Preview: CINCINNATI @ Pittsburgh

Photo Via Landon Owen Via Flickr

The Cincinnati Bearcats (1-0) will travel to Pittsburgh, PA to take on the Pitt Panthers (1-0).

BROADCAST INFORMATION in Pittsburgh:

- 6:30 PM Eastern Time Kickoff on CW Network

- Tom Werme, James Bates, and Treavor Scales will be on the call for the CW Network

- On the Pitt side the radio broadcast will be on FM 93.7 and AM 1340. On the Cincinnati side, the radio broadcast will be on FM 102.7 and AM 1530.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

This game is the debut for the CW to broadcast ACC football games. Cincinnati throttled Eastern Kentucky 66-13 last week in Scott Satterfield’s first game as head coach of the Bearcats. Quarterback Emory Jones accounted for seven touchdowns, throwing five and running for two. The Bearcat defense only surrendered 302 yards to the EKU offense. Pitt walloped Wofford 45-7 in their opener as quarterback Phil Jurkovec threw for 214 yards and one touchdown while chipping in 41 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. The Pitt defense showed up and showed out as the Wofford Terriers rushed 19 times for -1 yards and threw for only 127 yards.

KEY PLAYERS:

QB Emory Jones – Cincinnati

WR Xzavier Henderson – Cincinnati

QB Phil Jurkovec – Pitt

DL Bam Brima – Pitt

KEY MATCHUPS:

Pitt quarterback Phil Jurkovec took care of business against FCS Wofford. The senior completed 73.9% of his passes and was a factor in both the passing game and the run game. The dual-threat quarterback will be a challenge for the Bearcat front seven.

Cincinnati accounted for 667 yards of offense against Eastern Kentucky with 436 through the air in week 1. The Pitt defense has sacked the quarterback 203 times since the beginning of the 2019 season. If the Panthers can get to Jones early, it will be a long day for the Bearcats offense.

PREDICTION:

Both the Panthers and the Bearcats played their opening games against FCS competition so this will be the first test for each team. Cincinnati is getting used to a new coaching staff and offensive system. The Panthers have been steady under head coach Pat Narduzzi, particularly on defense. I think the Pitt defense will stifle the Bearcat offense and win a close game, 27-23.