Cincinnati will Easily Defeat Florida in the Sugar Bowl

by Jonathan
(Philadelphia, PA)

Cincinnati 35 Florida 20

This matchup at first blush seems to be a mismatch based upon the program’s respective histories. The Gators, led by Urban Meyer have multiple national championships, and are being led by future NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.

But beware SEC fans; the Cincinnati Bearcats will win this game easily, in spite of losing their head coach Brian Kelly to Notre Dame. This is because the Bearcats have more to play for, an undefeated season, while Florida will still be digesting the fact that they are not playing for a national championship, after getting drubbed by Alabama 32-13.

The Bearcats are undefeated, 12-0, they are for real. They have played seven bowl eligible opponents in 2009. They have scored over 28 points in all of their games. They have scored over 34 points eight times. They have a balanced passing and rushing attack.

Bearcats quarterback, Tony Pike is completing 62.8% of his passes for 2350 yards. He has 26 TD versus only 6 interceptions on the season. The rushing attack is led by Isaiah Read, 758 yards rushing 9 TD’s and Jacob Ramsey 421 yards rushing 4 TD’s. Bearcat wide-outs Marty Gilyard and Armon Binns have combined for 21 TD catches and over 2000 yards receiving.

The Gators, have had an outstanding year, but have struggled to score in many games. Tim Tebow is their major offensive threat; he leads the team in rushing 859 yards and 13 TD’s, to go along with throwing 18 TD’s and having only 5 interceptions. The Gators have good running backs in Jeffery Demps, 738 yards rushing, 7 TD’s, and Chris Rainey 548 yards rushing and 4 TD’s. Wide-outs Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez are solid averaging 61 yards per game.

Interim Bearcat coach Jeff Quinn has been in this position before. He led Central Michigan to a 2006 Bowl victory after Brian Kelly left the team to join Cincinnati. Kelly led the Bearcats to a 34-6 record over the past three seasons. This is the second straight BCS appearance for the Bearcats.

The Bearcats vaunted spread offense has been unstoppable. Florida will see it first-hand January 1st.