Cincinnati to the Liberty Bowl: A Guide to the Matchup vs. Vanderbilt

After just missing their third BCS game in four years, the Cincinnati Bearcats will gladly settle for a berth in the Liberty Bowl against the Vanderbilt Commodores out of the SEC. 

Cincinnati finished the season 9-3 overall and 5-2 in Big East play. They finished in a three-way tie for first place, but lost a tiebreaker to West Virginia. 

For 21 seniors, this is a great way to end their careers. 

Cincinnati will have four weeks to prepare for the game and is hoping to get injured quarterback Zach Collaros back before the game. 

Here is a guide of what to expect when Cincinnati travels to Memphis, TN to take on Vanderbilt in the Liberty Bowl. 

Kickoff for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on December 31, 2011 on ABC at Liberty Bowl Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Payout for the Liberty Bowl is projected at $2,875,000. 

The strength of the Cincinnati Bearcats all season, until the injury to Zach Collaros, was their offense. 

With Collaros possibly being healthy come bowl time, Cincinnati should be able to put up some points on Vanderbilt. 

The Bearcats averaged over 33 points per game this season and if not for the injury to Collaros, that number would have likely been much higher. 

The strength of the offense is the running game. Cincinnati averages 175 yards a game on the ground and will need to get Isaiah Pead off and running early in this one. 

The obvious strength for Vanderbilt is their defense. 

The Commodores rank 27th in the country in points allowed per game, giving up just over 20 a contest. 

They have held three opponents in single digits this season and the obvious key to the game will be the Cincinnati offense trying to put points on the board against the Vanderbilt defense. 

While the Cincinnati defense is much improved this season over last year, against good teams, they still tend to give up too many big plays. 

The Bearcats do rank 20th in the country, allowing only 20 points a game, but let up some big numbers against decent teams. 

The pass defense is the real weakness for Cincinnati, while the run defense is one of the top in the country. 

Cincinnati will first need to stop the Vanderbilt rushing attack to help the secondary control the passing game. 

The Vanderbilt offense ranks in the bottom half of the country, scoring under 27 points per game. 

While the running game has been solid for the Commodores all season, led by Zac Stacy, the passing game has been a different story. 

Quarterback Jordan Rodgers has only thrown for 1,498 yards and nine touchdowns to go along with nine interceptions since taking over midway through the season.

Cincinnati may be able to hide their weak secondary against a bad Vanderbilt passing attack.  

Cincinnati finished the season in a three-way tie for the Big East championship, and via a lost tiebreaker to West Virginia, they find themselves here in the Liberty Bowl. 

Cincinnati finished the season 9-3 and the injury to quarterback Zach Collaros in game nine was the difference in not winning the conference outright. 

Cincinnati started the season winning seven of their first eight games before the injury to Collaros and finished up the year 2-2 after the injury. 

Like many SEC teams, Vanderbilt went 4-0 out of conference, but was only able to win two games in the SEC. 

The Commodores started the season with three wins and followed that up with three consecutive losses. 

They have played four teams that are currently ranked in the Top 20 and are extremely battle tested. 

A win over Wake Forest to close out the season made Vanderbilt bowl eligible. 

Vanderbilt finished eighth in the SEC. 

With the status of Zach Collaros still in question, the key player for Cincinnati will be quarterback Munchie Legaux. 

Legaux has improved steadily in each of his starts and is the Bearcats quarterback of the future. 

Cincinnati will need to give him time to throw and run to take some of the pressure off of him. 

If Legaux can have a good game and not turn the ball over, that will be huge for Cincinnati. 

Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy is a huge part of the Commodore's offense and is averaging over six yards a carry. 

He has rushed for 1,136 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season. He has come on strong down the stretch for Vanderbilt. 

The Cincinnati rush defense is one of the best in the country and Stacy will need to establish the run early for Vanderbilt to help open up the passing game. 

Vanderbilt and Cincinnati have two common opponents this season. 

Both defeated Connecticut at home and lost to Tennessee on the road.

Cincinnati does not have to travel far to get to Memphis, but Vanderbilt doesn't even have to leave the state. 

The big question is whether or not Zach Collaros will play for Cincinnati. If Collaros plays, Cincinnati is the favorite in this one, but without Collaros, this one could go either way.

If Collaros is available this prediction will change, but as of now, Vanderbilt will come out on top in a close one.

Final Score: Vanderbilt 23, Cincinnati 20