Cincinnati is hosting Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon of Week 2. The game will take place at 3:30 p.m. ET in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Bearcats are 23.5-point home favorites in this game on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at 46.5 points. This is a preview, prediction and pick for this Bowling Green-Cincinnati non-conference matchup.
Bowling Green vs. Cincinnati Preview
Bowling Green Preview
Bowling Green had an unconvincing win in their season opener against FCS Lafayette. The Falcons ended up winning 26-7, but Lafayette is a bad team. Bowling Green’s offense looked really poor with Drew Pyne at quarterback. Pyne was once the Notre Dame starting quarterback, before failing to win the starting job at Arizona State and Missouri the past two seasons. Pyne showed that he is not up to the task last week, even at this lower level of competition. He was just 12/18 for 109 yards against a bad FCS opponent. Against Cincinnati, Pyne could be in real trouble. After losing superstar tight end Harold Fannin to the NFL, along with other key contributors to the transfer portal, it could be a tough season for Bowling Green.
Cincinnati Preview
Cincinnati came up just short in their season opener against Nebraska. In terms of raw talent, the Cornhuskers’ roster is among the best in the country. That was a tough matchup for Cincinnati to open the season. They should take this home game against Bowling Green as a chance to really push their offense and see how explosive they can be. The Bearcats have a chance to make some noise in the Big 12 with Brendan Sorsby at quarterback, and they need to get momentum going in this game. Sorsby didn’t pass the ball great against a tough Nebraska defense, but he was fantastic running the ball. He ended the game with 96 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. He will have far more success through the air in this game, and his dual-threat abilities will make him hard to stop.
Bowling Green vs. Cincinnati Pick
My best bet for this non-conference matchup is for Cincinnati to cover the large spread. While it’s only a one-game sample size, Cincinnati ranks fourth in the nation in EPA/rush after last week. They should be much better through the air against Bowling Green than they were against Nebraska, especially with the resources Bowling Green will have to deploy to stop the run. Drew Pyne is incompetent at quarterback, and Cincinnati should shut down the Bowling Green offense. Cincinnati has a cupcake FCS game next week, meaning they don’t need to hold anything back this week. They should use this game as a chance to get their offense into a rhythm after a tough opening opponent and blow out Bowling Green.
