September 17, 2026 • 9 mins
Bearcat Journal's Chad Brendel joined us to discuss the UC/Miami football game and the likelihood of MJ Collins being eligible to play for the Bearcats this season.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
13 from 4, this is ESPN 1530. My name's Mo Egger.
(00:05):
I appreciate you listening today, and we always appreciate the
opportunity to talk UC football and basketball and occasionally other
sports with our guy Chad Rendell, BearcatJournal.com, UC and Miami,
hooking up on Saturday on the West End. Full coverage
at BearcatJournal.com. Chad is with us right now. How we doing? Good.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Doing great, Mo. How about yourself?
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I'm wonderful. I'm looking forward to this game on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, I think it should be a good one. I'm
really excited to see what football looks like at TQL Stadium. Like, genuinely,
I don't get excited about much. in this world anymore
because I've been doing it for too damn long, but
I really want to see what a football game looks
like at TQL stadium. The places it's an awesome venue.
So this is going to be fun.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah. You know, we were just talking with my last
guest who wondered about, you know, why is the game
being moved and nothing against the home of the Bengals? It's,
it's a fine facility. You put 40,000 people in it.
It feels empty. Don't need to sell 40,000 tickets for
this game on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
No, although I, it doesn't look like they've the Miami
side is still, there's good seats still available on the
Miami side if you're looking to go to the game.
So hopefully it fills up because I do want to
experience like a raucous environment in this building.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yes, I did too. I did too. What have we
learned about the Bearcats that we can apply not just
to Saturday's game, but when they play big 12 teams
from the first two they've played?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
I've got a couple of things that have stood out
to me. I think the first one is in both
of the games, it feels like the other team has
had success in some areas early offensively. And then Nate
Woody has made adjustments, whatever, to his defense earlier. that
have shut them down. And that has not been the
(02:00):
case in the past couple seasons. So I think that
is something that hopefully is translatable. The other thing is,
and we have talked about this a ton on Bearcat
Journal this week, if you are going to be a
run-first team, your wide receivers better be willing blockers. And
if you watch the tape of some of these runs
(02:23):
that Cincinnati has had, These guys are wiping people out
30 yards down the field. Like that cold tab run,
the touchdown run on Saturday, if you watch that, there's
three guys in black just wiping out Western Carolina defenders
to open up a path to the end zone. That's
how you get 10, 12-yard gains turn into 50-yard touchdowns.
(02:47):
And that really excites me about this group, as it
seems like the tight ends and the linebackers are buying into–
We've got a great offensive line. We know those guys
are going to do their jobs. Let's take it even
a step farther and open up these running lanes down
the field. I think those two things so far are
the most translatable over the long haul.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
There hasn't been a ton of optimism regarding the overall
season record. Have you seen enough to make you feel
like this team has the capability to to at least
be a little bit better than we originally suspected?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yes. The problem there is the Big 12 portion of
this schedule is really difficult. You're playing, and a lot
of times we've seen this, like the preseason, what people
expect in this league gets flipped upside down. That doesn't
look to be the case so far this year. You're
playing essentially the top five teams in the league. And
(03:50):
that means... You've got to win the other four, and
then you're going to have to pop one or two
of those top five teams in the league. I feel
better about what we've– they've played better than I have
expected as a whole through these first two games. We're
going to start to learn more this week, and then
next week against Kansas State I think is a massive
(04:13):
barometer for this group.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
This is the last scheduled UC Miami game. Do you
believe there will be a resumption at some point of it?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
And should there be, I don't know that there will
be a resumption of the series, but I do think
it makes a lot of sense. If you have, if
your intention is to play one group of five team
every year, why shouldn't that be Miami occasionally? Like it's
dumb not to do that. And look, Part of the
(04:45):
reason why the series is no longer is Miami wants
to be a bye game. And especially now the Mac
is reducing the number of non-conference games. They're going to
nine conference games. They're only going to have three non-conference games.
