins, it will all but lock up a conference championship by having a two-game lead on the rest of the conference with just three games remaining on the regular-season slate. The Bearcats' second year resurgence under Butch Jones has been remarkable, and a chance to add to it by downing perennial power West Virginia and seal a BCS bowl berth in the process would be a great finishing touch.

The Bearcats improvement in 2011 can be attributed to both an improved defense, and an offense that has taken care of the ball far better than it did during last year’s dreadful 4-8 campaign. The Bearcats are 5th nationally in tackles for loss, 8th in sacks, and 6th in rushing defense. After taking their lumps as a young and inexperienced group, the Bearcats defensive front seven is stout against the run and gets consistent pressure on the quarterback. While the offense isn’t putting up the numbers it has in the three previous seasons, it is running the ball better with Isaiah Pead (102 ypg) and is avoiding turnovers (the Bearcats rank 3rd nationally in turnover margin). To corral a potent West Virginia team, Cincinnati will need every bit of production from both units.

West Virginia certainly cannot blame its offense for three losses suffered so far. The Mountaineers exceeded 500 yards of total offense in two of those three losses, and have been betrayed by poor special teams play and defensive breakdowns that have put the offense in a tough spot multiple times. Against Louisville a bad punt allowed a short field for a tying score and a blocked field goal was returned for a touchdown. Geno Smith and his collection of wide receivers field the most productive offense in the Big East. If they’re not stuck playing from behind because of mistakes in the other facets of the game, they will have a chance to put up enough points to beat Cincinnati.

We'll see if West Virginia can get out of its own way for once.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer