Bearcats Beat: Players to Watch and Keys to the Game Saturday vs. Baylor

CINCINNATI — Winners of six straight games, the Cincinnati Bearcats host the Baylor Bears Saturday afternoon on Homecoming in Clifton. This could be a high-scoring game with both of these offenses having outstanding seasons.

Both teams’ quarterbacks are among the best in the Big 12 and the country, and both teams have good skill player groups. The Bearcats have won six straight games, while Baylor has been up-and-down at 4-3 entering Saturday’s game.

Let’s take a deeper look at the Baylor Bears ahead of Saturday’s showdown at Nippert Stadium.

Quarterback: No. 13: Sawyer Robertson — 6-4, 220 lbs. R-Sr. Lubbock, Texas Coronado HS
Robertson is on the Maxwell and Wuerffel Trophy Watch Lists, and he has emerged as one of the Big 12’s and country’s most productive quarterbacks.

So far this season, Robertson has five games with 300+ passing yards and two games with over 400 passing yards. He has multiple touchdown passes in every game, including three+ touchdowns in five of Baylor’s seven games.

Four Players to Watch on Baylor

1. No. 34: Wide Receiver, Josh Cameron — 6-1, 224 lbs. R-Sr. Cedar Park, Texas Cedar Park HS
Benefiting heavily from Robertson, Cameron is on the Biletnikoff and Hornung Award Watch Lists. He was named a First-Team All-American by Athlon Sports as a punt returner.

So far this season, Cameron has 40 receptions for 542 yards and three touchdowns.

2. No. 1: Wide Receiver, Michael Trigg — 6-4, 240 lbs. R-Sr. Tampa, Fla.
Trigg is a good No. 2 wide receiver, with 32 receptions for 495 yards and four touchdowns this season. He had eight receptions for 155 yards three weeks ago against Kansas State.

3. No. 11: Linebacker, Keaton Thomas — 6-2, 229 lbs. R-Jr. Jacksonville, Fla.
Thomas is on the Bronko Nagurski and Dick Butkus Award Watch Lists and was named a Preseason Fourth-Team All-American by Athlon and Phil Steele.

He is the Bears’ leading tackler with 63 tackles this season, while he also has three tackles for loss and two pass break-ups and a fumble recovery.

4. No. 33: Safety, DJ Coleman — 6-1, 210 lbs. Jr. Mesquite, Texas Horn HS
Coleman leads the Bears with five tackles for loss, and he also has 31 tackles, two pass break-ups, three quarterback hits, and a forced fumble.

Head Coach: Dave Aranda (5th Season, 35-33) — 49 years old
Aranda led the Bears to the 2021 Big Ten Championship, with the Bears’ defense getting a late goal line stand against Oklahoma State that may have played a significant role in the Bearcats getting to the College Football Playoff.

In that 2021 season, Aranda was the AP Big 12 Coach of the Year, the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award Big 12 Coach of the Year, and the winner of the George Munger Award.

Prior to Baylor, Aranda was the defensive coordinator of the 2019 LSU Tigers’ National Championship, and he’s also been a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Utah State and Hawaii.

Offensive Coordinator: Jake Spavital (2nd Season) — 40 years old
Spavital is one of the fast-rising offensive coordinators in college football. He’s been an offensive coordinator since 2013, when he was the co-offensive coordinator at Texas A&M. Since then, he’s been an offensive coordinator at California, West Virginia, and now Baylor. Spavital was also the head coach at Texas State from 2019-2022, going 13-35.

Defensive Coordinator: Matt Powledge (3rd Season) — 38 years old
Powledge was the co-defensive coordinator at Oregon in 2022 prior to Baylor, and he was also Baylor’s special teams coordinator from 2020-2021.

Keys to the Game

1. Don’t make this game a track meet.
Baylor can score, so Cincinnati can’t make this game an up-and-down game like the game at Kansas was four weeks ago. Even though the Bears defense will allow the Bearcats to score, the Bearcats defense can’t get caught up in that and make this a track meet. Getting stops will be paramount on Saturday.

2. Impose your physicality
In a game with two teams that are strikingly built on finesse, the Bearcats can impose their will up front on both sides of the ball. If they can, they could win this game by double digits.

3. Generate pressure on Sawyer Robertson
This is a big key. Robertson is a prolific quarterback, so putting him behind schedule and under duress will go a long way towards slowing down Baylor’s offense.

4. Make the crowd a factor
There’s a lot of momentum surrounding the Bearcats right now. They’ve won six straight games, and they are ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll. It’s also Homecoming on Saturday, so the crowd will be alive and rocking at kickoff. Keeping the crowd a factor, especially when the sun goes down in the second half and the weather may be a little crisp, will go a long way towards deciding this game.

Score Prediction: Bearcats 45 – Bears 35
This game should be high-scoring, but I think the Bearcats have the better and more well-rounded team. Winning this game and getting to 7-1 will set the Bearcats up for a chance to play in some high-profile games in November.