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Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell declines to name starting QB ahead of opener at Arkansas

University of Cincinnati football coach Luke Fickell knows who his starting quarterback will be Saturday at Arkansas. He's just not willing to share that roster decision publicly.

"I don't think there's any reason to talk about it," he said Tuesday. "I don't know that it does anything good for our team. It doesn't do anything good for the opponents and the preparations of things."

Fickell will open his sixth season at Cincinnati against the No. 19/23-ranked (Associated Press/coaches polls) Razorbacks (3:30 p.m. on ESPN), and he will do it with a starting quarterback who's not Desmond Ridder for the first time since his debut campaign at UC in 2017.