Cincinnati Bearcats (3-1) vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-2)
Cincinnati and Tulsa open their American Athletic Conference play in Week 5 of the 2022 college football season, as the Golden Hurricane host the Bearcats at Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, October 1.
The Bearcats aim for their fourth consecutive victory over the Golden Hurricane. Last year, Cincinnati outlasted Tulsa 28-20 as a huge 22.5-point home fave. The Bearcats are 9.5-point road favorites this time around, while the totals sit at 58.5 points.
The Cincinnati Bearcats improved to 3-1 straight up and 2-2 ATS on the season following a 45-24 victory to the Indiana Hoosiers in Week 4. After a 31-24 defeat at Arkansas in their season opener and a couple of comfortable wins over Kennesaw State 63-10 and Miami (OH) 38-17, the Bearcats steamrolled the Hoosiers on the back of senior QB Ben Bryant, who went 24-of-40 for 354 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception.
Junior wideout Tyler Scott had a great time in Week 4, too, recording ten catches for 185 yards and three touchdowns. He’s already accounted for 423 yards and five scores on 25 catches in 2022. The Bearcats rushed 30 times for a paltry 40 yards against Indiana, but their passing offense was unstoppable and Cincinnati’s defense forced three turnovers on the afternoon.
“Now it's about moving on to league play.”@CoachFick, @Tylerscott21_, and @Wil_Huber2 recap the Indiana victory and preview this weekend's matchup at Tulsa as the #Bearcats open @American_Conf play.
Full presser ?? https://t.co/cDmGBZ3ERg pic.twitter.com/GVDJS7rOe6
— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) September 27, 2022
“As we’ve said since we’ve been here, there’s no difference between us and the guys in the Big Ten,” Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell said. “We have expectations and, in some ways, we even expect to play a little better. This was an opportunity for us to grow because we hadn’t been in that position. You have to be able to come out and finish things off by running the football and play clean defensively.”
The Bearcats are scoring 42.5 points per game (16th in the nation) on 328.3 passing yards (14th) and 130.5 rushing yards (98th). They are yielding 20.5 points in a return (tied-42nd) on 182.5 passing yards (28th) and 125.3 rushing yards (50th). Senior linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. had a big game against Indiana, tallying 2.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss.