Getty Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder.
The No. 8 Cincinnati Bearcats football team will host the Miami (OH) RedHawks at Nippert Stadium on Saturday for each team’s 2021 season opener.
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The game (3:30 p.m. ET start time) isn’t on TV anywhere, but anyone in the US can watch Miami (OH) vs Cincinnati live on ESPN+:
With ESPN+, you’ll be able to stream hundreds of live college football games during the 2021 season. It also includes dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) all for $6.99 per month.
Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $13.99 per month. Separately, the three streaming services would cost a total $20.97 per month, so you’re saving about 33 percent:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Miami (OH) vs Cincinnati live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Miami (OH) vs Cincinnati Preview
The Bearcats went 6-0 in the American Athletic Conference regular season a year ago before edging the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 27-24 for the conference title. Two weeks later, Cincinnati fell to the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs 24-21 on a last-minute field goal in the Peach Bowl to close their season with a 9-1 overall mark.
Among the 16 returning Bearcats starters is redshirt senior Desmond Ridder, last season’s AAC offensive player of the year. In 2020, the quarterback completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 2,296 yards, 19 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, adding 592 yards and 12 scores on the ground.
“Here’s a guy who’s coming out for his fourth year, having played more football here than anybody,” Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell said in August, according to The Associated Press. “He came back for a reason. Not just to improve throwing the ball. He came back to hone his leadership skills, too. To run the locker room and be that guy.”
Ridder will have four of Cincy’s five leaders in receiving yards from a season ago at his disposal again this year. That group includes tight end Josh Whyle, whose 353 yards through the air and 6 touchdown grabs led the team in 2020.
“Coach Fick asked me to get up and speak, and he asked me what I needed to do this camp to come out better,” Ridder said, per AP. “I said connection with my wide receivers. Just so we’re not missing balls by an inch or a foot. I’m staying after practice and working with the wide receivers. Not being complacent.”
Cincy and the RedHawks have met 124 times, first squaring off in 1888. The Bearcats have won the last 14 scraps for the Victory Bell to take a 59-58-7 all-time advantage in college football’s oldest non-conference rivalry.
“We have a heightened awareness of what this rivalry is all about,” Fickell said Tuesday, according to the Hamilton JournalNews. “We’re switching gears. We’re not getting ready for just another game. We’re getting ready for a rivalry game. We’ve been hammering home what the rivalry is all about.”
The RedHawks had nine games canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic last season. They went 2-1, failing to repeat as Mid-American Conference champions.
A host of underclassmen are expected to start for Miami in their 2021 opener, including true freshman quarterback Brett Gabbert.
“It probably doesn’t get any better for us than this,” RedHawks head coach Chuck Martin said this week, per the Hamilton JournalNews.
He added: “We’re playing Cincinnati right out of the chute. It’s our huge rival. They’re No. 8 in the country. We’re on the road. I’m anticipating a packed house based on what they did last year, so I don’t know how it gets any better for us.”