Arkansas vs. Cincinnati: Luke Fickell provides update on Bearcats' QB battle ahead of showdown with Hogs
Arkansas faces the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first week of the 2022 college football season, and now, the Hogs have a better idea of the quarterback they could be up against.
Well, kind of.
Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell provided an update Monday on the competition at signal-caller, indicating that it was a close battle between Evan Prater and Eastern Michigan transfer Ben Bryant. As Cincinnati begins a new era at quarterback after Desmond Ridder’s departure to the NFL, the team has one of the most “legitimate” battles at the position it has seen in recent history.
“It’s interesting — we’ve got a unique situation. We’ve got a guy that obviously has been behind him for a couple of years in Evan Prater,” Fickell said on the Rich Eisen Show. “Has been kind of the Cincinnati kid in a lot of ways and has done a great job the last two years. But there’s another kid that was actually Des’ backup for three years, who left last year, went to Eastern Michigan — started and threw for 3,000 yards or something like that — and then came back. And I know it’s crazy, the landscape of college football, but Ben Bryan and Evan Prater really have got the respect of the entire team. And for the first time in a long time, we’re going to go into camp with a legitimate (battle) — like, hey, this is going to be really interesting. And we’ve got to figure some things out. But it’s going to be a battle.”
Fickell has said that who wins the starting gig will come down to who fits the team best, though Bryant is the more natural passer while Prater brings more to the table athletically.
Whoever ends up taking the snaps will face an Arkansas defense that helped the team finish at a respectable 9-4 overall record in 2021, but looks a bit different with the loss of players like defensive back Montaric Brown, who led the team with 5 interceptions last season.
Cincinnati and Arkansas are set to face each other on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 2:30 p.m. Central time in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The bearcats are going to get it handed to them on September 3rd.
I’ll be surprised if the game is a blowout. I say Arkansas 31-20.
27 – 3 defensive statement
34 to 13, Arkansas
Arkansas has not been a fast start to the season type team the last few years…. They better come ready for this one.
Although you’re correct, the defense is usually off to a much faster start than the offense, but Arkansas’s run game/online are going to Elite. I also know the guys on defense are so ready to get after another team. They are ready to hit some dudes in the mouth. They are going to be incredibly aggressive that first game, I can’t wait, Cincinnati is walking into a buzzsaw.
That is true. No tune up game in Cincinnati. I think the game will be closer than a lot of people are guessing. Cincinnati may have been a playoff team last year but still that schedule was pretty weak. One big spot was the ND game and ND for years has been so overrated it’s hard to look at that game and say yeah, Cincinnati deserved to be in the playoffs.
This will be Cincinnati’s second third or fourth semester knowing they were going to the Big 12. Their freshmen and maybe a sophomore or two will be power five goal oriented. They can’t afford a big lopsided loss. And a win would announce to the football nation they are a power five. Arkansas can still win the SEC if they lose but it won’t look as likely. This is not quite as explosive a match up as Missouri at K-State but it might be a good game to watch.
Arkansas needs to be patient with that funky 3-4-4 defense Cincinnati runs. Run the ball, even on 3rd and 4 or 5. It must also be noted, Cincinnati was loaded with 5th year players last season that are gone, so the Razorbacks will not be facing the (veteran) team Alabama went up against in the playoff.