Ohio State Buckeyes opponent breakdowns: Cincinnati

Opponents: Florida Atlantic |

The college football season is still weeks away but anticipation is starting to build as the calendar turns from June to July and we are closing in on less than two months from the first kickoffs of the season.

Much has been made of Ohio State’s schedule this season with its lack of a Power Five non-conference opponent on it, but don’t let anyone convince you that this schedule does not pose more than its fair share of problems for a team that will be breaking in not only a new quarterback but essentially a new head coach as Ryan Day takes over for Urban Meyer as the Buckeyes look to defend their back-to-back Big Ten championships.

The lack of a P5 non-conference opponent may overshadow the fact that Ohio State has about as difficult of a crossover schedule as a Big Ten East team can have with games against Nebraska, Wisconsin and Northwestern and the schedule maker did this team no favors with a final two of Penn State and Michigan to wrap up the regular season in November.

We started the series off with a look at FAU and now we turn our attention to an in-state foe that should be very familiar to the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes may have won 14 out of 16 in this series and have not lost to the Bearcats since 1897, but Luke Fickell obviously knows a thing or two about Ohio State and has his team primed for an upset.

Last Year: 11-2, 6-2 (AAC – East)

Things turned around in a big way in Cincinnati with Fickell at the helm as the Bearcats ran off an impressive 11-2 record including a win over Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl. Fickell would go on to be named conference coach of the year for his turnaround project at UC but there will be a question of ‘what if’ when looking back at the 2018 season.

Cincinnati had a perfect record going into a road game at Temple and the No. 20 ranking in the national polls. UC held a 17-10 lead into the final minute of the game before Temple came back to tie it on a 20-yard touchdown strike with just 49 seconds left on the clock.

Temple would go on to score in overtime on just three plays while UC would throw an interception, ending the game.

With the unbalanced alignment in the AAC, Cincinnati was stuck behind Temple and UCF and would go on to lose a November game to the Golden Knights and despite having only two losses on the year, would finish third and nowhere near the conference title game.

Even with the disappointment, it was a major turnaround from a 4-8 season just a year before and optimism is high as Fickell continues to shape the program the way he wants it with another strong recruiting class. It will still be a huge undertaking in the AAC East with UCF and Temple on that side of the draw, but there is plenty of excitement going into this season around the Bearcats.