*****Cincinnati @ NC State*****

Cincinnati at North Carolina State

The Bearcats are 1-1 as they enter this game. They lost the season opener at Fresno St and then rebounded to pound Indiana State. Though the Bearcats beat Indiana St. soundly in the last game, they struggled at times and only managed 12 points in the first half. In the second half they were bailed out by a rushing attack that gained 263 yards on the ground. The Butch Jones era started on a down note for Cincinnati after losing 28-14 at Fresno State though. And while the Bearcats are coming into their battle with North Carolina State as road pups, their minds might be elsewhere. That tends to happen when you know you’re playing host to the Sooners the following weekend. Cincy’s offensive line could very well find themselves thinking of Oklahoma’s big, bad d-line. The Bearcats have been just plain awful in the offensive trenches this year so far. How bad has it been? Cincy’s o-line has allowed Collaros to get sacked 10 times this season. This was a unit that gave up 15 sacks in all of 2009. The Wolfpack only had two sacks last weekend against Central Florida with a suspect defensive line. Yet they forced the Knights into throwing three interceptions. The real concern for Bearcat backers is the line play on both sides of the ball. The offensive line has struggled protecting the quarterback all season, but thankfully the Bearcat field general, Zach Collaros is fleet of foot. The loss of Vidal Hazelton on the season to injury has been a very tough void to fill. On defense, they rarely pressure the opposing passer and that could hurt them tonight. As far as we care, Cincinnati is 3-15 straight up and 10-8 against the spread when posted as a road underdog since 1996. However, the ‘Cats are 0-7 SU and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games in this role. The Wolfpack are 2-0 on the year after getting an opening win over Western Carolina and following that up with a road win at Central Florida. The win over Central Florida was particularly impressive because the defense had to make up for the offense and it is usually the other way around. The defense was responsible for five turnovers and one score as they returned an interception for a touchdown. The Pack added a blocked punt to turn out a well-rounded win on the road. Quarterback Russell Wilson is a dual threat in the air and on the ground. Wilson is underrated as a quarterback, but he is a viable option at quarterback and will do well against a Bearcat defense that has a lack of pressure from the front. Cincinnati, who has switched from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 allowed 13 first downs and 296 yards against Fresno State, and 15 first downs and 254 yards against Indiana State. Injuries have also slowed down the offensive transition under Jones. USC transfer Vidal Hazelton was off to a solid start at wide receiver against Fresno State, but blew out his knee in the second half after six catches for 63 yards. He also handled kickoff returns, which is where he got hurt. Going from three feared wide receivers to two is a big blow for the Bearcats. The Bearcats’ pass protection has been horrific. They’ve allowed 10 sacks in two games, eight coming in the opener against Fresno State. Only one team (Idaho) has allowed more. That’s not a good matchup against a Wolfpack defense that’s done a good job of getting pressure on the quarterback. North Carolina State ranks among the Top 20 in the nation with six sacks in two games. Cincinnati starting running back Isaiah Pead is a game-time decision with knee issues. The junior is the Bearcats’ leading returning rusher. He sat out last week in an effort to be available against North Carolina State, but, judging from the coach’s comments at Wednesday’s news conference, Pead seems iffy at best. N.C. State is allowing just 248 total yards a game through two games and if the Cincinnati offense doesn’t get better real quick, they could get dominated tonight. I have NC State winning by a TD in this one.

North Carolina State Wolfpack -1 (bought ½ cause I hate uneven numbers lol)

.........How long have I been hungover?????

When the hell did 1 become an even number? 

Good to see stuff like this posted here. I have to disagree with your on the game tonight. Your correct on the suspect O Line play of Cincinnati, its been bad. However, in both week one and week two, Isaiah Pead has been hurt and a non factor. Cincinnati has been a totally one dimensional offensive team. I know Pead played in week one, but his action was limited to 10 carries because of his knee. Back at nearly full health today he will take huge pressure off the O Line as well as Collaros. He will allow the pass game to open up and should be a factor in the Cats win tonight.

Your also right on about Russel Wilson being under rated. However, I think we saw last week that he is not fully into football after his stint with baseball over the summer. I think Wilson will fully be back in football mode around week 5 or 6 but as we saw last week, 10 of 30 for only 105 with multiple opportunities to score as UCF turned the ball over five times like you mentioned. State has also been brutal at home as a small favorite, 20% dating back 15 seasons.

Although State could come out and do a number on Cincy who could be looking ahead like you said, a point I never put into my bet tonight, I am going to have to disagree here. Your not concerned with anything I mentioned from Cincinnati tonight?

Again, great analysis, definatley going to be stopping by your thread more often. Best of luck this week in College/Pro ball.

I can copy and past stuff from the main page and game previews too.

Brutal

Jesus this shit again..Where does it say in his thread topic that it is his writeup????? There is some good info in the writeup and it helps to make a play on the game...

Grow up little boy. We are here to win and the guy posted a nice article. I dont care who wrote it.