Things will look much different for the University of Cincinnati football team this fall.
The Bearcats will take the field Wednesday for the start of their sixth fall camp under head coach Luke Fickell, and for the first time in a long time, the reigning consensus National Coach of the Year has an overwhelming number of questions to address before the season-opener.
"I definitely think going into camp, it's definitely different (this year)," Fickell said. "Not that you're not battling every year. There's competitions and all different things. But this is a year where there's definitely a little bit more of an edge. There's definitely some unique battles, and it's not just at the quarterback position."
Fickell has 30 days to find a new starting quarterback (the Bearcats open the season Sept. 3 at Arkansas), but that's not the only item on his to-do list. Here are the top five storylines for Fickell and the Cincinnati Bearcats heading into fall camp:
Quarterback competition
Former Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder hung up his spatted Cincinnati red and black cleats at the conclusion of last season as the third-winningest quarterback in FBS history. Ridder also eclipsed the school records for career passing touchdowns (87) and total yards of offense (12,418). But Fickell and his staff made Ridder work for every yard.
Ridder, even after being named the 2018 American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, had to compete for his starting job during both the 2019 and 2020 fall camps.
Ridder beat out Ben Bryant, and after he solidified himself as the team's No. 1 quarterback by leading the Bearcats to a 9-0 record, the first AAC championship in program history and a berth in the Peach Bowl during the 2020 season, Cincinnati helped Bryant transfer to Eastern Michigan so he would have an opportunity to get on the field.
Bryant led the Eagles to a 7-6 record in 2021 while completing more than 68% of his passes for 3,121 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Bryant also ran for two scores.
Now, Bryant is back at Cincinnati, and he again will compete throughout fall camp for the starting job. This time, the man standing in Bryant's way is former Wyoming High School standout Evan Prater, the 2019 Ohio Mr. Football and the highest-rated recruit in program history.
The race to replace Ridder, the 2020 and 2021 AAC Offensive Player of the Year, is on.
Running back battle
Another race in fall camp is the one to see who will join either Bryant or Prater in the Bearcats' offensive backfield.
Jerome Ford rushed for an AAC-leading 1,319 yards and a conference-high 19 touchdowns last season en route to earning a first-team all-conference selection and being named the Most Valuable Player of last season's AAC championship game.
Like Ridder (Atlanta Falcons), Ford (Cleveland Browns) is now in the NFL, and the pool of candidates to replace Ford as Cincinnati's No. 1 running back got a little deeper in the spring.
Former Roger Bacon High School running back Corey Kiner (79 rushes, 324 yards and two touchdowns in 2021) announced in April he was transferring back home from LSU and joining the Bearcats.
The arrival of the 2020 Ohio Mr. Football gives Cincinnati a thicker (5-foot-9, 215 pounds), more powerful runner (like Ford) to mix with the elusiveness of running backs Ethan Wright, Charles McClelland and others.
This battle is expected to wage on through camp.
Experienced offensive line
While there are certainly questions that need answers on the offensive side of the ball, Fickell and first-year Bearcats offensive coordinator Gino Guidugli still have plenty of pass-catchers and weapons on the outside. They also has a stout offensive line that figures to be the strength of the team this season.
Cincinnati returns all five starters from last year's O-line, including 2021 first-team all-AAC performers Lorenz Metz (senior right guard), Dylan O'Quinn (senior right tackle) and Jake Renfro (junior center).
Both O'Quinn and Renfro earned spots on the preseason watch list for the Outland Trophy, presented annually to the top interior lineman in college football. Metz garnered a spot on the watch list for the Rotary Lombardi Award, given to the college offensive or defensive lineman who in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the character and discipline of Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi.
New faces in defensive backfield
The Bearcats had one of the stingiest defensive backfields in history last season, led by cornerbacks Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner (unanimous 2021 AAC Defensive Player of the Year) and Coby Bryant (2021 Jim Thorpe Award winner) and first-team all-conference safety Bryan Cook.
Like Ridder and Ford, the three defensive backs have graduated to the NFL ranks (Gardner, New York Jets; Bryant, Seattle Seahawks; Cook, Kansas City Chiefs). Their departures have left quite a hole for Cincinnati Co-Defensive Coordinators Mike Tressel and Colin Hitschler (safeties coach) and cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs to plug.
The other two starters from last year's five-member defensive backfield (graduate safety Ja'von Hicks and senior corner Arquon Bush) are back. Bush, who has compiled 84 tackles, 17 pass breakups and seven interceptions in 23 career starts at the nickel position, is expected to move into the boundary corner spot vacated by Gardner. The other three defensive backfield vacancies will be decided in camp.
Replacing 9 NFL draft picks
Cincinnati had a program-record nine players selected in April's NFL draft, and another in wide receiver Michael Young Jr. who signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent. Fickell had his staff are hoping those notable absences won't halt the Bearcats' momentum (44-7 record over the last four seasons).
Cincinnati has recruited well and developed well in recent years and added four notable transfers from the portal for the 2022 campaign in Kiner, junior kicker Ryan Coe (Delaware), senior linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. (Miami University) and senior wide receiver Nick Mardner (Hawaii).
All four newcomers are expected to play major roles on the field in the fall and help fill the leadership voids left by Ridder, Bryant and others. Pace is the older brother of Cincinnati junior sniper Deshawn Pace, who earned a spot on the preseason watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented annually to the College Defensive Player of the Year.
"I think the unique thing is, with the exception of a couple positions, I think we've got a lot more maturity than people would know," Fickell said. "I think our leadership is more mature than maybe it has been with Desmond and Coby, because our guys have come from different places and earned things in a different way."
Fickell will find out just how valuable those additions are when Cincinnati opens the season Sept. 3 at Arkansas (3:30 p.m. on ESPN).