Getty Desmond Ridder of the Cincinnati Bearcats.
The No. 13 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats get their season underway as they welcome FCS foe Austin Peay to Nippert Stadium on Saturday.
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The game (Noon ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but anyone in the US can watch Cincinnati vs Austin Peay live on ESPN+:
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Austin Peay vs Cincinnati Preview
Cincinnati enters an unprecedented season with a high-level of expectations, with the Bearcats suiting up for their first game as the No. 13 ranked team in the country. The ranking is the program’s highest since 2009. They are the highest ranked non-Power 5 team, It hasn’t gone to the heads of coach Luke Fickell’s squad, however.
“I think, now, as we get into game week, some semblance of normalcy, now you start to hear those things,” the Cincinnati skipper said this week of the team’s expectations. “We gotta do a really good job at managing that. I’ve always said that I feel a lot better when people are doubting you and saying negative things because that’s a motivation.”
The Bearcats have shown promise the last two seasons, finishing with 11 wins and a bowl victory in each. This year’s squad returns most of its key pieces from a year ago, including 10 starters on the defensive side of the ball and quarterback Desmond Ridder.
“I just have to stay level-headed. If not, it really affects the team, from the young guys to the old guys,” Ridder said. “I just have to take away the little mistakes. We all do, on both sides of the ball. But specifically on offense, obviously, we just want to get rid of any turnovers, any pre-snap penalties. We just really want to play clean.”
Austin Peay is one of the few teams in the country to have played two games already this season. Both were losses, 55-0 to Pittsburgh last week and 24-17 to Central Arkansas in their opener.
“When we talked in our Sunday meeting, there wasn’t a whole lot of shouting, there wasn’t finger pointing,” Austin Peay interim coach Marquase Lovings said. “We just have to look at us and how we’re expecting things.
“There’s no excuse here. I mean, there’s not going to be an excuse, either,” Lovings added. “Either we get it done or we don’t get it done. In certain areas of the game, we’re not getting it done right now and we’re working tirelessly to improve upon that. I believe in the people within our organization that we’ll go ahead and get it corrected.”
The matchup of the finale of the fall season for the Governors, who will play the remainder of their season in the spring.
Cincinnati is a massive 34-point favorite for the game. Cincinnati are 8-4 against the spread in their last 12 games.