Cincinnati football has been struggling in recent weeks against subpar competition and had many fans and analysts doubting whether they actually had a shot at a playoff spot. The game against SMU has been a game that the Bearcats have had circled on their calendars as a chance to make a statement and they did not disappoint.
SMU has one of the highest-powered offenses in the country, but they did not stand a chance against Cincinnati’s defense. The most insane stat of the game was how much Cincinnati shut down the Mustangs’ passing attack.
By the time the Bearcats got up by 42 points in the third quarter, SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai was 12-for-20 for 38 yards and averaged 1.9 yards per attempt. This is one of the nation’s top passing attacks and Cincinnati just erased them from the game.
This was also an impressive game from quarterback Desmond Ridder. Ridder can be really good, but he struggles with inconsistency and that is where he gets criticism from analysts. SMU has a poor pass defense and Cincinnati was going to have to take advantage of it and they did. Cincinnati threw deep down the field early and often and was in control of the game the entire way.
The Bearcats are still going to have to have some teams lose in front of them, but this was the kind of effort that they need to show. SMU was an 8-2 team and they never had a chance against the Bearcats.
Here are my three takeaways from Cincinnati’s win over SMU.