The Cincinnati Bearcats head to Temple tomorrow afternoon for their second-to-last regular season game of 2022 and final regular-season game as members of the AAC. Alex is once again joined by Russ Heltman of All Bearcats and Sports Illustrated to preview tomorrow's game and why the onus will be on the defensive line to get after Temple quarterback E.J. Warner. Alex and Russ then give their keys to the game and score predictions with Russ thinking the Cincinnati Bearcats will do something that h...
Nov 18, 2022•36 min•Ep. 244
The Cincinnati Bearcats have several weaknesses that need to be cleaned up in their final two regular-season games. Alex is joined by AllBearcats and Sports Illustrated colleague Russ Heltman to discuss why the running game has become such a weakness for this team. Russ then explains why Ben Bryant will remain the Cincinnati Bearcats starting quarterback and what he needs to do to give the Cincinnati Bearcats a chance to win a conference championship. Russ and Alex then talk about Tyler Scott's ...
Nov 17, 2022•31 min•Ep. 243
Despite getting outplayed in several statistical categories, the Cincinnati Bearcats showed some signs of encouragement in their win over ECU on Friday night. Alex explains how those signs could still propel Cincinnati to a conference championship. Speaking of a conference championship, Alex explains why this season could be heading for a finish reminiscent of 2019. Remember when fans wanted Ben Bryant to start over Desmond Ridder in the two games at Memphis that year? There's a similar situatio...
Nov 16, 2022•30 min•Ep. 242
The Cincinnati Bearcats control their own destiny to play for a third straight conference championship, but what are the chances they actually win it? Alex explains that if the Cincinnati Bearcats are going to win a third straight conference championship, they're going to have to start Evan Prater. That's especially true if they're going to beat UCF on the road, which is probably where the conference championship is going through. Starting Prater would help the Cincinnati Bearcats improve their ...
Nov 15, 2022•27 min•Ep. 241
The Cincinnati Bearcats were outplayed in several statistical categories by ECU on Friday night, but they did just enough to win and keep their conference championship hopes alive. Alex explains how doing just enough is becoming this team's identity and that their culture won this game over ECU's talent. What was once viewed as a blip is now a trend; the Cincinnati Bearcats cannot run the ball. Alex explains the reasons for their struggles and why Ben Bryant's lack of mobility is the biggest rea...
Nov 14, 2022•28 min•Ep. 240
It's gameday for the Cincinnati Bearcats, and it's a big one tonight as the Cincinnati Bearcats welcome the ECU Pirates into Nippert Stadium! Alex explains why this game will prove whether or not the Cincinnati Bearcats are legitimate conference championship contenders. ECU presents multiple challenges, primarily running back Keaton Mitchell. Mitchell is the conference's leading rusher, and Alex thinks he is the biggest player the Cincinnati Bearcats defense needs to stop. If Mitchell gets going...
Nov 11, 2022•31 min•Ep. 239
Cincinnati Bearcats running back Corey Kiner hasn't seen the field much over the past month, and it doesn't look like that's going to change. Alex is joined by AllBearcats and Sports Illustrated colleague Russ Heltman on why the Cincinnati Bearcats are struggling to run the ball and why the subpar offensive line is a big reason for those struggles. Speaking of running the ball, that's something ECU running back Keaton Mitchell does very well. Russ talks about the importance of the Cincinnati Bea...
Nov 10, 2022•37 min•Ep. 238
The Cincinnati Bearcats made some changes to their offensive line against Navy, but they didn't make the change that's becoming glaringly needed. Alex explains how starting Lorenz Metz is much-needed, but the tackles are the players who need to be critically evaluated. While Navy only attempted six passes on Saturday, Alex explains how the Cincinnati Bearcats secondary's performance is a concern heading into this week's showdown against ECU. Then, Alex gives praise to former Cincinnati Bearcats ...
Nov 09, 2022•36 min•Ep. 237
The Cincinnati Bearcats have struggled in the red zone and short-yardage situations this season. Alex, though, looks into why the red zone offense this year is more successful than last year's. But he also explains how to make it even more effective, especially to beat a team like UCF. Alex then explains ways for the Cincinnati Bearcats offense to evolve over the final three regular-season games. There's no problem with being a big-play offense, as evidenced by Tyler Scott, but they also need to...
Nov 08, 2022•34 min•Ep. 236
The Cincinnati Bearcats certainly didn't look pretty on Saturday, but they looked successful in their bounce back win over Navy. Alex recaps the game and why quarterback Ben Bryant deserves credit for his bounce back performance. Could this be the start of a November surge for Bryant? Once again, the Cincinnati Bearcats BlackCat defense showed up to stop Navy's triple option offense. Alex explains why fans shouldn't take their success for granted against triple option offenses and hypes up the i...
