What to expect from Cincinnati Bearcats' offense under Scott Satterfield

Fast-paced with a dual-threat quarterback.

That describes the offensive style of Scott Satterfield as he opens another football season as a head coach. It's his 11th year running a program and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats are his third team. His overall record is 76-48 with three Sun Belt titles, four bowl games at Appalachian State and bowl games in three of his four years at Louisville.

The former quarterback believes the offense starts with running the football and his 2022 Louisville team was No. 17 in the country averaging 201.5 rushing yards per game compared to Cincinnati's 121.7. Uniquely, Satterfield's Louisville squads averaged 200 or more yards rushing and over 200 yards passing in his four seasons calling plays.

What to look for in UC's 2023 offense

"We want to be able to run the ball, there's no question about that," Satterfield said. "But, we also think we've got the weapons on the outside that can stretch the defense."

Quarterbacks

Redshirt senior Emory Jones was a four-star prospect out of Georgia who committed to Ohio State in the summer of 2016, then de-committed in late 2017 flipping to Florida. His best season was 2021 when he threw for 2,734 yards and rushed for 759 for the Gators. The Jones running game was curtailed at Arizona State last year where coach Herm Edwards was dismissed in the middle of the season.

If UC sees the Jones who ran with the Gators in the SEC and trained with Satterfield-coached Malik Cunningham (Louisville), the offense could flourish.

Backups: The Brady Bunch. Redshirt sophomore Brady Lichtenberg appears to be next off the bench with a solid arm. Freshman Brady Drogosh has made some jaw-dropping plays and has good size and speed at 6-4, 215 pounds.

Running backs

The staff maintains the hot hand will have the ball but from an experience standpoint, former Ohio Mr. Football Corey Kiner, a junior, will get his lugs.

Kiner has 686 yards and seven touchdowns over two seasons with the Bearcats and in the SEC with LSU. Kiner had a 106-yard game against Tulsa last season and has streamlined his body.

Redshirt sophomore Myles Montgomery could get his time as the fast Floridian has an extra gear. He had a 104-yard game against Kennesaw State last season thanks to a 76-yard touchdown.

Redshirt freshman Stephan Byrd is a 215-pound bulldozer with speed and seniors Ryan Montgomery and Ethan Wright offer savvy, veteran experience.

"If you've got one stud, then you're going to give them the rock," Satterfield said. "Right now, there's a couple of guys that have proven they can do it, but not just one that's head and shoulders above the rest. We'll let this thing play out a little bit. We'll see who deserves it."

Tight ends

Losing Josh Whyle (Titans) and Leonard Taylor (Jaguars) to the NFL is a blow, but the staff is high on redshirt sophomore Chamon Metayer and redshirt junior Payten Singletary. The Satterfield offense often uses two tight ends.

However, stat-wise, they have just four career receptions between them. Florida native Metayer was the star of 2022's spring game with two touchdown catches and shows considerable athletic ability at 6-5, 248 pounds.

"We've got two new tight ends who haven't played a lot that I think are going to be good players for us," Satterfield said.

Wide receivers

Next to UC's notable defensive line, this group is pretty deep even though the only returning Bearcat from last year is redshirt junior Chris Scott. Louisville redshirt senior transfers Braden Smith and Dee Wiggins have familiarity with the offense, while Florida senior transfer Xzavier Henderson has familiarity with Jones from their Gator days.

While not known here, redshirt senior Donovan Ollie has Power Five experience at Washington State and junior Aaron Turner had 90 receptions in two seasons at Connecticut.

Redshirt junior Evan Prater is a wild card coming over from quarterback featuring great skills with the ball in his hands.

"We've got some weapons on the outside at receiver," Satterfield said. "We've got some big guys, we've got some fast little guys."

Offensive line

The preseason publications will note that redshirt junior Gavin Gerhardt is the lone returning starter at center. That is accurate, but line coach Nic Cardwell has a couple of Power Five transfers at his disposal in redshirt juniors Luke Kandra (Elder/Louisville) and Deondre Buford from Kentucky.

Back from last season on another side of Gerhardt are redshirt junior John Williams and senior Dartanyan Tinsley. Also working in his cerebral Swiss army knife redshirt senior Trevor Radosevich from Penn and redshirt junior Phillip Wilder from Southeast Missouri State along with 6-8, 330-pound one-time quarterback Cam Jones.

"We don't have as much depth there as we'd like but I think our first unit's going to be solid," Satterfield said.

Kicking game

Sophomore Carter Brown was brought in from Arizona State to replace Ryan Coe who transferred to North Carolina. Brown was 11-for-14 for the Sun Devils, 5-for-7 from 40-plus yards and made all 28 of his extra points.

Redshirt senior Bryce Burton who also kicks is the holder with long snapping being done by Cayson Pfeiffer, also a redshirt senior. Redshirt junior Rory Bell (Wilmington/Temple) could be the kick-off man. In 2021 he provided Temple's lone score vs. UC with a 55-yard field goal.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats football offensive preview with QB Emory Jones