Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs UConn, The Continuing Tailspin

(Stephen Slade / UConnHuskies.com)

The tailspin that started in the fourth quarter of the Houston game three weeks ago continued on Saturday in Hartford. More of the same, you could say. In 2011 or 2012, more of the same would mean a win. In 2016, more of the same has come to mean a cripplingly depressing performance against any team that lines up opposite the Bearcats. Against Miami or Purdue, more of the same will still get you the win. Against an AAC that’s getting increasingly stronger, more of the same means losses like Saturday.

If you’ve been following me on Twitter for more than a week, I’m sure you know I’m a Browns fan. My undying devotion to the consistently hapless Browns is bad for my health, but I’ve been able to count on the Bearcats balancing that out. Lately, the two teams seem to be blurring together. It’s a sad state of affairs when Murphy’s Law is taking out my two favorite football teams every weekend. Like so many Browns teams I’ve known, you can count on the 2016 Bearcats to be poorly coached, ridden with mistakes, unenthusiastic, and on the short end of every 50/50 call by the referees.

However, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again here: Like my devotion to the God-forsaken Browns, my love for these Bearcats is unwavering. I’ll be there for homecoming (both physically and mentally) and I expect to win.

I suppose I should wade into the muck that is the UConn game, so let’s go:

Positives:

(LOL.)

• Hayden Moore came back. Regardless of my membership in the Gunner Kiel Fan Club, I think starting Hayden Moore every week is what’s best for the present and future of this team. It’s becoming clear that Gunner is not going to start a game as long as Moore and Ross Trail can walk, so I’m ready to move on from the idea entirely. Let’s keep Hayden healthy and let’s make sure he takes every snap for the remaining six games.
• Hayden Moore looked pretty good, at least comparatively. Looking pretty good––comparatively––is a step in the right direction for a team with UC’s current resume. I’m not jumping up and down over Moore’s play, but I’ll certainly take it. He finished 29-for-55 for 315 yards with an interception. The interception was a badly thrown ball, but it’s the kind of thing you can accept if he’s going to toss two or three touchdowns to go with it. Unfortunately, those never came. Considering his injury status earlier in the week, I think it’s safe to assume the ankle wasn’t exactly 100%. For that reason, I’m happy with that stat line (minus the lack of touchdowns).
• Devin Gray is really good, and so is Nate Cole. I’m sorry we only get one more year of Gray, and I’m sorry that Cole was buried on the depth chart until his senior year. Unfortunate timing for him to only have a single season to show his stuff. He’s good.
• The defense played well. They weren’t fantastic, but they looked pretty good, especially considering the offense did absolutely nothing to help. When you lose the time of possession battle 35–25, it’s hard to keep making stops. Allowing 20 points against UConn should be good enough to win if your offense is functioning at normal capacity. I’m not sure how to account for the two UConn touchdowns. Giving up big plays is a bad sign, especially against an inept offense. It’s also probably not a good sign when fatal mistakes are coming from a senior leader like Zach Edwards. Hard to say if those mistakes are a sign of poor coaching and preparation or if they’re simple outliers that won’t happen again. I don’t know anymore. I’ve said all season that this defense is worth watching, and I still believe that. This group plays with some swagger, and we’ve sorely missed that for a couple years.
• UC won the turnover battle. It’s a small thing that’s gravely important, and we were terrible at doing it last year. Let’s keep it going this season.
• Josh Pasley got his redemption. Heck of a game, kid. A lot of kicking is pure confidence, and Pasley’s had to be shaken after the start to his season. He was the entire offense on Saturday, and he did his job, going 3-for-3 with a long of 43 yards.
• We don’t play next week. I know this sounds cynical, but I mean it earnestly. This bye week couldn’t come at a better time. Let’s get Hayden Moore back to 100% and do some serious soul-searching while we’re at it.
• The program continues to progress towards some kind of D-Day. If you’re of the opinion that Tuberville is the man for the job, Saturday’s loss was a big negative for you. The man you think is right for UC lost an ugly game. If you’re of the opinion that Tuberville is unfit to coach at UC, Saturday’s loss was at the very least a step in the “right direction.” I know it sounds bad, but sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. I don’t know if that’s the case with this football program, but we’ll find out. The last thing I want is to get stuck in the middle ground of lukewarm success and fan support. Stagnation is the enemy. I think it’s always best to be trending in one direction or the other. Obviously my wish is to be trending positively, but the next best thing is to have an obvious negative trend to catch everyone’s attention. Things got worse on Saturday. Maybe we’ll look back in a year or two and say it ultimately paved the way for a better Bearcats football team.

Negatives:

(I’ll try to keep these brief and under control.)

