1.) Our offense needs to be about ten times better than it was on Saturday; is that possible with such a short turnaround? Better pass protection, no more dropped passes, accurate throws from Russell Wilson. I'm concerned about Russell, probably more than I should be, but he was so off against UCF that it seemed it might take half the season for him to reclaim his football awesome. I hope to not be talking about this tomorrow.
2.) All of Jeff Ruiz's punts will fly at least 25 yards down field. This here's my lock of da week! /lights cigar
3.) I've been going back and forth on this one. On one hand, the Bearcats are thin up front and have had serious problems protecting the quarterback. Unless something unexpected happens, they're going to start a 6-4, 266 lb guy at left tackle. For reference, George Bryan is listed at 6-5, 265. I'm sure he's great for screens and such in the spread offense, but it seems like the lack of weight there could be problematic in other situations.
On the other hand, there's a good offense hidden in there somewhere, and I'm always going to worry about our defense's ability to be disruptive at the line of scrimmage. If we can't get to Collaros, or at the very least KEEP CONTAIN on the guy, the headlines Friday could be all about the Bearcats' "breakout performance." Headlines lamenting more of the same from Cincinnati's sputtering Mild Injury Machine seem equally likely to me. Wish I'd seen that Fresno State game.
I'm lost without the Predict-O-Meter, but here goes: NC State 35, Cincinnati 31.
