After losing Sauce Gardner, Desmond Ridder and Coby Bryant to the NFL, the impact will have a massive impact on our Cincinnati vs. Arkansas prediction.
Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell is one of the best in the business, but can he get this team back to the prominence it was at last season?
Heading into this game, Fickell has yet to announce the starting quarterback, while the Razorbacks look forward to an improved season from K.J. Jefferson.
Let’s dive into the matchup and find the best Cincinnati vs Arkansas prediction for Week 1.
Cincinnati vs. Arkansas Week 1 College Football Betting Picks & Predictions
Cincinnati vs. Arkansas betting Odds
| Cincinnati Spread | +6 (-110) |
| Arkansas Spread | -6 (-110) |
| Over/Under | 52.5 |
| Location | Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, AR |
| Time | 3:30 PM EST |
| TV | ESPN |
Odds courtesy of BetMGM
Cincinnati Coping With Losses
Every year, teams lose talent to the NFL or through the transfer portal, but the Bearcats enter 2021 without Gardner, Ridder, and another cornerback in Coby Bryant.
This leaves the team with many new faces and far from the level of production Gardner and Bryant produced.
Fickell has yet to announce the team’s starting quarterback with Ben Bryant and Evan Prater on the roster, but Bryant has more experience after a year away from the program quarterbacking Eastern Michigan.
Bryant completed 68.4% of his passes for over 3,100 yards and 14 touchdowns on 408 attempts for EMU.
Prater, entering his redshirt sophomore season, has barely played, but when he has, he’s shown he’s an electric runner, having rushed for 105 yards and two scores on 12 scampers last year.
The team does have some solid playmakers in slot receiver Tre Tucker and running back Ryan Montgomery, but the Arkansas unit is pretty experienced.
In the secondary, Arkansas is beatable, but we’re unsure who the quarterback is. You can make arguments for both.
Arkansas Dynamic QB Play and Stout OL
Jefferson worked on passing the ball this offseason after attempting just 294 passes last season. In those 294 passes, Jefferson completed 67.3% of his passes for 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
Where Jefferson shines is running the ball, registering 146 carries for 664 yards and six touchdowns.
The receivers aren’t exactly world-beaters, but Jefferson will have Raheim Sanders in his second season, his first in a more full-time capacity.
Jefferson will also have an offensive line in front of him that all juniors and seniors hold up more than competently in both pass and run protection.
The Razorbacks are set up nicely for this matchup.
Cincinnati vs. Arkansas Prediction
By the end of the season, we may look at the Bearcats record and see that they performed well, but drawing Arkansas to start the year is a difficult matchup.
Again, the Bearcats have lost so much talent and have quarterback options that aren’t the most exciting. However, they offer two different skillsets.
It’s possible Fickell platoons them to try to throw the Razorbacks off, but Jefferson is dynamic enough, especially with a hopefully improved arm.
Add in the Razorbacks offensive line stability, and this spread under a touchdown looks like the way to go.