• The Bearcats are 0–3 in the American. On top of this sounding absolutely terrible, there are stats to back up how absolutely terrible this is. The last time the Bearcats started 0–3 in the conference was in 1999. That team finished 3–8, but also had a Top 10 upset of Wisconsin. This team is in danger of a disastrous finish, but there will be no massive win to serve as a party favor for attending. UC is in a Group of Five conference, and they are in last place. Dead last.
• The Bearcats didn’t score a touchdown. What a mess. I believe the last time UC failed to find the end zone was against #22 Rutgers in 2012. Aside from the fact RU was ranked, the Scarlet Knights also finished 4th in the country in points allowed that season. They had a good defense. Getting held out of the end zone by this UConn team is infinitely worse.
• Three drives stalled in the red zone. Again, this cannot happen, especially against this UConn team. If you can do math, you’ll realize that Bearcat touchdowns on those three first half trips that ended in field goals would mean a 21–20 win, even with the complete lack of scoring after halftime.
• There was a complete lack of scoring after halftime. So much for halftime adjustments. Most coaching staffs can take a beating in the first half and correct things at halftime to improve scoring chances and tighten up defensively in the second half. This coaching staff does the opposite. You want the most embarrassing Bearcats football stat I’ve ever been privy to? UC is getting outscored 64–6 in the second half of conference games this season. That makes me want to barf. Across the board in conference play, the Bearcats have played solid in the opening half only to get outplayed, out-coached, and outclassed after halftime. I don’t care who you are, that is the mark of a bad team and a bad group of coaches. Say what you want about the guys wearing headsets, but that stat is indefensible.
• The running game is still a ghost town. In a development nobody saw coming, the tag-team duo of Tion Green and Mike Boone has been mediocre at best. The pair averaged 1.8 yards on 12 carries Saturday. On the season, they’re averaging a combined 3.9 yards per carry. That’s not good, and is only putting more stress on a QB staff that’s banged up to begin with. I don’t know who to blame on this one, and it’s probably not on one guy’s shoulders. I just have a hard time believing these two forgot how to run the football in the offseason.
• Tuberville tossed someone under the bus… again.This time it was Hayden Moore. Following a first half in which his offense stalled three times inside the red zone, Tuberville pointed to Hayden Moore’s overthrows as the reason for the team’s underwhelming play. Moore missed some shots, and the interception was not a good look. However, how about owning up for some bad play calling? How about putting some blame on a running game that finished the day with two rushing yards? Maybe give the opposition some credit for clamping down your offense. At the very least, bite your tongue and give a non-answer before trotting towards the locker room. Hayden Moore must feel like an absolute dunce when his head coach publicly throws an entire team’s worth of blame on his shoulders after a pretty decent first half. The QBs this season haven’t been stellar, and that comment isn’t going to help anything.

It’s growing increasingly difficult to watch this team, but I implore you guys to stick with them. I’ll be at homecoming, and hopefully a good crowd shows up. If you’d like to voice your unhappiness, the best way to do that is by joining in the effort to #BlackoutHomecoming. The theme for the game is red, but a large group of fans has decided to wear black as a small act of protest against the current direction of the program. I’m on board with this idea because it supports the players and the team while still demonstrating our position as a fan base. There are ways to be heard without simply giving up. Please do not give up. There is a disconnect between talent and production, and this team can still win games if it can close that gap. We’re not dead yet.

Go Bearcats.

Watching Kelce: A Recap of “Catching Kelce” Episode 1

Former Bearcats tight end Travis Kelce left Clifton as the latest in a line of great Cincinnati tight ends. He landed with the Kansas City Chiefs, where his career has exploded. Now his public persona is following suit.

I’ve never personally met Travis, but I get the sense that he’s not putting on much of a show here. He’s the bursting-with-energy type of guy, and it only makes sense that he’s fulfilling his destiny as one of the sport’s greatest personalities.

Somehow, E! gave him his own reality dating competition featuring 50 women. It is going to be awesome, and I’ll be delivering hard-hitting analysis to you every week. Rather than turn every Watching Kelce recap into a 3,000-word essay, I’ll just hit the bullet points. Let’s roll.

Catching Kelce — Episode 1 Analysis & Observations:

• Right off the bat, it’s still goofy that a kid I used to walk past on campus has one of these ridiculous reality dating shows. Follow your dreams, people.
• Is the Travis singing thing supposed to be a joke? I can’t tell, because he’s kind of a good singer. He even did this Lonely Girl bit during his time at UC.
• Shooting this in LA is a major cop-out. Anyone would be willing to spend the summer in Los Angeles. Get these ladies out to Kansas City and let’s see what they’re really made of.
• Connecticut is already creepy. You didn’t have an “instant connection.” Slow down. Your general disposition does not lend itself well to a 60-second elimination challenge.
• Minnesota is a very aloof runner: Minus points. Evidently in love with her cat: Minus points. Cat’s name is Kevin: Plus points. Wasting your whole 60 seconds talking about a cat: Go home. Travis: “That was a little unfortunate. Got caught up in the ole cat story.” LOOOOOL.
• Travis is a genuinely funny dude. This show doesn’t deserve someone this funny.
• Pennsylvania is weird and also nearly dropped dead from nerves. I like it. Hopefully Travis keeps her around. Update: Or not.
• Oh, South Carolina. Hello.
• Oh, and Nevada. Hello.
• Not sure why New Jersey has a southern twang, but I’m here for it. Update: She can cook. Oooooooooh boy.
• Ugh, Connecticut gets to stay? #TeamAntiCT
• Ohio gets eliminated and is heading for an insightful comment before announcing her goal to date a professional baseball player. Classic. I respect the hustle. Look out, Joey Votto.
• I love Michigan so much at this point. Easily the most charming of the contestants.
• Wow. The red suit. It’s great and awful.
• I hope Jason Kelce is a regular on this show. He’s a good addition to balance things out.
• Okay, jokes aside, Connecticut is out of her mind. “If a girl cheated on you, would you ever go back? I don’t believe you.” Why would you call out somebody you just met?
• Not really feeling Minnesota, but I respect her. Not afraid to be super uncomfortable and awkward. She’s like a bull in a china shop with this group.
• Colorado, I love you.
• Minnesota is seriously outrageous and I can’t tell if I love it or hate it. She’ll never win the competition, but she’s incredibly entertaining. Also, I don’t think she knows how to pronounce “Kelce.”
• Georgia’s white dress for elimination is the absolute worst.
• Travis genuinely looks miserable sending these girls home.
• I really dislike Connecticut, but Michigan throwing her under the bus is a bad look. I think it nearly cost Miss MI a spot on the show. Thankfully she made the cut. I like her.
• Connecticut getting sent home is incredibly satisfying, especially considering that Travis went out of his way to say that he didn’t see the connection… after Miss CT spend the whole episode talking about it.
• WOOOOOOW RHODE ISLAND RESPONDED TO THE FRIEND ZONE THING BY GOING STRAIGHT FOR AN INTENSE KISS WHOOOOAH. IT’S ON, BOYS AND GIRLS.
• Rhode Island barely making the cut feels like a college football team narrowly avoiding upset to start the season before rumbling towards a national championship appearance. She was the last girl through, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see her make a run deep into the competition.
• Semi-ashamed to admit that I genuinely enjoyed this show. I came because Travis is a Bearcat, but I’ll be staying because he’s hilarious and this show is wildly entertaining.
• I feel like I could easily knock this competition down to three people right now. There’s a clearly-cut Top 3, in my eyes.

Official OhVarsity! Catching Kelce Top 5 (Week 1)

1. New Jersey (Veronica) [5 total points]
2. Colorado (Avery) [4 total points]
3. Rhode Island (Victoria) [3 total points]
4. Michigan (Ceecee) [2 total points]
5. Minnesota (Anika) [1 total point]

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs USF, the Final Straw in the Tuberville Era?

(GoBearcats.com)

Writing this weekly column and picking out positives from the games grows harder and harder. This week, I don’t even have “a win is a win” to fall back on. The Bearcats lost, decisively, to the South Florida Bulls. On the surface, this isn’t exactly a catastrophe. Despite the reputation that USF has earned among Bearcats faithful, the Bulls are a good team. They have been since the beginning of last year. They should win at least eight games this season.

So, why did an “understandable” loss ignite the most rip-roaring firestorm I’ve seen from UC Twitter? Here’s a closer look.

Let’s look at the negatives:

(Trying to control my rage here.)

