Senior running back Kenneth Farrow moved to second in UH career rushing touchdowns with his 31st rushing touchdown coming against Vanderbilt to close out the scoring for the night. | Justin Tijerina/The Cougar
The No. 25 Cougars are coming fresh off of a shutout win against SEC foe Vanderbilt University, that has them at 8-0 and sitting at No. 25 in the College Football Playoff Playoff rankings.
Today they play a conference opponent, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats, who are 5-3 on the season with close losses to Temple University, the University of Memphis and Brigham Young University.
Leading the Bearcats on offense are their two quarterbacks, starter Gunner Kiel and backup Hayden Moore. In the six games Kiel has played in, he has thrown for 1514 yards. He also has a 69 percent completion rating with a 166.3 passer rating and 12 touchdowns.
Coming in when Kiel isn’t on the field is the almost equally efficient Hayden Moore. Moore only has a 59 percent completion rating, but still has 1434 yards and eight touchdowns.
Leading the ground game for the Bearcats are running backs Hosey Williams and Tion Green. The two backs are sharing the load on the ground, with Williams having 551 yards on 96 rushes and Green having 565 yards on 105 rushes.
Williams and Green are gaining 5.7 and 5.2 yards per carry, respectively, while also combining for 136 yards per game and eight touchdowns.
On the opposite side of the ball, leading the Bearcat defense is the duo linebackers Eric Wilson and safety Zach Edwards. Wilson has 76 tackles through eight games this season, with 3.5 being for a loss. He has also forced one fumble and recovered two.
Whenever the ball gets past Wilson, Edwards is there to help out with 51 tackles of his own. In addition to his 51 tackles, Edwards also has an interception and five pass breakups.
On the sidelines for the Bearcats is head coach Tommy Tuberville, who’s made a few stops at other schools around the country before settling in at Cincinnati. Tuberville has an overall record of 153-88, with a 23-11 record in the past two seasons at Cincinnati.
Cincinnati has racked up 308 points this season, averaging 38.5 points per game, while also gaining 370.6 yards per game. Their scoring is front-loaded, with 198 of their points coming in the first half of their games. The Bearcats are giving up 26.4 points per game, while also allowing only 204.1 yards per game.
The Bearcats are 8-point underdogs coming in to Houston, but have beaten the Cougars in their past five meetings.