Nov 06, 2022•31 min•Ep. 235
The Cincinnati Bearcats return home tomorrow to face Navy and their triple option offense. Alex previews the matchup and how it's go time for the Cincinnati Bearcats with it now being November and three of the last four games being at home. Navy's triple option offense is always a concern, but Alex has a bigger concern going into the game. And it doesn't even have to do with Navy's triple option. Several statistics show why this is a bad matchup for the Cincinnati Bearcats, particularly quarterb...
Nov 04, 2022•31 min•Ep. 234
The Cincinnati Bearcats offense has stalled out the last few games, but there are ways to fix it. Alex is joined by AllBearcats and Sports Illustrated colleague Russ Heltman for his opinion on quarterback Ben Bryant's struggles and the lack of snaps for running back Corey Kiner. Russ adamantly believes that the Cincinnati Bearcats coaching staff should make the switch to Evan Prater at quarterback, but does the coaching staff feel the same way? Plus, why is Corey Kiner not being used after the e...
Nov 03, 2022•38 min•Ep. 233
The Cincinnati Bearcats have a big problem up front. Alex explains why this year's offensive line has not lived up to expectations. Sure Ben Bryant has struggled and the running game has had its share of subpar performances. But an offensive line returning all five starters from last year has not been as good as advertised coming into the season. Alex points out in this week's film review how UCF was by far the more creative team on Saturday, and that the Cincinnati Bearcats must have more creat...
Nov 02, 2022•32 min•Ep. 232
Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Ben Bryant struggled on Saturday, but Alex explains why he is not the reason for the loss at UCF. On a day where the Cincinnati Bearcats struggled to get the running game going, Bryant literally had to be perfect for the Cincinnati Bearcats to have any chance to win the game. While the Cincinnati Bearcats hopes of a third straight conference championship and New Year's Six bowl are in serious jeopardy, Alex reminds fans why this program is not rebuilding. They're ...
Nov 01, 2022•32 min•Ep. 231
The Cincinnati Bearcats lost a heartbreaker to UCF Saturday afternoon, putting their hopes of a third straight conference championship in serious jeopardy. Alex explains why the Cincinnati Bearcats lost this game because their identity is only one dimension. The Cincinnati Bearcats are now in a dogfight with several other teams in the American Athletic Conference in the race for a championship. But Alex is optimistic that the Cincinnati Bearcats can still win out and get another shot at UCF for ...
Oct 30, 2022•35 min•Ep. 230
Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell's record-setting 54 wins as head coach can be attributed to a lot of things, but Alex explains why the Cincinnati Bearcats culture is the biggest reason why. Both the Cincinnati Bearcats and UCF are heading to the Big 12 this year, but Alex explains why the Cincinnati Bearcats culture is so much better than the UCF's and why that can be an asset in tomorrow's game. In the keys to the game, Alex explains why stopping the run is the biggest key to slowin...
Oct 28, 2022•42 min•Ep. 229
The Cincinnati Bearcats have won six straight games, but are struggling offensively. So what's their identity? Alex is joined by AllBearcats and Sports Illustrated colleague Russ Heltman to discuss what this Cincinnati Bearcats team does well and how tight ends Josh Whyle and Leonard Taylor are being used within the offense. Penalties nearly cost the Cincinnati Bearcats in their previous game at SMU, and at some point they have to get cleaned up. Alex and Russ talk about how it's one thing to be...
Oct 27, 2022•39 min•Ep. 228
The Cincinnati Bearcats were mocked by the ESPN commentators during their uninspiring win over SMU. Alex explains why he is more discouraged after watching the film review and how this offense more resembles 2019 as opposed to 2021. Alex then explains why expectations may be starting to get to the Cincinnati Bearcats. They have a lot of talent, but a razor thin margin for error to get to a New Year's Six bowl, much like the razor thin margin for error to make the Playoff last year, might be the ...
Oct 26, 2022•37 min•Ep. 227
Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell traditionally has not used more than one quarterback in a game. But is the unique talent of Evan Prater getting wasted in certain situations? Alex explains why Prater needs to be used in certain situations, like the fourth down play early in the second quarter at SMU. It's one thing to run the ball in that situation, which the Cincinnati Bearcats did, but Prater would allow you to have more plays at your disposal to call. Speaking of Fickell, he is kno...
Oct 25, 2022•30 min•Ep. 226
The Cincinnati Bearcats barely scraped by SMU today, as head coach Luke Fickell becomes the all-time winningest head coach in Cincinnati Bearcats history. Alex explains why this performance today is not going to cut it against teams like UCF. This is the second straight game against an inferior conference opponent where the Cincinnati Bearcats didn't even manage to score 30 points, and Alex points out the lack of creativity and flavor within the offense for the recent struggles. There were some ...
