Why Cincinnati Will Win
– The Bearcats have the lines to hold up. This might not always be the most explosive team, and it might not quite have the NFL talent Georgia will bring, but they’re tough enough up front and effective enough to battle hard. The pass protection is terrific, there aren’t a ton of plays in the backfield, and the running game will work.
The defensive front was the best in the American Athletic Conference and was great against the run. The Bearcats have a shot if they don’t get blasted up front.
– Yeah, Georgia looked great once JT Daniels took over and the offense took off in the last few games. Yeah, Georgia beat Mississippi State, South Carolina and Missouri – yippee. The best win was … Auburn? Okay, that’s not bad, but this is a talented team that didn’t beat the big boys. The Dawgs didn’t play Texas A&M, got rocked by Alabama, and rolled by Florida. Cincinnati might not be Florida or Bama, but it’s going to bring the fight.
– The Cincinnati offense is methodically fantastic. The running game is the star – it takes over games when it gets rolling – but it’s a versatile enough attack to move the chains through the air.
There isn’t any one thing the Dawgs can take away, with UC QB Demond Ridder running for 609 yards and 12 scores and throwing for over 2,000 yards and 17 touchdowns. Teams started loading up against the run, and Ridder has gone off, throwing for 269 yards or more in four of his last five games.
Why Georgia Will Win
– JT Daniels really has made a difference. Stetson Bennett wasn’t awful he still leads the team in passing and was good against the mediocre teams, but he struggled against the big guys. Daniels – a former super-recruit for USC – has hit 67% of his passes for 839 yards and nine touchdowns with an interception in his three games of work. Best of all, he’s pushing the ball down the field as well as any passer in the Kirby Smart era. That’s big because …
– The Bearcats can be thrown on. Most teams put up yards as they try getting back into the game in blowouts, but UCF was able to make it a fight in a three-point loss with three touchdown passes, Memphis and Brady White were able to throw for over 300 yards, and overall, the rest of the stats look great partly because there weren’t a ton of great passing games on the slate. Daniels and Georgia will provide a big test.
– How good is the American Athletic Conference? The Bearcats might have looked and played great, but they beat Austin Peay, battled against Army, and beat a slew of teams were just okay.
The AAC hasn’t been amazing this bowl season, and the last two games for Cincinnati weren’t awe-inspiring, with a 36-33 win over UCF and needing a walk-off field goal to get by Tulsa for the American Athletic Conference championship. Those two are good, but to keep hammering the point, Georgia is a massive step up in talent level.