Cincinnati at Fresno State

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the Cincinnati Bearcats will open the 2010 season on the road against the Fresno State Bulldogs. It will be the second meeting between the two schools, as Cincinnati won the first meeting in 2009 28-20.

The Bearcats were an impressive 12-1 last year, as their only loss came against a very good Florida team in the Sugar Bowl. The Bearcats have just 12 starters back for the 2010 season, and everyone is waiting to see how the Bearcats will fair without head coach Brian Kelly, who left the program to coach at Notre Dame. Fresno State went 8-5 in 2009, finishing third in the WAC at 6-2. This year the Bulldogs have 15 starters back and figure to have an outside shot at competing for the conference title.

The Bearcats should have one of the top offenses in the Big East this season behind junior quarterback Zach Collaros, who was very impressive last season when he stepped on the field, as he had 1,434 yards with 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Collaros also gives the Bearcats a running threat from the quarterback position, as he ran for 344 yards and four touchdowns. The defense only have five starters back, but is much more experienced than they were a year ago at this point.

The key for the Bulldogs will be replacing the huge amount of offense that running back Ryan Mathews provided them in 2009. Mathews had 1,808 yards and 19 touchdowns. With that look out for sophomore Robbie Rouse, who will become the new starter and should have plenty of nice holes to run through with all five starters returning on the offensive line. The hope is that the defense will be much better this season with seven starters back from last year.

Looking at the Odds: This game is a tough one to call without really having any idea how these two teams will look, which normally has me leaning towards the home team. The Bulldogs are 10-1 in their last 11 home openers, and I think the Bearcats are really going to feel the loss of Kelly. So if i had to pick right now I would take the Bulldogs -3 in this one. I do however really like the OVER 58 in this one, as I think both teams are going to struggle on defense and both should be pretty good on offense this season. My prediction on the final score is Cincinnati 31 Fresno State 35.

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