Oct 22, 2022•33 min•Ep. 225
The Cincinnati Bearcats head to Texas to take on SMU tomorrow afternoon in their first game out of the bye week. Alex previews the upcoming matchup and who starts at quarterback for the Cincinnati Bearcats. While the focus will be on the Cincinnati Bearcats defense being able to slow down SMU's prolific passing attack, running the ball is just as big of a key to the game. In addition, what saved the Cincinnati Bearcats against USF will once again be a key in this game. Alex then gives his player...
Oct 21, 2022•25 min•Ep. 224
Cincinnati Bearcats Quarterback Ben Bryant is still dealing with a concussion he suffered in the win over USF two weeks ago. Could this mean a change to Evan Prater for Saturday's upcoming game is coming? Alex is joined by AllBearcats and Sports Illustrated colleague Russ Heltman for the latest surrounding Bryant's concussion and if he will be able to start Saturday at SMU. Alex and Russ then get into why it's paramount for the Cincinnati Bearcats to run the ball on Saturday and the one player t...
Oct 20, 2022•49 min•Ep. 223
The Cincinnati Bearcats are getting the best shot from every opponent on their schedule this season might give a lot of fans an irregular heartbeat and may cause them to have to take a stress test before and after games. But Alex says that getting those best shots is a good thing because that is exactly what will happen in the Big 12. Alex then gives listeners a first look at SMU and how the key to this game for the Cincinnati Bearcats is the biggest key to the second half of the season. The Ame...
Oct 19, 2022•28 min•Ep. 222
The Cincinnati Bearcats learned a hard lesson in their win against USF that will hopefully serve them well in the second half of the regular season. Alex explains what that lesson is as well as the other keys to the second half of the season as the Cincinnati Bearcats pursue a third straight conference championship. The player who saved the Cincinnati Bearcats in the win over USF is just as key of a player as Ben Bryant or Ivan Pace Jr. for the second half of the season, and that player could al...
Oct 18, 2022•24 min•Ep. 221
The Cincinnati Bearcats have one key issue they need to solve in the second half of the season: long stretches in games where they don't score. Alex dives into a viewer's comment that Evan Prater could be the antidote to those long scoring stretches. He cautions listeners to not let their infatuation with Prater cloud their judgement, and the real answer to the Bearcats long scoreless stretches is leaning on the running game and Ben Bryant not going into lingering funks. Alex then goes over his ...
Oct 17, 2022•23 min•Ep. 220
The Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team is just weeks away from tipping off its 2022-2023 season, their final season in the American Athletic Conference. Alex is, once again, joined by AllBearcats and Sports Illustrated colleague Russ Heltman to preview the upcoming season and what to expect from this team. This year's Cincinnati Bearcats team features three big men transfers, and Russ explains which big man he thinks will make the biggest impact on the team. Alex and Russ then talk about ...
Oct 14, 2022•22 min•Ep. 219
The Cincinnati Bearcats came out of their win over South Florida with questions over this defense's ability to stop the run and multiple players injured. Alex is joined by AllBearcats and Sports Illustrated colleague Russ Heltman for the latest updates surrounding those injured players including quarterback Ben Bryant. Russ also talks about how USF may have exposed ways to run on the Bearcats defense. Alex and Russ then talk about what they want to see the Cincinnati Bearcats do better in the se...
Oct 13, 2022•37 min•Ep. 218
The Cincinnati Bearcats exceeded expectations in the first half, going 5-1 and climbing back into the top 25. Today, Alex gives his overall grade for the first half of the season as well as his grades for the offense, defense and special teams. Alex then hands out individual awards on offense and defense including MVP, Best Breakout Player and the players Alex wants to see more of in the second half. Then Alex talks about what he wants to see overall from the Bearcats in the second half, headlin...
Oct 12, 2022•29 min•Ep. 217
There were several turning points for the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half of the season. Alex looks at the key moments that helped the Cincinnati Bearcats achieve a 5-1 record. The first key moment was leaving quarterback Ben Bryant in the game at Arkansas after a lackluster first half. While there is still intrigue about Evan Prater being this team's starting quarterback, putting him in the game would have made for a potential quarterback controversy going forward. The Cincinnati Bearcats...
Oct 11, 2022•31 min•Ep. 216
The Cincinnati Bearcats barely scraped by USF 28-24 for their 30th straight home win at Nippert Stadium and Luke Fickell's record-tying 53rd win as Bearcats head coach. Alex vents his frustrations of the Cincinnati Bearcats barely being able to pull this one out and points out why the Blackcats defense struggled. Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Ben Bryant left the game with what appeared to be a concussion in the fourth quarter. Evan Prater came in and led the Cincinnati Bearcats to a come-from ...
Oct 09, 2022•25 min•Ep. 215
