Bearcats Beat: Looking at Players to Watch Saturday afternoon vs. Bowling Green

CINCINNATI — John Madden once said that “there is nothing automatic in football.” That kind of applies to Saturday’s game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Bowling Green Falcons.

Interestingly, Cincinnati has never beaten Bowling Green in its program history. The Bearcats are 0-4 all-time against Bowling Green, including a 38-0 loss in 1994.

Coming off a season-opening loss against Nebraska in Kansas City last week, the Bearcats enter their home-opener Saturday as -23.5-points favorites against Bowling Green. Despite this being a Big 12 vs. Mid-American matchup, that spread is way too high. Bowling Green is a solid team, and the Bearcats haven’t done anything over the last two seasons that suggests they are going to cakewalk their way to a victory in this game.

In addition, this is a game the Bearcats need to win. Because if the alternative result happens, things could get very damaging very fast with this program.

Let’s look at Bowling Green quarterback Drew Pyne and the other key Falcons players ahead of Saturday’s matchup.

Quarterback: #9 Drew Pyne — 6’0” 200 lbs. Gr. New Canaan, Conn. Missouri Transfer, Arizona State, Notre Dame Transfer
Bearcats fans may remember Drew Pyne from the game at Notre Dame in October of 2021. Now, he’s with Bowling Green with two years of eligibility. Named one of the four team captains for the season, Pyne went 12-18 for 109 yards in Bowling Green’s season-opening win over Lafayette.

Before one-year stints at Arizona State and Missouri, Pyne played in 17 games for Notre Dame from 2020-2022. In 2022, Pyne went 8-2 as a starter and ranked No. 20 in individual quarterback efficiency while going 4-1 against top 25 teams and throwing for 22 touchdowns.

Pyne comes from an athletic family. His uncle, grandfather and great grandfather all played in the NFL, while his maternal grandfather, Paul Harney, was a professional golf who won six PGA Tournament events, finished in the top eight at the Masters four times and was inducted into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame. His father, George, founded Bruin Capital, a company that focuses on sports investments and advisory services and is currently the CEO. He also previously served as president of IMG as well as CEO of NASCAR.

Four Players to Watch on Bowling Green

1. #0: Running Back Kaderris Roberts — 5-8, 170 lbs. Sr. Zellwood, Fla. Tennessee State Transfer
Roberts rushed for 66 yards on 12 carries against Lafayette last week, his first game as a Falcon.

He was with Tennessee State in 2024 but didn’t play in any games. Roberts played for three seasons at Stetson, rushing for just under 800 yards and six touchdowns in 22 games.

2. #3: Linebacker Dorian Pringle — 6-0, 220 lbs. So. Akron, Ohio Massillon Washington High School
Pringle played in all 12 of Bowling Green’s games in 2024, despite only notching two tackles.

He was a star linebacker in high school, leading Massillon to a 16-0 record and state championship in 2023. That season, Pringle had 24.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks, earning him Ohio’s Division II Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Pringle was also a two-time First-Team All-Ohio.

3. #4: Linebacker Gideon ESPN Lampron — 6-0, 220 lbs. Jr. LaGrange, Ohio Dayton Transfer
Yes, his middle name is ESPN. Lampron is a good player, too, with nine tackles in Bowling Green’s season opener after being named to Phil Steele’s All-MAC Second Team in the Preseason.

Lampron was a star at the University of Dayton, earning FCS All-American honors in 2024 playing on a Dayton team that averaged 242.9 yards, 122.9 passing yards and 12.9 first downs per game.

4. #14: Kicker Jackson Kleather — 5-10, 185 lbs. Jr. Tipp City, Ohio Tippecanoe High School
Yes, we are including a kicker in this week’s player to watch. But that’s because Kleather accounted for 14 of Bowling Green’s 26 points last week.

This is Kleather’s second season kicking at Bowling Green, going 6-9 on field goals last year through six games while going 17-18 on extra points.

As a senior in high school in 2022, Kleather was named Division III All-State.

Head Coach: Eddie George (1st Season) – 51 years old
A household name in Ohio, having starred with the Buckeyes and winning the Heisman Trophy in 1995 before a great eight-year career with the Tennessee Titans, George is in his first season at the FBS level as the Falcons head coach.

George spent the previous four seasons as the head coach at Tennessee State, winning Big South-OVC Coach of the Year and the conference championship in 2024.

With the Titans, George didn’t miss a start in eight seasons, rushing for over 10,000 yards in his career that earned him four Pro Bowl berths and First-Team All-Pro in 2000. George won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2000, the year after the Titans played in Super Bowl XXXIX.

George has his No. 27 retired by the Buckeyes and the Titans.

Offensive Coordinator: Travis Partridge (1st Season) – 34 years old and Greg Nosal (4th Season)
Patridge followed George from Tennessee State, and he has FBS experience as an offensive quality control coach and interim quarterbacks coach at Kanas.

Nosal has been with Bowling Green since 2020, when he was the Falcons running backs coach. He came to Bowling Green after stints at East Carolina and Miami (Ohio), with his first coaching job at his alma mater Virginia Tech as an offensive graduate assistant.

Defensive Coordinator: Brandon Fisher (1st Season)
Another longtime member of George’s staff at Tennessee, Fisher spent eight seasons in the NFL as a defensive assistant with the Tennessee Titans, Detroit Lions and St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams.

Fisher started at outside linebacker at Montana, leading the Grizzlies to two FCS Championship games. Brandon is the son of Jeff Fisher, who wont 178 regular-season and playoff games in 20 full seasons and parts of two others, leading the Tennessee Titans to Super Bowl XXXIX. Jeff is a member of the Tennessee Titans Ring of Honor.

Keys to the Game

1. Run the ball
The Bearcats rushed for 202 yards against Nebraska last week. Running the ball is not an issue for this team, and it shouldn’t be on Saturday.

2. Get off the field early
The Cornhuskers led the Bearcats 39:30 to 20:30 in time of possession last Thursday. Of the 18 third downs Nebraska faced, they converted 10 of them. That can’t happen on Saturday. Cincinnati has to get off the field on third down and prevent Bowling Green from holding onto the ball for too long.

3. Special teams
Scott Satterfield didn’t mince words when emphasizing the role special teams will play in Saturday’s game. Bowling Green returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown in their season opener last Thursday. Jackson Kleather made four field goals in Bowling Green’s win last Thursday, so that’s an indicator that he can play a role in Saturday’s game.

4. Defend the Nipp
Being 4-9 at Nippert Stadium over the last two seasons is simply not good enough. This is one of the most unique and distinct home-field advantages, and the Bearcats need to restore the roar inside Nippert Stadium this season. There can’t be half-empty stadiums in November like there was in the regular-season finale in 2024.

Score Prediction: Bearcats 28 – Bowling Green 17
The Bearcats should win this game, but Bowling Green can’t be taken lightly. Their defensive line could have an impact on the Bearcats being able to run the ball. If Brendan Sorsby can’t push the ball down the field, the Bearcats may be in trouble offensively.

Getting off to a good start will be crucial to Saturday’s game. The Bearcats can’t give Bowling Green any indication that they could win this game. They need to come out an impose their will. That’s what makes the first quarter crucial to this game Saturday. Come out strong, and the Bearcats should win this game going away. The alternative? Whoa boy.