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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 26, Digital 6

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 6 89 week before the Bearcats travel to West Lafayette. "Tuberville has pulled surprises at QB since he got here, including start- ing Munchie Legaux over incumbent Brendon Kay to begin the 2013 sea- son," Groeschen said. "Rule nothing out here, including redshirt freshman Ross Trail getting a look." Whoever the QB is, he'll be throw- ing to new faces. Cincy lost its top six receivers from '15, but seems to feel OK about the holdovers. Veterans Nate Cole and Kahlil Lewis will have bigger roles, and transfers Jamil Kamara and Avery Peterson should help. Taylor wants to keep the Bearcats more balanced than they've been in the past, in an effort to cut down the turn- overs, by calling more rushing plays for talented running backs Mike Boone and Tion Green, who combined for more than 1,500 rushing yards last season. The Bearcats might need to score — again — as much as possible, because the defense could be middle of the road in the American Athletic Conference. Last season, it gave up 31 points per game. UC hasn't had much pass rush, a reason it couldn't generate turnovers last season, collecting only 14, which attributed to its ghastly minus-19 turnover ratio, the fourth-worst in the FBS. May- be linebacker Kevin Mouhon, a former highly regarded prospect, can break out, after he had three sacks in the spring game. "(Pass rush) has really not been there the past couple of years," Groeschen said. "They must force more turnovers, as they have ranked low national- ly in that category. Some guys need to step up as playmakers." It could make the difference be- tween another mediocre season and a bounce-back year. Unlike last season, when Cincy was picked to win the AAC championship yet skidded to only third in the East division, expectations will be lower. Perhaps that's a good thing, though. "If they can get to nine wins again, I think that would be good for them," Groeschen said. "Coming off a sev- en-win season with what Tuberville said was probably his best team, there are several new coaches and new faces. They won't be the favorite in their divi- sion, by most counts." — Kyle Charters Cincinnati As of late June, Tommy Tuberville was calling veteran Gunner Kiel his No. 3 quarterback entering training camp. But Kiel's talent might win out in the QB competition. Purdue's Struggles In The Pacific 2015 Results (7-6) 9/3 UC DAVIS . . . . . . . . . . W, 31-17 9/12 ARIZONA . . . . . . . . . . L, 20-44 9/19 at Texas A&M . . . . . . . L, 27-44 9/26 at Buffalo . . . . . . . . . W, 24-21 10/3 UNLV . . . . . . . . . . . . . L, 17-23 10/10 NEW MEXICO . . . . . . . W, 35-17 10/17 at Wyoming . . . . . . . . L, 21-28 10/24 HAWAII. . . . . . . . . . . . W, 30-20 11/5 at Fresno State . . . . . . W, 30-16 11/14 SAN JOSE ST . . . W, 37-34 (OT) 11/21 at Utah State . . . . . . . L, 27-31 11/28 at San Diego State . . . L, 14-31 12/29 vs. Colorado State . . . W, 28-23 Nevada Wolf Pack SEPT. 24 ROSS-ADE STADIUM TIME: TBA • TV: TBA COACH: BRIAN POLIAN RECORD AT NEVADA: 18-20 (THREE SEASONS) RECORD VS. PURDUE: FIRST MEETING 2016 Schedule 9/2 CAL POLY 9/10 at Notre Dame 9/17 BUFFALO 9/24 at Purdue 10/1 at Hawaii 10/8 FRESNO STATE 10/15 at San Jose State 10/22 WYOMING 11/5 at New Mexico St 11/12 SAN DIEGO STATE 11/19 UTAH STATE 11/26 at UNLV G O L D A N D B L AC K 'S E A R LY L I N E : P U R D U E - 4 When the Boilermakers face the Wolf Pack, it will be the first non-Power 5 team from the Pacific Time Zone they have faced since 1955, when Purdue defeated Pacific in Ross-Ade Stadium. Overall, it has been a struggle against teams from the PT with an 8-19-3 record. Here's how the Boilermakers have fared by school: Nevada has been to 10 bowl games in the past 11 seasons, one of just four non-Power 5 teams and one of 18 teams in FBS to do so. 2016 Opponent Preview Stanford 3-1 Cal 1-1 Pacific 1-0 Washington 2-7-1 USC 1-3 UCLA 0-3-2 Oregon State 0-1 Santa Clara 0-1 Oregon 0-2

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