Cincinnati Football: 7 Things Keeping the Bearcats from a BCS Bid

The offseason is now officially underway for the University of Cincinnati and with the recent news that West Virginia will be heading to the Big 12 earlier than originally expected, the Big East conference is wide open now that one of the Top 15 teams in the country is gone.

Whether or not Boise St. joins the conference next season remains to be seen, but Cincinnati will certainly be in contention for their fourth Big East title in five years with a shot to play in a BCS bowl game.

Having lost so much off of last year's team, it would be hard to imagine Cincinnati duplicating last year's feats, but it is certainly possible.

To do that they will need a few things to go their way and some players to develop.

Here are seven things holding the Bearcats back from a BCS bid in 2012.

The good thing is, there is still time to work on these before the season begins. 

Senior Leadership

The loss of so many senior leaders from the 2011 squad will definitely hurt the Bearcats in 2012.

They will need new leaders to emerge in order to be successful next season.

Every good team and particularly every BCS team is built around strong senior leadership and Cincinnati will have to find that among a bevy of candidates.

On defense, fifth-year defensive linemen Walter Stewart, Dan Giordano and Brandon Mills will be the leading candidates along with sixth-year safety Drew Frey.

On offense, Cincinnati will likely only start one or two seniors, so the burden will fall heavily on senior receiver Kenbrell Thompkins and senior running back George Winn. 

Big-Play Receivers

During back-to-back BCS seasons, Cincinnati had big-play receivers like Mardy Gilyard and Armon Binns.

Last season they were missing that big-play threat. While there is talent at receiver, including junior Anthony McClung who will be one of the best in the Big East, he is not a big-play threat.

Senior Kenbrell Thompkins was expected to be that threat, but struggled through injuries most of last season.

Perhaps the big plays can come from sophomore Alex Chisum. Chisum shined toward the end of last year as a true freshman and showed big-play ability down the stretch for Cincinnati.

He averaged nearly 16 yards on his 19 receptions and can stretch the field with his 6'3" frame.

A Solid Offensive Line

Cincinnati has the unenviable task of replacing three offensive linemen who played a huge part in the success of the Bearcats over the past few seasons.

That is the one of the biggest question marks for the Bearcats heading into 2012.

Gone are center Evan Davis, guard Randy Martinez and tackle Alex Hoffman.

Cincinnati will have to find players to replace them and the 6'6" Eric Lefeld, who stepped in last season as a freshman due to injury, is likely to take over one of the tackle spots.

Senior Sean Hooey who stands 6'9" and was injured for most of last season will likely hold down the other tackle position.

Returning junior guard Austen Bunjoch is a lock to be another starter. Fellow junior guard Andre Cureton, who saw some playing time last season, is likely to start at the other guard spot, but incoming freshman Caleb Stacey could also see some playing time.

At center, junior Dan Sprague is a favorite to fill the large shoes left by Davis. 

Playmakers on Offense

The two real playmakers from last year's squad, Isaiah Pead and Zach Collaros are now gone.

Finding new ones is going to be a difficult task for the Bearcats.

There have not been a lot of players who have come through the university with the talent and big-play ability of those two.

Cincinnati will need to find some playmakers who can make plays down the field and be game-changers.

One of the leading candidates is junior quarterback Munchie Legaux. Legaux is a threat with both his hands and feet. He has big-play ability that Cincinnati will need next season.

Another candidate is sophomore running back Jameel Poteat. Poteat saw limited playing time last season as a true freshman and is the biggest recruit Cincinnati has signed in recent memory.

He has the speed and athleticism to be a threat for Cincinnati over the next three seasons.

Experience on Offense

With limited experience, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, Cincinnati will be working in seven new starters on offense.

There are no players on offense who have been starters for more than one season and the only thing that can help change that experience is seeing game action.

It is only a matter of time before these players get some playing time under their belts, but the question is, will it be enough time for these players to gain some valuable experience before Big East play rolls around? 

Only time will tell with this one.

Turnover Margin

When the Bearcats went to back-to-back BCS bowl games in 2009 and 2010, they did so because of an excellent turnover margin.

While it was better last year than the previous season, they will need to continue to improve in 2012 in order to get back to a BCS bowl game.

Taking care of the ball is one of the most important aspects of turnover margin and the key to that will be quarterback Munchie Legaux protecting the ball in the spread offense.

Injuries

The past couple of seasons the injury bug has plagued the Bearcats and last year in particular, prevented them from reaching a BCS bowl game.

The injury to quarterback Zach Collaros devastated the Bearcats and cost them a trip to the Orange Bowl.

Other injuries, particularly the knee injury to cornerback Dominique Battle, were also costly.

If the Bearcats plan on returning to a BCS bowl game, they will need to say healthy in 2012.