Final Huddle: UC Handles Indiana 45-24 at Nippert Stadium

Bryant and Scott are making a strong case as the top passing combination in the AAC. The two posted record-breaking opening-half performances against Indiana—with Bryant (314 yards, four touchdowns) setting a new passing yards mark and Scott (seven catches, 158 yards, three receiving TDs) handling a new first-half TD record.

“I am so grateful for opportunity to play," Scott said about his night. "Every time I thank God because he’s the only one that gives me strength. My teammates and everybody trusted me and Ben [Bryant] put the ball in my hands to make big plays for the team. Like I said last week, we want to make history and I want to continue to do that.”

The Bearcats head coach isn't surprised to see Scott playing this well.

“In some ways yes," Fickell said about expecting Scott's break out. "I mean, halfway through last year, I still kept talking to him about if he kept dropping the ball that he was going to get moved to corner. I think by the end of the year last year that became a little bit of a joke. I don't know why they would think it was a joke we could if we wanted to. Now I think everybody would look at it as a joke. I think he's pretty safe and staying at the wide receiver spot."

The most impressive part of the outing was how easy Bryant and Scott made it look. The scores included one from 34 yards, 32 yards, and a season-high 75 yards. Bryant looks dialed in as one of the best pure passers in the country.

“He is aggressive," Fickell said about Bryant's downfield passing. "He's doing a really good job. I know Tyler had three touchdowns, but he moves the ball around. He is going to take what's given to him. That's where you're seeing the confidence in everybody. It does wonders for the locker room when a guy can spread the ball around."

He has the deep ball chops to succeed at the next level, and he's targeting his two speedy options at the right times (Tre Tucker: five catches, 92 yards, one TD). The one criticism I had of Bryant coming off the Miami (OH) game was his shiftiness against pressure.

“I am really happy that we won," Bryant said. "That is obviously the goal every week. I am tough on myself, and the offense in general, so we will definitely go back and look at the tape to see what we need to do to get better."

“I think everywhere we are continuing to get better and creating more chemistry with each other," He noted about deep passing. "Tyler Scott and I have found that, and all the playmakers that we have, and we are going to continue to use those guys.”

Bryant did a great job rolling out of trouble and extending plays against IU on another strong day from the offensive line (sacks). Overall, UC had seven explosive passes (15-plus yards) for 249 yards against a defense that ranked in the bottom-30 nationally in stopping plays of 10-plus, and 20-plus yards.

If UC is going to throw the ball this well to start games, it makes the entire script that much easier on special teams and defense. They are lucky the start happened the way it did too. The Bearcats scored one touchdown after halftime.

Neither team ran the ball well on Saturday, but IU's passing attack didn't apply makeup like UC's. The Bearcats held the Hoosiers to 38 carries for 68 yards. Diving deeper into the numbers IU posted an abysmal 15% rushing success rate.

Indiana isn't a running team (fifth most pass attempts nationally coming into Nippert Stadium, program-record 66 attempts against UC), but they needed more balance on Saturday. Even taking out sacks, their top rushers in Shaun Shivers (19 carries, 79 yards, one TD) and Josh Henderson (12 carries, 29 yards) got stuffed all day. 

The big fellas up front did a fantastic job getting a push on this rushing attack. Jowon Briggs, Dontay Corleone, and Eric Phillips combined for 13 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and five QB hits on the afternoon. Corleone sealed the game with a great fourth-down interior pressure to give UC the ball back with 4:22 to play.

The final member of that trio had an awesome showing. Phillips put an exclamation point on the first half with this strip sack.

“It was another opportunity and we got to see as many snaps as we had today, but we envisioned him through camp as a starter," Fickell said about Phillips. "I know there's only three guys out there most of the time, but even before Malik [Vann] was out, he was one of those guys we had. We got four maybe five stars on the defensive line as Dontay [Corleone]. He obviously had to step up. I think he's done a really good job and we are going to rely on him."

He adds another fun element to a loaded Bearcats front seven.

"Yeah I felt like I was in the zone a little bit," Phillips said. "Like I said, overall I felt a little loose, and felt better today." 

You'll never believe this, but Ivan Pace Jr. led Cincinnati in tackles again—He's topped UC in that category in every game this season. Pace is a machine that posted multiple TFLs on the day and was a big part of pressuring Connor Bazelak consistently throughout the contest. 

“He's doing a great job," Fickell said about the soft-spoken linebacker. "I don't even notice it. Sometimes they tell me afterwards he might end up with 15 tackles or five tackles for loss. He’s a fireball. He goes. I think we are going to continue to use him in different ways but find ways that we can kind of let him go, that's where he's dynamic. We're glad we got him. He now fits, I don't mean in the scheme of what we do. He fits so well with the guys in the locker room. We brought him up there afterwards. He's not a real talker. He gave me a little message and I relayed it to the team. I know he cares a lot. I know this means a lot to him.”

The defensive performance is even more impressive Given UC faced 109 snaps from a quick-tempo IU team.

Veteran cornerback Arquon Bush (four tackles) left the win in the first half due to an undisclosed injury, and it was noticeable at times throughout the rest of the game. 

Justin Harris stepped in and played most of the field corner snaps in his place, and IU responded by targeting him in coverage throughout the second half with Cam Camper (10 catches, 126 yards).

The Bearcats' redshirt junior played a little too physical at times the rest of the game picking up three pass interference penalties along the way. The miscues totaled 28 yards in damage, including one that gave IU a new set of downs inside the five-yard line. Harris did have some nice reps, including strong coverage on Donaven McCulley in the fourth quarter.

We also got a nice look at JQ Hardaway (one tackle) in this game. He played physical on the boundary and did not look overpowered against Big Ten competition.

“It was really valuable. Those guys did a really good job," Fickell said about young guys in the secondary getting experience. "That's why in those situations, it's still a game like some people might look at and say that it is not much of a game. No, that's, that's incredible work for our young guys. I didn't say we were perfect, we had three pass interference calls. 

"They were overly aggressive in some of them. I do believe they probably all were penalties. It is not like I can stand here and say that it wasn't a penalty. The reality is those are penalties, and we'll get better at it. It's going to be a really big growing experience for a lot of those guys. I think this is really what's going to help us in the long term.“

All in all, it was a solid outing for the UC secondary—which held Bazelak to 3-of-12 on deep passes and 14-of-35 on medium passes.