Miami's going to have to maximize that. Cincinnati needs group
of five, group of six opponents to come in here
(05:06):
and play once a year. Every three, four years, that
absolutely should be Miami. I don't think it should be
every year Miami's the bye game at Nippert Stadium. But
every couple years, I think it makes sense. It's stupid
to kill off this rivalry if there is an opening
to make it happen that works for both teams.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
If they're playing an FCS team every year and they're
playing or at least trying to play a power four
school every year and they're playing a group of four
school every year, group of five school, whatever it is,
I lose track. I see no reason why that can't
be Miami. You know, people talk about not playing them
anymore and they think they're going to, you know, replace
them with LSU or something. They replaced them last year
with Bowling Green. Nothing against BG, Taryn. Nothing against BG.
(05:52):
But as somebody who lives here and respects tradition, which
we don't get as much of anymore in college football,
I'd rather play Miami occasionally than BG. Agreed. Agreed.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And then look, you can work through the Mac. You
can play some of the other Ohio schools in that
group of five slot. But also Miami should be sprinkled
in there because guess what, Mo? It's going to be
a cheaper buy game because they don't have to get
on a plane. Yeah. Like you don't have to pay
for the things that you're normally going to have to
pay for in a buy game. So you can have
a buy game and maybe save yourself a couple hundred
(06:24):
thousand dollars in the process or a hundred that whatever
in the process.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
If you had to wager an amount of money that
matters to you, will MJ Collins be in a Bearcat
uniform on November 2nd? Boy, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I still think they win the appeal, but I'm less
confident than maybe I was a month ago. So if
I was 70-30 confident he was going to play before,
maybe I'm... 55, 45 now. I know that because look,
the going in the right direction, this team, the ceiling
(07:03):
for this team is absolutely higher with MJ Collins on the,
you know, available roster than it is without him. But Mo,
I'm gonna tell you this right now. I am super
excited about a Kai Fleming. Yeah. The growth that I
have seen from a Kai Fleming from winning when things
started in June to through the practice that I was
(07:25):
at today, he'll probably, if they don't have MJ Collins,
like the thing you can count on with MJ and
the reason he raises the ceiling, it's a veteran that
has done it over and over and over and over again.
There's not going to be as much variance with MJ Collins.
I think you like, if he has a bad night,
he's probably still going to score 12 points. What's the
(07:47):
old Mick Cronin, Sean Kilpatrick, 10 points falling out of bed.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Because he gets to the free throw line and because
he's like, you're going to get 10, 12 points out
of MJ. Maybe the Akai Fleming down game is six
to eight points, but in the big 12, those four
points could, could mean a lot. So yeah, I don't
feel as warm and fuzzy about it as I did previously,
(08:12):
but I don't think it's like this team is going
to stink if Akai Fleming's not, or if MJ Collins
isn't eligible.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
All right, ma'am. Appreciate it as always. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Hey, how about, how about Texas tech at home to
open the big 12 slate and Houston at home on
senior day for the Bearcats?
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Texas tech will be spicy and Houston on senior day.
Do we, do we need to win that game to
make the NCAA tournament?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Right. Do we need to win that game to snap? What's,
what's the losing streak against Houston? 87 games. What's the
last time they beat? Like, I feel like I was
skinny the last time they beat Houston.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I think the Trayvon, the Trayvon, the Trayvon Scott game,
John Brandon's first year.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Maybe. I think, uh, I think that might be it.
I think it's the last might be the, I think
how long ago it feels like John Brandon coached here.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's the last time they
beat Houston.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
And they play them like three times a year.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Essentially. So, like, it's a lot of L's. I would
feel much better. Senior day, maybe they get them this year.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It's just nice to have a schedule out before October.
All right, man, I got to go. Thanks. Thanks, man.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
See ya.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Jad Brendel, BearcatJournal.com. 3.30 Saturday on 102.7 WEBN. We're going
to go to Houston and talk to Stan, the sportsman,
about the Texans, the team that he covers next on
ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
This report is sponsored by land development.