• The starting quarterback never stood a chance. Redshirt freshman Ross Trail started the game for the Bearcats, and wasn’t yanked off the field until the end of the third quarter, following a pick six. Trail has now thrown six interceptions this season against just one touchdown. He’s thrown two pick sixes, which means he’s thrown more touchdowns to the defense than to the Bearcats. Look, I like Trail. So far, he’s shown me nothing that leads me to believe he can’t compete in the future. I like his skill set, but the kid isn’t ready. The fans know it, and you gotta believe Trail himself knows it by now. Throwing him into the fire at this point is bad coaching, a slap in the face to your players and fans, and terrible for Trail’s confidence. Put your kids in a position to win. Don’t hang some poor freshman out to dry because you’re less worried about winning football games than you are about teaching a lesson to a senior quarterback with 50 career touchdowns.
• The QB battle looks like an absolute sham. I have been on Gunner’s side since the start of fall camp, but I learned to accept the Hayden Moore era as it was forced upon us. Hayden didn’t blow me away, but he was getting the job done until he got injured against Houston and struggled late as a result. Now that Hayden is hurt, Tuberville can’t hide behind excuses anymore. Following camp, he boasted about having three quarterbacks who could run the team. While that sounds fantastic, it’s nothing more than a lie. This team has three quarterbacks: An injured sophomore, a freshman in over his head, and a senior who Tuberville refuses to play. I had a pretty good theory for “The Gunner Issue,” but Saturday debunked it. After an unconfirmed report that the offensive staff “forced” Tuberville to finally insert his senior, Kiel left the field at the end of a drive and exchanged some words with his head coach. While this anger from Gunner is refreshing to see, it unfortunately seems to substantiate the theory that Gunner was planted at #3 on the depth chart as an act of spite by Tommy T. I had doubted this theory, but now it looks like the only possible answer. There’s no conspiracy theory. Tuberville stuck his senior and the end of the bench and Gunner is angry. To make things worse, Tuberville referenced Kiel just once in the postgame press conference, and it was only to bring up his turnover problems last year.
• Tuberville quit. Again. Last season against BYU, Tuberville enraged the fan base by waiving the white flag in an important non-conference game. Trailing by two scores with four minutes remaining, Tommy decided to call it a night and punted the ball to the Cougars, who ran out the clock for the win. In a season full of anger and heartbreak, that may have been my low point. On Saturday, with the Bearcats facing an 18-point deficit at the onset of the fourth quarter, Tuberville thought it would be a good idea to try a 48-yard field goal with UC’s backup kicker who is currently 2-for-5 on the year to go with a pair of badly missed extra points. Aside from the message that sends to fans, what must that feel like for the players? You don’t land on a big-time college football team without being extremely competitive and confident. What does it feel like when your own head coach has clearly given up on you? Sure, pulling off an 18-point comeback is immensely difficult, but with their senior quarterback finally returning, I know for a fact those players were gearing up for a fight. A long field goal attempt in that situation with that kicker may as well just be a punt with a full quarter of football remaining.
• Tuberville still can’t win the big game, especially against teams in the American. Here’s a full list of 8-win AAC teams Tuberville has beaten in his time at UC: Houston 2013, ECU 2014, Houston 2014. The ECU game was nearly given away on the worst play call I’ve ever seen, and the Houston game later that year saw the Bearcats hang on for dear life after Kiel left with a second-half injury. In that same stretch, Tuberville has lost six games against 8-win AAC teams. 3–6 against good teams may not sound like a train wreck, but it is. (Especially considering Houston and USF should be joining the 8-win club this year, pushing TT’s record to 3–8.) For a program that was dominating a power conference a few years ago, you’d think knocking off a few good AAC teams would be possible. For a coach with tenure in the SEC and Big 12, you’d think knocking off a few good AAC teams would be possible. Don’t get me started on bowl games.
• The Bearcats are 3–2, but the season is on the verge of being a dumpster fire. The Bearcats have started 0–2 in the conference for the second consecutive year, essentially ending championship hopes as quickly as they started. Losing two conference games is bad enough, but doing it to open the season, at home, against the best team from each division is worse. 3–2 is nothing to jump off a bridge over, but stop and consider the future of this season. Before Tuberville can think about finishing at a respectable 8–4, he has to worry about getting his team back on his side. The 2010 Bearcats folded under Butch Jones, finishing 4–8 because he lost the locker room. The 2016 Bearcats are teetering on the edge. Tuberville has to get his kids motivated to play. He also has to start Gunner Kiel, which seems unlikely given their sideline spat on Saturday, which surely only added fuel to the fire between the coach and QB. This team has the talent to win eight or nine games this season, but there are a lot of intangibles that go into a successful year, and I don’t think we have any of those.

On the bright side:

(Yikes, this is tough this week.)

• We’re still 3–2. In a five game stretch, losing two games is not good. Over the course of a full season, losing two games is pretty great. Wins and losses are all that matter, and if this team and this coaching staff ever decide to maximize potential, there’s a scenario where we finish the regular season 10–2. Do I think that’s possible? Absolutely. Do I think it’s likely? Not really. Having said that, there is some precedent for it. In 2013, the second weekend of October kicked off a six-game winning streak. In 2014, the third week of October kicked off a seven-game winning streak. The league is better than it was in those years, but we still have the ability. If there’s one thing Tuberville has done well, it’s handle bad teams and string together wins in the second half of the season.
• Gunner finally threw a pass. Surely Tuberville can’t put the cat back in the bag, right? Unless Hayden is back to 100% and starting, I simply can’t fathom Tommy running Ross Trail back out there against UConn. Saturday was an unmitigated disaster, but we may have worked ourselves into a spot where Tuberville has no choice but to start his fifth-year senior. Given the way he ended last season and started this one, you gotta believe Gunner is chomping at the bit to get out there and prove himself again.
• Tuberville accepted responsibility. Maybe I’m wrong, but it feels like the first time Tommy has come out and taken the blame. As a head coach, you have to accept responsibility for what’s your fault, and take the fall for a lot of things that aren’t. Tuberville typically does neither. Maybe Saturday was a wake up call. It means very little, but at least it’s something.
• The Bearcats fan base is on the same page. Cincinnati sports fans live in a constant state of divisiveness. Even just in regards to the Bearcats, the fan base can rarely agree on anything. There are fans that still clamor for Bob Huggins at every turn. There are fans that want to run Mick out of town. There are fans that want Cronin on a lifetime contract. There are fans that thought Butch Jones was great and fans that never liked him. Towards the end of last season, the line on Tuberville started to move. There are fewer and fewer fans on his side, myself included. In my life as a sports fan, I’ve never picketed for a coaching change. It’s just not my style. Suddenly I find myself boiling over with frustration about UC football. If Tuberville buried his head in the sand up to this point, now he knows for sure: His approval rating is in the garbage, and the overwhelming majority of UC fans are finally on the same page. Between the team’s performance on Saturday, the vocal displeasure inside the stadium, and the tidal wave of vitriol on Twitter, this should be a wake up call. It felt like a program-altering loss.

[embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/782400045010128896[/embed]

Where do I stand?

I’m not anti-Bearcats, and I never will be. I refuse to give up on UC, ever. That said, for the first time, I’m firmly standing on the anti-Tuberville side of the fence. If this current trend continues, I think it’s time to pull the plug at the end of the season. Do I think they’ll fire him? Not really. Can Tuberville win me back? Sure. Pulling out eight or nine wins and a bowl game this year would probably extend my personal leash.

I’ve always been somewhat annoyed by the entitlement of UC fans. Especially when it comes to basketball, Bearcats faithful seem to think anything short of elite national prominence is worthy of firing. In this case, I think that mentality is a good thing. We all went into the game against #6 Houston expecting to win. That was probably unwarranted, but I love that the expectations for the program remain high.

The only remaining defense of Tuberville’s tenure is that he takes care of lowly teams. At a place like Purdue, that’ll get the job done. At Cincinnati, that’s not good enough. The city, the program, the fans, and the players deserve better than mediocrity. If Tuberville can’t deliver more than mediocrity over the next seven or eight games, he doesn’t deserve to be here. He’s making a lot of money to coach in a conference that’s not immensely difficult in front of fans that are very supportive without applying much pressure to win like at OSU or Texas. This is a good gig, and I think we’re all starting to get the feeling that we’re being taken advantage of.

If there’s one thing you take from this rant, let it be this:

Do not give up on this team. I know the coaching staff, especially Tuberville, hasn’t earned much loyalty in the past few years. However, if anyone is more disappointed than the fans, it’s the players. These kids had a choice of where to spend their college careers, and they chose the University of Cincinnati. They chose us, so let’s stick with them. It would be easy to give up and stop attending games, but the players don’t deserve that.

Show up at Nippert. Make noise. When the time is right, make your displeasure known. Just remember who your frustration is directed at, and don’t let these kids play in an empty stadium. That would only make things more depressing. We have two weeks off to simmer down and take a break from football in Clifton. Let’s beat UConn, lick our wounds in the bye week, and come out strong to Nippert for Homecoming against ECU. The season isn’t dead yet, and neither am I.

Go Bearcats.

Cincinnati vs USF: A Football History

The Bearcats celebrate with the travelling fan contingent following their 2007 win in Tampa. (AP/Mike Carlson)

The South Florida Bulls turned the corner in 2015, winning eight games and returning to national relevance for the first time in five years. The Bearcats, meanwhile, squandered away multiple games before getting blasted by the surging Bulls in Tampa. USF has never beaten Cincinnati in back-t0-back seasons, and the Bearcats will take the field Saturday with the goal of making sure that remains the case. Here’s the Cincinnati-South Florida breakdown and a look at some notable games:

All-time series record: Cincinnati leads, 8–5

First meeting: 2003

Last meeting: 2015

Current streak: South Florida won last year

Record in Cincinnati: Cincinnati leads, 5–1

Streak in Cincinnati: Cincinnati has won the last two

Mike Daniels scores a first quarter touchdown. (AP photo)

October 31, 2003 — South Florida 24, Cincinnati 17

The Bulls joined Conference USA for the 2003 season, which set up their first matchup with the Bearcats. UC packed up and flew to Tampa for a Halloween game in front of what looked to be a very sparse crowd.

Mistakes were a theme, and the Bearcats seemingly did all they could do lose the game. After a defensive stand that forced USF to tie the game rather than take the lead, the red and black worked themselves into field goal position to take a shot at a 41-yard game-winner with four seconds left. The attempt was blocked, and the teams went to overtime tied at 10.

The Bearcat defense, having played tough all night, quickly came unravelled and allowed touchdowns on USF’s first two possessions. Following a UC first down in 2OT, Gino Guidugli’s pass bounced off of the shoulder pad of Richard Hall and into a defender’s hands to end the game. The whole mess is on YouTube, if you’d like to watch.

The win pushed the Bulls to 5–3 on their way to a 7–4 finish. The double overtime victory over the Bearcats was USF’s second of three double overtime victories on the year. The loss dropped the Bearcats to 4–4 on the year, and they’d go on to lose three of their remaining four, signaling the end of the Rick Minter era and making way for Mark Dantonio in 2004.

To be fair, I’m not sure anyone cared about this excruciating loss, because:

(Enquirer, 11/01/2003)

Butler Benton runs for a 48-yard touchdown in the second quarter. (Enquirer/Meggan Booker)

November 20, 2004 — Cincinnati 45, South Florida 23

The Bulls made the trip to Nippert for the first time and took their first shot at Bearcat head coach Mark Dantonio. UC swung hard and didn’t miss, storming to a 45–23 victory at home.

After a critical turnover near the end of the first half, USF knotted the score at 17. However, the Bearcats drove 80 yards down the field on the ensuing drive to take a 7-point lead into the break. After halftime, the offense and defense turned things up to pull away for the win behind stellar performances from Guidugli and the entire running back corps.

The win made the Bearcats bowl eligible and helped toward a 7–5 finish. USF limped to their first losing season, a place they wouldn’t return to until 2011.

WR Marcus Barnett slings a 76-yard pass to Mardy Gilyard in the second quarter. (AP/Mike Carlson)

November 3, 2007 — Cincinnati 38, #20 South Florida 33

2007 in Tampa was like 2009 in Clifton. Building on years of success, the Bulls finally were getting things to fall into place. They opened the season 6–0 with wins at #17 Auburn and at home over #5 West Virginia. The Bulls had arrived, and they were ranked #2 in the country by mid-October. Then things started to fall apart. First it was a 3-point loss in New Jersey to Rutgers, then a 7-point loss in Hartford to UConn. The Bulls limped home in November to face Brian Kelly’s Bearcats, hoping to get back on track.

On the first drive of the game, USF picked off a Ben Mauk pass and took it 73 yards for a touchdown and a 7-point lead. UC was able to equalize with a 63-yard Mauk touchdown pass, but USF returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, giving them a 14–7 lead.

The Bearcats responded well, answering with a field goal, a blocked punt returned for a score, a 79-yard interception return, and a 16-yard touchdown catch by Dominick Goodman. This was all before the end of the first quarter. UC was suddenly leading 31–14.

The Bulls made it interesting late, but their comeback bid fell short, and their plummet from #2 continued following a third consecutive loss. They never really recovered that season, finishing 9–4 following a loss in the Sun Bowl. The Bearcats couldn’t quite get past #5 West Virginia two weeks later, and settled for a victory in the PapaJohns.com Bowl, capping a 10–3 season.

(AP photo)

October 15, 2009 — #8 Cincinnati 34, #21 South Florida 17

The Bearcats returned to Tampa in 2009 as a Top 10 team. The Bulls were a respectable #21, but had won five straight games against ranked teams, two of which were Top 10. The Bearcats were good, but the Bulls liked their chances, especially at home in front of a packed crowd of nearly 64,000 at Raymond James Stadium.

USF scored first, taking a 7–0 lead on a BJ Daniels touchdown pass, but the Bearcats held a 17–10 halftime advantage after two first half connections between Tony Pike and Armon Binns. Early in the third quarter, Pike re-aggravated a 2008 injury and was replaced by sophomore QB Zach Collaros, who promptly split the Bulls defense for a 75-yard touchdown that effectively put the game away.

[embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/780815833945735168[/embed]

Collaros scored on another touchdown run for good measure, and the Bearcats got the win in Tampa, pushing them to 6–0 at the midpoint of what would be a perfect 2009 regular season. It was the fourth consecutive win for UC in the series, the longest by either team.

Zach Collaros scores on a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. (AP Photo/The Tampa Tribune, Fred Bellet)

October 22, 2011 — Cincinnati 37, South Florida 33

By 2011, Collaros was a senior, and ready to bookend his Bearcats legacy with another Big East Championship. After a blowout Week 2 loss in Knoxville, the Bearcats headed to Tampa with a 5–1 record to face a team that beat the Bearcats in 2010 and opened 2011 with a win over #16 Notre Dame in South Bend.

The Bearcats started slow, playing to a 10–10 halftime tie. UC let the third quarter get away from them, and the Bulls opened up a 10-point lead to start the fourth. A Collaros touchdown run made it a 3-point game before a touchdown pass to Alex Chisum gave UC its first lead of the half.

The Bearcats had their work cut out for them after a BJ Daniels touchdown pass with 1:27 remaining, but the always-poised Collaros crafted a 7-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that ended with the game winning score with 12 seconds remaining.

Two weeks later, Collaros fell to injury, causing the Bearcats to lose two consecutive games on their way to a 10–3 finish. The Bulls, who had entered conference play 4–0 and ranked #14, finished the Big East slate at just 1–6, capping a disastrous second season for Skip Holtz.

(Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)

November 20, 2015 — South Florida 65, Bearcats 27

The Bearcats’ disappointing 2015 season went from bad to worse in Tampa, as a crowd of fewer than 27,000 had plenty to cheer about in USF’s beatdown of UC. A 44-yard Andrew Gantz field goal saved UC from being shut out in the first half, but the red and black saw only red with the scoreboard reading 51–3 at the break.

Things got a bit better in the second half (which isn’t saying much) as Chris Moore reeled in a 54-yard touchdown pass from Hayden Moore to clinch the Bearcats career receiving touchdowns record.

For the Bearcats, the loss was a preview of what to expect in the Hawaii Bowl. For the Bulls, the win was another stepping stone in the return to relevance. USF won eight games and made a bowl appearance, both of which hadn’t been done in Tampa since 2010.

So far, the Bearcats seem to be much-improved defensively in 2016. The game is in Cincinnati, where USF has just one win in six tries. The Bulls have never beaten the Bearcats in back-to-back seasons. If history and statistics are any indication, I like the Bearcats’ chances this weekend. A win here would likely be the biggest conference win for Tommy Tuberville since the Bearcats fended off Houston at the end of the 2014 season to win the AAC title. UC played strong for three quarters against a Top 10 team two weeks ago. Saturday they’ll have a chance to prove that wasn’t a fluke, and move one step closer to facing Houston again in December.

By The Numbers: The Tuberville Tenure

(Al Behrman/AP)

So I kinda got into it on Twitter last night. Given the bad taste in everyone’s mouth after the Miami win, I figured it was finally time to sit down and sort out my feelings about Tommy Tuberville. It’s something I’ve been avoiding, because I don’t want to hate the guy, and his resume at UC is kind of complicated. In his 43 games in Cincy, my feelings towards him have absolutely run the gamut. I’m sure everyone else feels the same. Without playing psychologist and trying to dissect why everyone seems to have turned on him (and whether or not those reasons are valid), I wanted to bring some kind of semblance to his first 43 games in Clifton. The last 75% of this season is going to make or break his Cincinnati tenure, so I’m here to establish a baseline. Here are the hard facts on Tuberville at UC, personal opinions aside:

[Note: You can’t glean anything––positive or negative––from an FCS game. Therefore, all stats include FBS games only. If there is a stat you think should be added, tweet me.]

Win-Loss Record:

2013: 8–4

2014: 9–4

2015: 6–6

2016: 2–1

Total: 25–15 (.625)

Conference Record:

2013: 6–2

2014: 7–1

2015: 4–4

2016: 0–1

Total: 17–8 (.680)

Non-Conference Record:

2013: 2–2

2014: 2–3

2015: 2–2

2016: 2–0

Total: 8–7

vs Teams With 8+ Wins:

2013: 1–1

2014: 3–2

2015: 1–6

2016: N/A

Total: 5–9 (.357)

vs Non-Bowl Eligible Teams:

2013: 6–2

2014: 5–0

2015: 3–0

2016: N/A

Total: 14–2 (.875)

Blowout Wins:

(Wins by 21 points or more.)

2013: 3

2014: 4

2015: 2

2016: 0

Total: 9

Blowout Losses:

(Losses by 21 points or more.)

2013: 2

2014: 3

2015: 2

2016: 1

Total: 8

Narrow Wins:

(Wins by eight points or less.)

2013: 2

2014: 4

2015: 2

2016: 1

Total: 9

Narrow Losses:

(Losses by eight points or less.)

2013: 2

2014: 0

2015: 3

2016: 0

Total: 5

Home Record:

(Any game played at Nippert or Paul Brown Stadium.)

2013: 4–1

2014: 5–1*

2015: 4–1

2016: 1–1

Total: 14–4 (.778)

Record Away From Home:

(Any game played outside of Nippert or Paul Brown Stadium.)

2013: 4–3

2014: 4–3

2015: 2–5

2016: 1–0

Total: 11–11 (.500)

Record on Short Week:

(Games with five or fewer days to prepare.)

2013: 0–0

2014: 0–0

2015: 0–1

2016: 0–1

Total: 0–2 (.000)

Record on Long Week:

(Games with nine or more days to prepare.)

2013: 2–3

2014: 2–1

2015: 0–2

2016: 2–0

Total: 6–6 (.500)

Weekdays:

2013: 2–1

2014: 4–0

2015: 1–4

2016: 0–1

Total: 7–6 (.538)

Saturdays:

2013: 6–3

2014: 5–4

2015: 5–2

2016: 2–0

Total: 18–9 (.667)

By Month:

August: 1–0 (1.000)

September: 6–5 (.545)

October: 9–4 (.692)

November: 8–2 (.800)

December: 1–4 (.200)

Big Games:

(I’ve defined “big games” as games against Miami OH and Louisville, games against conference teams with 8+ wins that season, and bowl games.)

2013: 2–2

2014: 3–2

2015: 1–5

2016: 1–0

Total: 7–9 (.438)

Must Win Games:

(This stat does include FCS teams. You “must win” against FCS teams, Miami OH, and teams who were not bowl eligible that season.)

2013: 7–2

2014: 5–0

2015: 4–0

2016: 2–0

Total: 18–2 (.900)

SportsCenter Games:

(I don’t know what else to call these, but they’re the games that are talked about in the national media: Bowl games and games against ranked teams.)

2013: 0–2

2014: 0–2

2015: 0–2

2015: 0–1

Total: 0–7 (.000)

Power 5 Games:

(Games against teams currently in a Power 5 conference.)

2013: 2–3

2014: 0–3

2015: 1–1

2016: 1–0

Total: 4–7 (.364)

Healthy Gunner Games:

(Games in which Gunner Kiel started and did not leave due to injury.)

2014: 6–2

2015: 5–3

Total: 11–5 (.688)

Hurt Gunner Games:

(Games in which Gunner Kiel started and left early due to injury.)

2014: 3–2

2015: 1–1

Total: 4–3 (.571)

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Miami

(UC/Joseph Fuqua II)

In the 2015 edition of the Battle for the Victory Bell, redshirt freshman Hayden Moore committed four turnovers before collecting himself and driving the Bearcats down the field to victory in the fourth quarter. In the 2016 edition, redshirt freshman Ross Trail committed three turnovers before collecting himself and driving the Bearcats down the field to victory in the fourth quarter.

