Cincinnati's Length and Speed Provides a Challenge for the Hoosier's Defense

Written by: @zachegreene

The Bearcats have always recruited well and in particular the wide receiver position. This season, the Bearcat's length, and speed and one aspect stood out Tom Allen when he watched a film on the Bearcats. Expect a tough battle at the line of scrimmage with them.

“You like to have that room. The variation of skillsets. Different guys who can do different things and create different issues for you. Length is something they have at the receiver and at the tight end. The speed of the their receivers as well is always difficult. The reality is IU sees a lot of that. IU saw it last week. IU saw it the first week of the season. We saw it week two. In our conference we will see a combination of length and speed. Maybe is different guys. Sometimes is the same guys. They have done a good job in that area and speed and length are two things we are looking to have in our program and they have done a good job at finding those guys.” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said on Thursday.

The Bearcats lost a ton of players to the NFL draft, but they still bring back the same offensive line unit as well as an experienced wide receiver unit. Tre Tucker is a speedster that stands out and has been in the Bearcats program for a while who can create havoc for the Hoosiers. He displays tremendous speed and an ability to find the open field. Expect the Bearcats to dial up his plays tomorrow.

Other guys to watch out for include Jadon Thompson and Tyler Scott both of whom are Juniors and can create game-changing plays. Furthermore, looking out whom Scoot has 238 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Last season, the Hoosiers took on the Bearcats at home under a packed house. A lot of the players on both teams are gone and tomorrow’s game will be a lot of new faces. This week Tom Allen hasn’t tried to bring up last year’s game.

“No we really haven’t talked too much about last years game. Pivotal game without question.” Allen explained. “We are focused on the response to some of our mistakes, turning the ball over at the goal line and not projecting the football and just not finishing drives. Those are kind of things that you learn from. Just being able to handle adversity when it’s thrown at you. That’s probably been the focus and at the same time it’s the biggest game of the season biggest it’s the next one.”

The Hoosiers will look for payback after last season’s loss. Even if Allen and his coaching staff haven’t brought up last season loss as a talking point you can bet the players who were here last season will and play with a chip on their shoulder.  

Saturday is a turning point for this program. If the Hoosiers can hold their own and show the nation their relentless defense and good throwing offense, it will change the way the public views this program. All that said, the Hoosiers will need to start fast and compete from the get go.