13 from 4, this is ESPN 1530. My name's Mo Egger.
(00:05):
I appreciate you listening today, and we always appreciate the
opportunity to talk UC football and basketball and occasionally other
sports with our guy Chad Rendell, BearcatJournal.com, UC and Miami,
hooking up on Saturday on the West End. Full coverage
at BearcatJournal.com. Chad is with us right now. How we doing? Good.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Doing great, Mo. How about yourself?
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I'm wonderful. I'm looking forward to this game on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, I think it should be a good one. I'm
really excited to see what football looks like at TQL Stadium. Like, genuinely,
I don't get excited about much. in this world anymore
because I've been doing it for too damn long, but
I really want to see what a football game looks
like at TQL stadium. The places it's an awesome venue.
So this is going to be fun.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah. You know, we were just talking with my last
guest who wondered about, you know, why is the game
being moved and nothing against the home of the Bengals? It's,
it's a fine facility. You put 40,000 people in it.
It feels empty. Don't need to sell 40,000 tickets for
this game on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
No, although I, it doesn't look like they've the Miami
side is still, there's good seats still available on the
Miami side if you're looking to go to the game.
So hopefully it fills up because I do want to
experience like a raucous environment in this building.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yes, I did too. I did too. What have we
learned about the Bearcats that we can apply not just
to Saturday's game, but when they play big 12 teams
from the first two they've played?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
I've got a couple of things that have stood out
to me. I think the first one is in both
of the games, it feels like the other team has
had success in some areas early offensively. And then Nate
Woody has made adjustments, whatever, to his defense earlier. that
have shut them down. And that has not been the
(02:00):
case in the past couple seasons. So I think that
is something that hopefully is translatable. The other thing is,
and we have talked about this a ton on Bearcat
Journal this week, if you are going to be a
run-first team, your wide receivers better be willing blockers. And
if you watch the tape of some of these runs
(02:23):
that Cincinnati has had, These guys are wiping people out
30 yards down the field. Like that cold tab run,
the touchdown run on Saturday, if you watch that, there's
three guys in black just wiping out Western Carolina defenders
to open up a path to the end zone. That's
how you get 10, 12-yard gains turn into 50-yard touchdowns.
(02:47):
And that really excites me about this group, as it
seems like the tight ends and the linebackers are buying into–
We've got a great offensive line. We know those guys
are going to do their jobs. Let's take it even
a step farther and open up these running lanes down
the field. I think those two things so far are
the most translatable over the long haul.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
There hasn't been a ton of optimism regarding the overall
season record. Have you seen enough to make you feel
like this team has the capability to to at least
be a little bit better than we originally suspected?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yes. The problem there is the Big 12 portion of
this schedule is really difficult. You're playing, and a lot
of times we've seen this, like the preseason, what people
expect in this league gets flipped upside down. That doesn't
look to be the case so far this year. You're
playing essentially the top five teams in the league. And
(03:50):
that means... You've got to win the other four, and
then you're going to have to pop one or two
of those top five teams in the league. I feel
better about what we've– they've played better than I have
expected as a whole through these first two games. We're
going to start to learn more this week, and then
next week against Kansas State I think is a massive
(04:13):
barometer for this group.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
This is the last scheduled UC Miami game. Do you
believe there will be a resumption at some point of it?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
And should there be, I don't know that there will
be a resumption of the series, but I do think
it makes a lot of sense. If you have, if
your intention is to play one group of five team
every year, why shouldn't that be Miami occasionally? Like it's
dumb not to do that. And look, Part of the
(04:45):
reason why the series is no longer is Miami wants
to be a bye game. And especially now the Mac
is reducing the number of non-conference games. They're going to
nine conference games. They're only going to have three non-conference games.
