Miami RedHawks vs Cincinnati Bearcats College Football Prediction, Odds and Preview - 09/04/2021

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 4, 2021

Venue:  Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, OH

Where to Watch:  ESPN+

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  RedHawks +23, Bearcats -23; Over/Under:  50.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  RedHawks +23, Bearcats -23; Over/Under:  50.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  RedHawks +23, Bearcats -23; Over/Under:  50 points

 

Miami RedHawks:  0-0 (MAC East)

Cincinnati Bearcats:  0-0 (AAC)

 

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Miami RedHawks:  1 game winning streak

Cincinnati Bearcats:  1 game losing streak

The Miami University RedHawks will be taking on the Cincinnati Bearcats football team in Ohio on Saturday to start this college football season. The RedHawks finished in 4th place of the MAC East last season with a 2-1 record overall, all of those being conference schedule games. They were 1-1 on the road where they will be in this game. The Bearcats finished last season in 1st place of the AAC with a 9-1 record overall, going a perfect 6-0 in conference games. They were 7-0 at home where they will be in this game. 

Miami finished their shortened season with a big 38-7 win against the awful Akron Zips before the rest of their games were cancelled. The Miami offense put up pretty good numbers in the 3 games they played in last season. They were averaging a 55.3% completion percentage, 238.3 passing yards, and 2.7 touchdowns per game through the air. They also averaged 127 rushing yards and 0.7 touchdowns per game on the ground. Their passing game was much more efficient at finding the endzone than the running game. Their defense was good in the run game but needs some work with passing. They were allowing teams a 60.5% completion percentage, 267.7 passing yards, and 2 touchdowns per game through the air. They also allowed 125.3 rushing yards and 1.7 touchdowns per game on the ground. Head coach Chuck Martin is returning for his 8th season and the team has done nothing but trended upward ever since he took over. The first year they went 2-10 but slowly built themselves up and it has paid off as the program has not gone below .500 in the past 4 seasons. They will be looking to build on that and take over the MAC and should be excited to be playing again after an abrupt end to the season last year.

Cincinnati had such a great season last year winning every single regular season game. They had a 10 game winning streak, going back to the 2020 Birmingham Bowl, snapped in the last game they played. They lost 24-21 to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl. Before losing in that game they had beaten Tulsa 27-24, UCF 36-33, and East Carolina 55-17. Cincinnati’s offensive stats were great in all areas last season. They were averaging a 66.8% completion percentage, 238.6 passing yards, and 2 touchdowns per game through the air. Cincinnati’s offense also averaged 212.4 rushing yards and 2.9 touchdowns per game on the ground. Their defense also had a good year. They were allowing teams a 53.2% completion percentage, 213.5 passing yards, and 0.7 touchdowns per game through the air. They also allowed 114.4 rushing yards and 1 touchdown a game on the ground. This defense was very stout and even when they gave up a lot of yardage they did not give up a lot of points. Cincinnati has been known for their great defense and now has a good offense to go with it. They will continue to be a force like this in college football.

The University of Cincinnati is coming into this game as a big favorite and is the home team here. They have a great offense and defense and are coming off of a great season. Their goal will be trying to prove they are a team worthy of a spot in the college football playoff. The RedHawks did not play many games last season and are also a much weaker team playing in a lesser division. Cincinnati should score enough points and hold the RedHawks back enough to cover this spread.

 

RedHawks Bearcats Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Day, Month Date, 2021 (3:30 pm ET start time) is Bearcats 41 RedHawks 17.

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Miami RedHawks: 11-6 ATS over the last 3 years. 8-5 ATS as an underdog over the last 3 years.

Cincinnati Bearcats: 15-9 ATS over the last 3 years. 8-5 ATS in home games over the last 3 years.

 

 

Miami RedHawks:  None

Cincinnati Bearcats:  None

 

 

Miami RedHawks: Quarterback Brett Gabbert is one player to watch in this game. This will be his 3rd season with the Miami-OH RedHawks and last season was not so great for him. He played in just 2 games completing 23/35 passes for 384 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His first year with the team was great though. He played in 14 games completing 175/316 passes for 2411 yards, 11 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He will definitely want to make a bigger impact than he did last season so look for him to make some big plays in this one, especially with WR Jack Sorenson on the team.

 

Cincinnati Bearcats: Quarterback Desmond Ridder is returning for his 4th season with the team and he has had a great 3 years with them. He has thrown for over 2000 yards in each of his seasons played. In his last season, he played in 10 games completing 186/281 passes for 2296 yards, 19 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He cut down on the turnovers last year from 2 years ago and will be looking to continue to add to his great college resume in this game.

 

"It probably doesn't get any better for us than this. Miami football, we're playing Cincinnati right out of the chute, it's our huge rival, they're No. 8 in the country, we're on the road. I'm anticipating a packed house based on what they did last year. So I don't know how it gets any better for us." - Chuck Martin on the meaning of this game to his team.

 

 

"Really, it all comes down to the respect you have for your opponent and the way that you prepare and the things that you do. Everybody will be excited about Saturday, everybody will be fired up about Saturday, but I think, for us, it put a lot of heightened awareness in the last 10 days of practice. ... We're not just getting ready for any game, we're getting ready for a rivalry game." - Luke Fickell on the meaning of this game to his team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WR Burns, James 

WR Walker, Jalen 

WR Sorenson, Jack 

TE Homer, Andrew 

QB Gabbert, Brett 

RB Bester, Jaylon 

RB       Shelton, Tyre 

 

 

WR Pierce, Alec 

WR Scott, Tyler 

WR Young Jr., Michael 

TE Whyle, Josh 

QB Ridder, Desmond 

RB Ford, Jerome 

RB      McClelland, Charles 

 

 

Coaches:

Miami RedHawks: Chuck Martin (8th season)

Cincinnati Bearcats: Luke Fickell (6th season)

 

76 degrees F scattered showers, 71% humidity, 20% chance of rain, up to 9 mph wind speeds S.