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Ryan Day expects to see hungry, well-coached Cincinnati team on Saturday
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Cincinnati’s trip to Ohio State on Saturday is quietly one of the more intriguing matchups in the B1G this weekend. Luke Fickell makes a return to Columbus for the first time since leaving his post as the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator to become the head coach of the Bearcats.
Knowing the program well, and with a pretty good Cincinnati team making the trip, this could prove to be a tough task for Ohio State. Head coach Ryan Day is expecting nothing less.
Thursday, Day was on the air for his weekly radio show on 97.1 The Fan to preview the upcoming game against in-state rival Cincinnati. The first-year head coach is expecting to see a very hungry, well-coached team make the trip to The Horseshoe on Saturday.
“First off, they’re very, very well coached,” Day said, according to Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch. “It’s going to take all 60 minutes to win this game.”
Day also said that Cincinnati has plenty of players that probably wanted to continue their career at Ohio State, adding a little extra fuel to the fire for Saturday. That’s why Day expects to see a “hungry” football team.
Day on UC: "First off, they're very, very well-coached."
— Bill Rabinowitz 🗞 (@brdispatch) September 5, 2019
Day knows that UC is full of Ohio players who probably wanted to play for OSU and are going to be hungry on Saturday.
— Bill Rabinowitz 🗞 (@brdispatch) September 5, 2019
Ohio State got out to a hot start last weekend against FAU, building a 28-0 lead by scoring a touchdown on each of their first four possessions. If the Buckeyes can replicate that, Cincinnati is going to have a tough time keeping up.
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But if the Bearcats are able to hang around, they may be able to do just enough to make Ohio State uncomfortable at the end of the game. That would be an advantage for UC, especially with a freshman in Justin Fields under center.
It’s been a long time since Cincinnati last defeated Ohio State (1897), and it’ll take quite a bit to get the job done this year in Columbus. But this might mark the best opportunity the Bearcats have had in a long time to pull off the shocker.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB