University of Cincinnati football coach Luke Fickell said he would need to watch the film of Saturday's 31-24 loss at Arkansas before knowing exactly how well some of the new and inexperienced Bearcats players performed against the Razorbacks. Fickell will be pleased by what he sees.
However, what Fickell and the Bearcats won't like – and will be kicking themselves about it for weeks – are the penalties, mistakes and missed opportunities that led to them falling short in a game they should've won.
"Obviously that's a really tough one," Fickell said. "We've been very fortunate regular season-wise the last couple years, but this is an incredible learning experience, a growing opportunity for us as a team as we continue to find out what 'us' really looks like."
Cincinnati entered Saturday with a 22-2 record over the last two seasons. The Bearcats' only losses during that stretch came against the teams that won the last two national championships (Georgia in 2020 and Alabama in 2021). This Cincinnati team has a chance to be really good again this season. But the Bearcats let an opportunity to beat a strong Arkansas squad on the road slip through their fingertips.
"The good thing about today was knowing that this was on us, most definitely," senior tight end and team captain Josh Whyle said. "That's 100% fixable. In the future, we're going to be us and we'll be successful."
Here's what we learned from Saturday's loss:
Ben Bryant has up-and-down 2022 debut as starting quarterback
Fickell and offensive coordinator Gino Guidugli elected to run with Ben Bryant as Cincinnati's starting quarterback. Fickell said it wasn't an easy decision between Bryant, the senior pocket passer, and Evan Prater, the sophomore hometown dual-threat athlete.
"I think it's the makeup of the team too," Fickell said. "There's a lot of things that go into it – maturity, some of the experience. It wasn't an easy call. It really wasn't. But I thought that we had to move forward in figuring out how 'us' is going to look offensively, because it would be a little bit different with Evan in there. So, it wasn't any one thing. It wasn't like he did this (one thing) perfect. But I think, all in all, the makeup of the team and his maturity and some of the experiences that he's had I thought gave him probably the leg up for us."
Bryant threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday. He threw a perfect ball on a 30-yard pass to wide receiver Tyler Scott, a dart to tight end Leonard Taylor for a score and welcomed Hawaii transfer Nick Mardner to Cincinnati with a 35-yard touchdown.
But Saturday's game was more about what Bryant didn't do.
Bryant missed on several throws, including at least two shots that would've resulted in touchdowns. He also missed on a pass on the opening drive that resulted in an interception and ultimately an Arkansas touchdown. Bryant was also responsible for several costly penalties.
"The biggest takeaway is just missed opportunities," he said. "Obviously, I overthrew a couple that would have been touchdowns. We did a really good job in the second half of coming out and executing better, cleaning things up. This is a learning moment. I think we get a lot better from here."
Bryant will improve. The talent is there. The weapons and resources are there. But he needed to be better Saturday afternoon, and he knows it.
Uncharacteristically, Cincinnati's defense gives up far too many big plays
The Bearcats have been consistently good at limiting the number of explosive plays for opposing teams over the last four seasons. That didn't happen against the Razorbacks.
Cincinnati allowed several plays of more than 15 yards, including four receptions of 20 yards or more and a 37-yard run by Arkansas running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders. The 6-foot-2, 227-pound junior finished with 117 yards on 20 carries.
"Defensively, the big plays, we've been so good at not giving them up," Fickell said. "We gave up too many big plays today, lost leverages and things like that. Guys being aggressive, it wasn't a lack of effort by any means. But there's a lot of things that they do, with some of the jet motions and things that gave us a little bit of problems. As the ball started to move, I don't think we probably handled maybe the tempo of those things as well.
"A lot of things we're going to get a lot better at. This is going to be a team that's going to be much different as it continues to move forward after this."
Cincinnati's depth at running back could wind up being its biggest strength
Running back Ryan Montgomery opened the season as the Bearcats' No. 1 option in the backfield. But the 5-foot-11, 208-pound senior left the game with an undisclosed injury and never returned.
"Yeah, we kind of said that it was going to be interesting to see how the running back situation was going to go, and Ryan was our starter," Fickell said. "It might have been the first series. I don't know if it was a rib or an ab muscle or oblique or something. He tried to go back in here (the locker room), tried to get it worked on and never could quite make it back out, which is tough because he's our punt returner as well. He's been a punt returner for four years."
The good news is Charles McClelland and Corey Kiner both looked sharp in Montgomery's absence. The duo combined for 103 rushing yards, and Kiner crossed the goal line. McClelland also caught four passes for 42 yards, including one for a 30-yard gain. He would've had more receiving yards if a holding penalty hadn't negated a big gain on a screen pass.
"The rest of the guys stepped up," Fickell said. "Charles McClelland did a great job, and Corey Kiner I thought really ran the ball physical and hard. I think we've got a good stable of those guys, and we're going to see a lot more from them."
Bearcats' 'new guys' play well in big spots
Defensively, Cincinnati entered the game with new corners, a new safety and several new faces on the defensive line. Those new players performed well.
New starting safety Bryon Threats had six tackles, new starting corner Ja'Quan Sheppard added nine tackles, including a sack on a corner blitz that nearly resulted in a safety, and the Bearcats found some depth on the defensive line. Freshman defensive lineman Dontay Corleone, a standout during fall camp, was not afraid of the national spotlight against a top-25 opponent.
"I'd still have to watch (the flim), but I think that, man, to see those guys rolling in there on Game 1 is impressive," Fickell said. "To see Dontay Corleone and (sophomore defensive lineman) Justin Wodtly and (Ohio State transfer defensive lineman) Noah Potter, all those guys getting a lot of reps, it's going to bode well for us. It didn't work today, but I think it's a process. We'll get a lot better."
Miami University transfer Ivan Pace Jr. is going to be really good for Cincinnati
The biggest defensive standout of the day was linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. The former Colerain High School star led the Bearcats with 12 total tackles (six solo), 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
"He's an aggressive football player," Fickell said. "We had to move him around a little bit. He hadn't played much Mike (middle linebacker), and Wil Huber went down early. We had to bump him over to Mike. Give him a lot of credit. He's a football guy with really good instincts. There's some things we've got to do better. Obviously, we've got to get some edges and things like that. But we're going to find ways to keep moving him around and giving him opportunities to be aggressive and make plays."
Huber, a team captain who was wearing a walking boot after the game, said Pace is going to have a special season.
"You gotta love playing next to a guy like Ivan Pace," he said. "He's just everywhere at all times. He flies around, making plays. He brings a confidence to the defense, kind of a swag, because he's one of those guys who locks in, he doesn't say much when he's on the field, but just by the way he plays, brings guys along with him. I think he did a really, really good job of that today, and I think it's just going to continue to improve into the future."