Opponent: Fresno State
Coach: Pat Hill (14th year, 100-66)
2009 record: 8-5 (6-2 WAC)
Returning starters: 16 (8 offense/ 8 defense)
About the Bulldogs: Last year, Fresno State played Cincinnati down to the wire in a weird game in which the banged-up Bearcats seemed to be playing just to survive any way possible. The Bulldogs took Wisconsin to overtime and won at Illinois, and the program has a long legacy of playing BCS teams tough.
The good news for Cincinnati is that Fresno's best player from last season, 1,800-yard rusher Ryan Mathews, is long gone. Robbie Rouse had a good spring and will get the first crack at replacing Mathews, but that kind of production is hard to emulate.
The Bulldogs are pretty well set at most other positions. Quarterback Ryan Colburn is back after throwing for nearly 2,500 yards a season ago, and he improved as the year went along. He needs more help at receiver.
The entire defensive line and two starting linebackers return, but Fresno had one of the worst run defenses in the FBS last year, allowing 214 yards on the ground per game. That has to improve for the Bulldogs to play at a higher level.
Random factoid: Fresno State won 81 games and went to nine bowl games during the decade spanning 2000-09.
My totally unscientific percentage chance that Cincinnati wins this game: 66.7 percent. It's not going to be easy. Cincinnati has to travel across country and play a solid team on the road at 10:30 p.m. ET in the opener. I'm sure Butch Jones wouldn't have chosen this spot for his debut if he'd had a say in the matter. But I still think the Bearcats are better, and they should have enough championship moxie in their DNA at this point to get the job done.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast
Coach: Pat Hill (14th year, 100-66)
2009 record: 8-5 (6-2 WAC)
Returning starters: 16 (8 offense/ 8 defense)
About the Bulldogs: Last year, Fresno State played Cincinnati down to the wire in a weird game in which the banged-up Bearcats seemed to be playing just to survive any way possible. The Bulldogs took Wisconsin to overtime and won at Illinois, and the program has a long legacy of playing BCS teams tough.
The good news for Cincinnati is that Fresno's best player from last season, 1,800-yard rusher Ryan Mathews, is long gone. Robbie Rouse had a good spring and will get the first crack at replacing Mathews, but that kind of production is hard to emulate.
The Bulldogs are pretty well set at most other positions. Quarterback Ryan Colburn is back after throwing for nearly 2,500 yards a season ago, and he improved as the year went along. He needs more help at receiver.
The entire defensive line and two starting linebackers return, but Fresno had one of the worst run defenses in the FBS last year, allowing 214 yards on the ground per game. That has to improve for the Bulldogs to play at a higher level.
Random factoid: Fresno State won 81 games and went to nine bowl games during the decade spanning 2000-09.
My totally unscientific percentage chance that Cincinnati wins this game: 66.7 percent. It's not going to be easy. Cincinnati has to travel across country and play a solid team on the road at 10:30 p.m. ET in the opener. I'm sure Butch Jones wouldn't have chosen this spot for his debut if he'd had a say in the matter. But I still think the Bearcats are better, and they should have enough championship moxie in their DNA at this point to get the job done.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast
