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The 2024 Bearcats offense will look a lot different than it has in years past. Head coach Jay Walls and his coaching staff have the tremendous task of retooling their offense at most skill positions after key contributors Cam Sanders and Keenan Phillips graduated along with the rest of the backfield. Sander and Phillips combined for 50 touchdowns last season. Sanders threw for 1950 yards with only five interceptions and Sanders averaged 122.5 rushing yards per game on his way to a near 1500 yard season. That production is going to be very difficult to replace.
“It’s just something we’ve known since the spring,” said Walls on replacing a significant amount of production. “It’s something we’ve worked on very hard. We’ve got talent and we’ve had a good summer as far as attendance and we are getting better, but it’s just going to be a process.”
The Bearcats have not named a starter at the quarterback position, but have three players in contention. Camyrn Smith, who played receiver last year and seems to be a likely candidate, but he is recovering from an ACL injury and will not be able to take the field until September. A pair of rising juniors are currently battling for the starting spot in Brooks Hines, who Walls said has “shown a lot of ability”, and Curtis Hollingsworth, who Walls said has “really improved during the off-season”. Where the Bearcats may thrive out of the gate this season is on the ground. Despite loosing their three best runners due to graduation, Walls spoke highly of new backs Bryce Olds and Markavion Johnson-Smith, also known as MK. Though he described them both as green, Olds and MK create a dynamic back field with Olds have “really outstanding speed” and MK being described as a physical runner. The biggest reason Bainbridge will likely have a solid run game is the blocking up front. Bainbridge has three returners to the o-line in left guard Sam Blythe, left tackle Truman Butler and center Messiah Handsford. They also have a pair of big blocking tight ends that Walls is excited about in Ty Jones and TJ Freeman. Those big and veteran blockers on the offensive line mixed with a pair of differently styled backs could give the Bearcats and very balanced and dynamic run game.

Article Written By William Huff