UConn @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 8, 2016 ) Cincinnati 9, Connecticut 20

Connecticut looks to snap a four-game losing streak when it visits Cincinnati in the season finale for both teams Saturday. The Bearcats have lost two straight, including last week's blowout at East Carolina which ended their slim bowl hopes.



UConn was routed 39-16 by Boston College at Fenway Park in its last outing. "It's the last time they're every going to put the Connecticut uniform on," UConn coach Randy Edsall told reporters of his team's seniors. "If that doesn't give them enough incentive and enough pride to give it everything they have and prepare the right way this week, and then give it on Saturday, then they've been stealing from the university for the last five years." Cincinnati ranks last in the American Athletic Conference and 115th nationally in scoring at 20.8 points per game.
TV: Noon, ET, ESPN News. LINE: Cincinnati -5.5

ABOUT UCONN (3-8, 2-5 AAC): David Pindell, who threw for a career-high 241 yards on 14-for-33 passing with three interceptions against Boston College, will start at quarterback once again after Bryant Shirreffs was lost for the season with a concussion. The Huskies trailed 39-3 against the Eagles and rank 124th in the nation by allowing 39.4 points per game. UConn defeated Cincinnati 20-9 to even its record at 3-3 last season, but six losses followed to close out the campaign.
ABOUT CINCINNATI (3-8, 1-6): The Bearcats were throttled by the Pirates 48-20 last week, allowing 464 yards passing and watching wide receiver Trevon Brown torch them for 270 yards receiving on nine catches. The performance was a huge disappointment for first-year coach Luke Fickell, whose team had a chance to earn a bowl berth with only five wins if not enough NCAA teams qualified. “The way we handled ourselves, losing our emotions and losing our cool, is not what we work for,” Fickell told reporters. “We have some soul searching to do on the ride home and need to find a way to finish this out the right way and put it on the shoulders of those seniors."

EXTRA POINTS
1. Senior RB Arkeel Newsome will close out his career and ranks third all-time in all-purpose yards at UConn with 5,008.
2. The Bearcats had won five straight in the series before dropping last year's game at Hartford.
3. Cincinnati QB Hayden Moore has completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 2,363 yards and 18 touchdowns on the season.

PREDICTION: Cincinnati 30, UConn 27