One of the surprise teams of last college football season was the Cincinnati Bearcats, who were able to make the College Football Playoff led by star quarterback Desmond Ridder.
Now that Ridder was drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, the Bearcats will need to replace him to have a successful upcoming college football season, and they have made their decision just hours before their top-25 matchup against Arkansas on Saturday.
Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell has named senior transfer Ben Bryant the team’s starting quarterback on Saturday, according to Chad Brendel of BearcatJournal.com.
Sources confirm to @BearcatJournal that Ben Bryant has been named the #Bearcats starting QB for their season-opening game at Arkansas this afternoon.
Bryant edged out Evan Prater for the job through camp and will be QB1 for the 2022 season
— Chad Brendel (@ChadBrendel) September 3, 2022
Bryant started his college career at Cincinnati, where he sat behind Ridder from 2018-2020 before transferring to Eastern Michigan to be their starting quarterback, only to transfer back to Cincinnati after Ridder departed for the NFL.
While the team is expected to take a bit of a step back considering the loss of Ridder among many others Cincinnati departures for the NFL, hopes are still high from Cincinnati fans that they can have another impressive year.
It’s go time. Lets go #Bearcats https://t.co/nznJVnBiT1
— Doug Baumgartner (@DBaumgartner3) September 3, 2022
As expected Ben Bryant time! https://t.co/pDpCWsDyWi
— Big Bearcats Guy (@bigredsguy) September 3, 2022
No surprise whatsoever https://t.co/TTnfi1abNt
— Jeff Gentil (@jgent15) September 3, 2022
I've been pretty big on Prater over the last couple years, but I may seriously have to go back to the drawing board if Bryant starts AND holds this job over him.
Hopefully just a little veteran love for a guy who came back, and hopefully we'll see Prater when Bryant struggles. https://t.co/JYiC7edk2n
— Cory P. (@FF_Guitarist) September 3, 2022
Luke Fickell spoke very candidly about his team’s quarterback situation when asked during fall camp, saying that he feels comfortable about either Bryant or backup quarterback Evan Prater under center.
“I don’t worry about the quarterback position. I think we’ll be in really good shape and we’re in a really good position,” said Fickell.
Cincinnati’s first matchup against Arkansas will certainly be a big statement as to how the rest of the season may go for both teams.
Even though Cincinnati is coming off a College Football Playoff birth, it is Arkansas that is favored by 6.5 points coming into Saturday’s game, putting Cincinnati in a familiar situation as the underdog on Saturday.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.