For No. 21 Cincinnati, seeing SMU on its schedule has always been a welcome sight.
The Bearcats have won five of six all-time meetings between the conference rivals while outscoring the Mustangs 213-106.
Now visiting Cincinnati will look to continue its reign over SMU on Saturday when the teams meet in Dallas.
Fresh off a bye week, the Bearcats (5-1, 2-0 American Athletic Conference) are riding a five-game winning streak after defeating South Florida 28-24 on Oct. 8.
Cincinnati running back Charles McClelland ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, and Ben Bryant completed 15 of 21 passes for 178 yards and two TDs, with two interceptions.
However, Bryant exited the game in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury that later was diagnosed as a concussion. Top receiver Tyler Scott also had to leave the contest early with an ankle injury, but both are working toward a return this week.
“Obviously Ben has been able to get back — I think some of the concussion protocol type of stuff,” Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said. “Tyler’s still a guy that we’re hoping throughout the rest of this week he’ll continue to get better and better and be able to play.
“You want those guys to be at their best in order to play. … You don’t want to put a guy out there that’s not going to be able to play and perform at the best of his ability.”
With a potentially hampered passing game, the Bearcats likely will have to lean on McClelland again, and he’ll have a chance to feast on a Mustangs defense that has allowed the ninth-most rushing yards per game in the FBS (209).
That defense allowed a whopping 372 yards on the ground against Navy last Friday, but SMU still won 40-34 thanks to quarterback Tanner Mordecai’s sterling performance.
Mordecai threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-27 passing. He also rushed for a score and 74 yards on six carries.
“He’s getting better and better,” Mustangs offensive coordinator Casey Woods said on The Pony Express podcast. “Early in the season, boy he was missing some things and doing some stuff like that. It’s funny how the statistics of a game or the flow of a game can shine a certain light on him.
“He got more credit than he deserved, then he got more blame than he deserved, and he’s kind of just stayed consistent and improved every week and is really playing at a high level right now.”
The senior already has eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark through the air this season and will try to replicate his performance against the Midshipmen and end the Mustangs’ woes against Cincinnati.
But that might not be easy. Opposing quarterbacks have struggled against the Bearcats, throwing for just an average of 186.3 yards per game.
“Cincinnati was (a) remarkable team last year, and they still remain to be,” Woods said of the Bearcats, who reached the College Football Playoffs, where they lost to Alabama. “You get a shot at the champ. Bring ‘em in.”
