Cincinnati vs. OSU Preview Part 2

Cincinnati vs. OSU, September 16, 12:05, ESPN Regional
Scouting the Bearcats
The Bearcats, 1-1. have played both games at home, with a win against Eastern Kentucky, 31-0, and a loss to Pittsburgh, 33-15.
The EKU game was the first school shutout in 11 seasons. The Bearcats stopped three drives by intercepting the ball. Cincinnati rotated quarterbacks, using starter Dustin Grutza in the first and third quarters and backup Nick Davilla in the second and fourth quarters. Grutza had the better stats with 9 of 15 passing for 161 yards and one touchdown.
In the Pittsburgh loss, QB Grutza threw an interception with 1:49 left in the first half, which allowed Pitt to take the lead 7-0 going into halftime. In the first play of the second half, Pitt hit a 80-yard touchdown pass. Later in the game the Bearcats gave up a safety on an intentional grounding penalty in the endzone. Cincinnati suffered from turnovers, giving up a total of two interceptions and a lost fumble in the loss to Pitt.

Quarterback
Sophomore Dustin Grutza has been the starter this whole season, but Senior Nick Davila has had minutes in both games. Grutza is 30 for 50 with 350 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He has 13 straight starts. In 2005 he completed 56% for 1,799 yards and 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Davila is 14 of 24 for 153 yards and one touchdown this season.

Running back
Butler Benton will start his third game of the season. The 6-1, 210 lb junior has not been an integral part of the offense, only having 37 yards in ten carries with one 2-yard touchdown. He has 793 yards and six touchdowns in his career. Also seeing playing time at RB will be Bradley Glatthaar and Greg Moore. The Bearcats don't design many running plays for the fullback, but occasionally 6-4, 273 lb FB Doug Jones will go out for a short pass.

Receivers
At reciever the Bearcats have Dominick Goodman and Bill Poland. Goodman leads the Big East, #31 nationally with 6 receptions/game. He had career high 8 receptions against Pitt last week. He leads the team in all purpose yardage, 107/game, which includes some retuns on special teams. Poland has four receptions for 47 yards and on touchdown. Also seeing some time at receiver is Derrick Stewart and Earnest Jackson. At tight end is Brent Celek, who is second on the team with nine receptions.

O-Line
The Bearcats have limited experience in this area. Starting at tackle is red shirt freshman Jeffrey Linkenbach and second year starter junior Digger Bujnoch. At guard is senior Frank Straub who has played in 22 games, but has only been a starter this season. At the other guard position is sophomore Trevor Canfield who became a starter near the end of last season. At center is junior Chris Flores had became a starter this season.

Kicking
Returning this year is senior place kicker Kevin Lovell, who is 16 of 25 in his career with a long of 49 yards and 62-63 on PATs. Returning to punt is senior Brian Steele, who averaged 41.1 yards last year and helped Cincinnati rank 25th nationally in net punting.

Linebackers
Sophomore Corey Smith, OLB, returned to the Bearcats in the Pittsburgh game after battling an injury. He started at linebacker as a freshman, earning second team All-Big East. honors. At MLB is senior Kevin McCullough, who has ten tackles this season. At OLB is senior Leo Morgan, who made his first career start against Pitt. He had limited playing time last year after transferring from junior college.

Secondary
At the corners is sophomore Mike Mickens and senior John Bowie. Mickens started last year as a first year freshman and earned second team All-Big East honors. Bowie is the team's leading tackler with 16 this season. He had a career record 10 against Pitt and returned a fumble 24 yards. Bowie is a track star, having won the Big East 100 meter title and anchored the winning 4x100 relay. Dominic Ross is in his third year as starting strong safety. So far this year he has four tackles and an interception. Free safety Haruki Nakamura is second on the team with 11 tackles.

D-Line
At defensive end is junior Anthony Hoke and sophomore Trevor Anderson. Hoke played DE and LB in 2005. Anderson is tied for third on the team with 10 tackles this season. Last year he started eight games and had 31 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss. At defensive tackle is Terrill Byrd and Tony Carvitti. Sophomore Byrd started 11 games as a true freshman last year, he has four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss this season. Senior Carvitti had two sacks in his first start, earlier this year in the opener against Eastern Kentucky.