Miami's going to have to maximize that. Cincinnati needs group
of five, group of six opponents to come in here
(05:06):
and play once a year. Every three, four years, that
absolutely should be Miami. I don't think it should be
every year Miami's the bye game at Nippert Stadium. But
every couple years, I think it makes sense. It's stupid
to kill off this rivalry if there is an opening
to make it happen that works for both teams.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
If they're playing an FCS team every year and they're
playing or at least trying to play a power four
school every year and they're playing a group of four
school every year, group of five school, whatever it is,
I lose track. I see no reason why that can't
be Miami. You know, people talk about not playing them
anymore and they think they're going to, you know, replace
them with LSU or something. They replaced them last year
with Bowling Green. Nothing against BG, Taryn. Nothing against BG.
(05:52):
But as somebody who lives here and respects tradition, which
we don't get as much of anymore in college football,
I'd rather play Miami occasionally than BG. Agreed. Agreed.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And then look, you can work through the Mac. You
can play some of the other Ohio schools in that
group of five slot. But also Miami should be sprinkled
in there because guess what, Mo? It's going to be
a cheaper buy game because they don't have to get
on a plane. Yeah. Like you don't have to pay
for the things that you're normally going to have to
pay for in a buy game. So you can have
a buy game and maybe save yourself a couple hundred
(06:24):
thousand dollars in the process or a hundred that whatever
in the process.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
If you had to wager an amount of money that
matters to you, will MJ Collins be in a Bearcat
uniform on November 2nd? Boy, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I still think they win the appeal, but I'm less
confident than maybe I was a month ago. So if
I was 70-30 confident he was going to play before,
maybe I'm... 55, 45 now. I know that because look,
the going in the right direction, this team, the ceiling
(07:03):
for this team is absolutely higher with MJ Collins on the,
you know, available roster than it is without him. But Mo,
I'm gonna tell you this right now. I am super
excited about a Kai Fleming. Yeah. The growth that I
have seen from a Kai Fleming from winning when things
started in June to through the practice that I was
(07:25):
at today, he'll probably, if they don't have MJ Collins,
like the thing you can count on with MJ and
the reason he raises the ceiling, it's a veteran that
has done it over and over and over and over again.
There's not going to be as much variance with MJ Collins.
I think you like, if he has a bad night,
he's probably still going to score 12 points. What's the
(07:47):
old Mick Cronin, Sean Kilpatrick, 10 points falling out of bed.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Because he gets to the free throw line and because
he's like, you're going to get 10, 12 points out
of MJ. Maybe the Akai Fleming down game is six
to eight points, but in the big 12, those four
points could, could mean a lot. So yeah, I don't
feel as warm and fuzzy about it as I did previously,
(08:12):
but I don't think it's like this team is going
to stink if Akai Fleming's not, or if MJ Collins
isn't eligible.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
All right, ma'am. Appreciate it as always. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Hey, how about, how about Texas tech at home to
open the big 12 slate and Houston at home on
senior day for the Bearcats?
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Texas tech will be spicy and Houston on senior day.
Do we, do we need to win that game to
make the NCAA tournament?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Right. Do we need to win that game to snap? What's,
what's the losing streak against Houston? 87 games. What's the
last time they beat? Like, I feel like I was
skinny the last time they beat Houston.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I think the Trayvon, the Trayvon, the Trayvon Scott game,
John Brandon's first year.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Maybe. I think, uh, I think that might be it.
I think it's the last might be the, I think
how long ago it feels like John Brandon coached here.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's the last time they
beat Houston.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
And they play them like three times a year.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Essentially. So, like, it's a lot of L's. I would
feel much better. Senior day, maybe they get them this year.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It's just nice to have a schedule out before October.
All right, man, I got to go. Thanks. Thanks, man.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
See ya.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Jad Brendel, BearcatJournal.com. 3.30 Saturday on 102.7 WEBN. We're going
to go to Houston and talk to Stan, the sportsman,
about the Texans, the team that he covers next on
ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
This report is sponsored by land development.
Mo Egger News
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