SOONERGUYS Blog

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson is an old Ohio guy himself, so he thinks he knows a thing or two about OU’s next opponent.  He coached against the Bearcats while offensive coordinator at Miami of Ohio for seven years, until 1998.

But this Cincinnati defense is not the team of former UC Coach Mark Dantonio.  Cincinnati, which rolled over Eastern Kentucky 40-7 on Thursday, is the team which lost to West Virginia 28-23 last year, playing better against the Mountaineers than Oklahoma did in the Fiesta Bowl.  They led the country with 26 interceptions a year ago. That should prove a good test for QB Sam Bradford, who lead the country in pass efficiency last year — mostly because of his carefulness in avoiding interceptions.

But if there is a weakness to UC’s defense it may be in the running game. West Virginia amassed 295 of their 435 total yards against Cincinnati last year on the ground.  Then again, Oklahoma’s defense gave up 349 yards to Pat White and friends in the Fiesta Bowl.  So, that may be no reflection of defenses at all.

The Oklahoma offense vs. Cincinnati defense may be a wash. Where Oklahoma should hope to capitalize is when the Sooner defense goes against UC’s offense.  Some Bearcat fans have been wary of their new quarterback Dustin Grutza (he complete 21 of 28 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns against Eastern Kentucky), who stepped into the vacancy left by Ben Mauk, who was out suing people to gain another year of eligibility (a losing cause, apparently).  His inexperience could lead Brent Venables to call on Austin English and Jeremy Beal to put some heat on the new QB.

Cincinnati is not ranked. But they received enough votes to place them No. 31 in the AP Poll.

-Mike