Three keys, prediction: No. 7 Cincinnati Bearcats football eyes revenge against Memphis
The University of Cincinnati football team entered its 2019 regular-season finale on a nine-game winning streak.
Memphis snapped that streak, defeating the Bearcats, 34-24, in Memphis.
Cincinnati returned to the Tigers' Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium eight days later to face Memphis in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) championship game.
The Tigers again beat the Bearcats, 29-24.
[ Cincinnati football comes up short at Memphis in AAC Championship ]
Both games came down to a lack of late-game execution by UC, which is unacceptable, Cincinnati Head Coach Luke Fickell said.
"It comes down to your ability to finish," he said. "Your ability to have the mental toughness to be in one of those games that's going to come down to the last 4-6 minutes of the game and be able to come out on top. Two times last year we didn't, and both of them happened to be against Memphis."
It was the Tigers, not Cincinnati, who finished the season as the highest-ranked Group of Five team, earning an invitation to the Cotton Bowl Classic.
Fickell and the No. 7 (both Associated Press and Coaches polls) Bearcats (4-0, 2-0 AAC) will have an opportunity to get revenge when they host Memphis (3-1, 2-1 AAC) on Saturday.
[ Memphis Tigers: A look at No. 7 UC Bearcats' next opponent ]
3 keys to victory for the Bearcats
1. Finish: In the first matchup against Memphis last season, Cincinnati's offense was unable to capitalize on a fourth-quarter interception by Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner. Then UC quarterback Ben Bryant, who was starting in place of an injured Desmond Ridder, threw an interception with 1:35 left.
The Tigers scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:14 remaining in the AAC title game. The Bearcats' counter drive stalled on the Memphis 26.
"Things that we pride ourselves on: Being able to finish, being able to wear guys out based on how many guys we can play and how hard we want to play. We didn't (do those things against Memphis last year)," Fickell said.
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UC played more than 20 different players on defense last week at Southern Methodist University. The Bearcats played nearly 80 players against Austin Peay in the season-opener.
Cincinnati's depth is one of its biggest strengths. The Bearcats will need to use it Saturday in order to run through the tape and play sound football for a full 60 minutes.
2. Another productive, turnover-free outing for Ridder: Cincinnati's junior quarterback had a career night last week at SMU.
Ridder was named the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Week, Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week, Manning Award Star of the Week and the AAC Offensive Player of the Week after running for a career-high 179 yards and three touchdowns and completing 13 of 21 passes for 126 yards and another score.
[ UC Notebook: Ridder playing 'with a different type of swag'; McClelland has 2nd torn ACL ]
But most importantly, Ridder had zero turnovers.
Ridder passed for 233 yards and ran for 113 more in the AAC title game a season ago. He had a 15-yard touchdown run and was a big reason why the Bearcats had a chance at the conference crown.
But he also threw an interception and lost a fumble.
If Ridder can have another turnover-free performance on Saturday, the Bearcats should improve to 5-0 and win a school-record 17th straight game at Nippert Stadium, which again will have limited attendance.
[ Luke Fickell: 'It's a disappointment' No. 7 Cincinnati will play home games without fans ]
"We're always going to protect Nip," Ridder said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing, we're going to go out and play."
3. Plenty of Elijah Ponder and Myjai Sanders: Cincinnati defensive tackle Elijah Ponder and defensive end Myjai Sanders are the highest-graded edge defenders in the country, according to Pro Football Focus.
Ponder earned a 91.6 grade, while Sanders received a 91.3.
Ponder's grade is the second-highest grade for any FBS player through this point of the season, trailing only Florida tight end Kyle Pitts' 95.5.
The 6-foot-3, 275-pound senior, who has started every game for the Bearcats since the beginning of last season, has 11 tackles, including two tackles for loss, through the first four games. Ponder forced a fumble and had 0.5 sacks in a 28-7 win against South Florida on Oct. 3.
Sanders has a team-high 3.5 sacks this season and has emerged as one of the best pass rushers in the AAC.
"He could play football for a long time," Fickell said of the 6-foot-5, 258-pound junior. "He can make a career of this. He really can. Not just because he has talent, but because he has a passion to play. Everybody's got a dream to play in the NFL and to continue to play the game of football, but the guys with a passion have a chance to really make a career of this. He's taken some of those next steps of playing with emotion but not playing emotional."
The pair will need to get a push up front and cause havoc for Memphis quarterback Brady White, who is seeking his 24th career win. That would be the most in Tigers history.
How to watch
Kickoff: Noon on Saturday
Where: Nippert Stadium (no fans)
TV: Mark Jones (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst) and Paul Carcaterra (sideline) will have the call on ESPN.
Radio: Dan Hoard (play-by-play), Jim Kelly Jr. (analyst), Tony Pike (sideline) and Mo Egger (host) will have the UC radio network call on WLW-AM (700), Sirius 206, XM 201, Internet 964 and TuneIn.com.
Live stream: WatchESPN.com
Betting line: The Bearcats were a 6.5-point favorite 24 hours before kickoff.
Series history: Cincinnati trails, 13-23 (tied 8-8 at UC).
Prediction
The Bearcats have lost five straight games against Memphis, including two losses in eight days last season. But the Tigers haven't beaten a top-10 team since 1996 (No. 6 Tennessee). Cincinnati has College Football Playoff aspirations. Those stay alive Saturday. UC wins, 33-24.