The Cincinnati Bearcats' 2 p.m. game today at Southern Miss is another must-win for the visitors, who can't afford to fall to 2-5 and expect to have any realistic chance to attain the seven victories required to be bowl-eligible. UC plays 13 games this season.

        It's going to be a rough go for the Bearcats, with starting quarterback Gino Guidugli still feeling the effects of a bruised knee from a hard hit during last week's loss at Tulane. He's expected to play.

        “(Southern Miss) is a big, strong, physical football team, and always has been,” UC coach Rick Minter said. “They're very athletic. They run the ball extremely well, play great defense and have always been good in special teams. And they may have found themselves a good quarterback (redshirt freshman Dustin Almond). They present all kinds of problems for us right now.”

        Minter said the Bearcats have to do better in the field-position battle than last week. The Green Wave intercepted a pass, had a 13-yard drive for a touchdown, and averaged starting each drive on its 40-yard line; UC started at its 25, on average.

        Minter called it “a day of mistakes. We allowed ourselves to be sacked five or six times, had five turnovers and errant kicking. Before you know it, it's a bad day at the office.”

        Nonetheless, he expects the Bearcats to play better today.

        “We've always matched up well with (Southern Miss) and played them hard and had exciting contests,” he said.

        Minter agreed that today's game was “critical ... although we aren't going to reach the point of panic.”

        “We're on a little bit of a downward spiral, losing four of our last five ballgames,” he said. “The issues that seem to be persistent with us have got to get corrected, and I believe you get them corrected on the practice field.”

        Of course, it won't be known until today if that has been accomplished.

        Southern Miss (4-2, 2-0 in C-USA) had a tough loss at South Florida last Saturday, but Almond had a good day (24-of-39 passing for 258 yards and a touchdown).

        “He played with a lot of poise,” Golden Eagles coach Jeff Bower said. “Even on the drive to try to put ourselves in position to take the game into overtime, he was 7-for-8, which I think says a lot for him.”

        Bower praised Guidugli, UC's wideouts and running back DeMarco McClesky. He also said the Bearcats' defense played well against Tulane, but couldn't contend over the entire game with turnovers and bad field position.

        “(UC-Southern Miss has) always been a good game, and (today) shouldn't be any different,” Bower said.

UC's bowl chances on the line

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