It was a maddening game for a bevy of reasons, but we pulled it out and there are a handful of things I’m pleased with. Here are the ups and downs:

Positives

• We won. Never whine after a win.
• That’s 11 straight against Miami. Like it or not, they’re a rival. I’ll take a rivalry win over a rivalry loss. Despite the fact that we’ve underwhelmed against the RedHawks for four straight seasons, I feel like the Battle for the Bell has never been more lopsided. Two straight years we’ve begged for Miami to beat us, and they have refused. The Bearcats at most frustrating are still better than Miami, it would appear.
• The uniforms are great. Red and black is the best color combo in sports, and this proves it.
• The tunnel (pictured above) is back! The combo of smoke and tunnel seems like the winning formula. I hope this continues.
• Ross Trail performed when he had to. With the score tied, he went 4–for-4 as part of a 12-play drive spanning 5:28 that ended with a Tion Green touchdown to win the game for the Bearcats. He made a handful of mistakes, but that’s expected of a freshman in his first start. All that matters is the win, and he brought it home. Plus, from a percentage standpoint, 25-for-38 is a good look for any quarterback, especially a freshman.
• The running backs returned to form after an abysmal showing against Houston. Tion Green and Mike Boone combined for 157 yards on 37 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Nothing flashy, but they moved the chains and scored some points. I’ll take it.
• The defensive front looked great. We all went nuts about the lack of pressure early this season, but on Saturday they pinned their ears back and it paid off. Miami running backs combined for just 74 yards at 3.5 yards per carry. Miami QB Billy Bahl was sacked five times, fumbled once, and threw a critical interception in the red zone. This year’s defense is “bend, don’t break” and I love it. They’re getting the job done every week.

Negatives

• Saturday snapped my 24-game Nippert attendance streak, dating back to the beginning of the 2011 season. It felt downright disgusting to watch a game at Nippert on television.
• The announced attendance––38,112––is a bit of a letdown for this game, and the figure seems to be a bit of an exaggeration if I’m being honest. It wasn’t an embarrassing crowd by any means, but it was nothing special by Victory Bell standards. (A third consecutive student section sellout was nice though.)
• I don’t understand the QB situation. Not even a little bit. Tuberville essentially named Hayden Moore the starter on Tuesday, but cautioned that he’d make a switch if there were turnover issues. By Saturday, Moore was apparently too hurt to even dress. Rather than start veteran Gunner Kiel, Tuberville gave the ball to Ross Trail, a freshman whose career stats are 1-for-2 for two yards and an interception (which was returned for a touchdown). After announcing before the game that Kiel could see playing time alongside Trail, Tuberville declined to make a QB change, even with the Bearcats losing and Trail struggling to avoid freshman mistakes. At this point, I’m reluctant to believe that Gunner will ever throw another pass for the Bearcats. As Neal Slaton pointed out, if he’s not better than a mistake-ridden freshman, why is he even on the team?
• Bryce Jenkinson is out for the year. This sucks, because I love Bryce Jenkinson.
• Lastly, as Bearcats Sports Radio points out, the fanbase is extremely restless. I’m typically above the restlessness, and even I’m feeling it. We’re four games into the season and a 5–7 finish with a Big 12 snub seems as likely as a 10-win season with a Big 12 invite. Warranted or not, it feels like the whole program is up in the air, and that feeling is really not fun. I have no idea where we’ll be in three months, and that’s scary.

Despite the rocky start to the season, the Bearcats are 3–1 with a chance to make a name for themselves against one of the conference’s better teams next weekend at Nippert. I think there are signs this team can be really good, and next week will be an opportunity for them to prove it.

What Should UC Do With The Miami Game?

UC-Miami 2013 (Madison Schmidt/News Record)

With the Battle for the Victory Bell looming this Saturday, I’ve seen the debate bubble to the surface on Twitter yet again. I hear it every year now: UC needs to do something about the Miami game. Why? Because for the last decade, not only have the RedHawks not been able to beat the Bearcats, but they haven’t been able to do anything else either. One winning season since 2005, poor attendance to go with fan support that has never been particularly strong, and the simple fact that they compete (or don’t) in the MAC, while UC has played major (or kinda-major) college football. The game is built into the Bearcats’ schedule, and it does very little to benefit them in the current landscape of college football. Let’s play athletic director and look at our hypothetical options.

Option 1: Do Nothing

If we’re being honest with ourselves, this is what will happen. If you’re an athletic director with 25% of your out-of-conference games scheduled for you, I bet you’re pretty happy. When the game is in Oxford, it’s a short ride for your team and a short drive for your fans to see a road game. When the game is in Cincinnati, you get yourself a nice little spike in attendance because it’s a “rivalry” game. Besides, eventually Miami is going to get better. They’ll always be a MAC school, but if you look at their history, the past decade has been an outlier for them. It’s unlikely they’ll remain this bad forever. At some point––like most MAC teams do––they’ll start winning. When they do, it’ll be nice to have a rival on the schedule who’s winning 10+ games. Besides, there’s way too much history in the rivalry.

Option 2: Don’t Play Every Year

There’s some merit to this one, but I’m not a fan. Playing the game every other year may mitigate some of the negative effects, but it’s also going to put a serious dent in a rivalry stretching back to the Grover Cleveland administration. Plus, imagine the scenario I mentioned above. Miami gets everything clicking and a perfect storm like 2003 comes to Oxford. They’re looking at 12 or 13 wins, and… UC doesn’t play them that season. No thanks. Sounds even more frustrating than the current set-up.

Option 3: Play At A Neutral Site

Easily the worst idea, and one that makes no sense. If this is your plan as hypothetical athletic director, you are nuts. Delete your account.

Option 4: Play Every Game At Nippert

This is what the teams did from 1899 to 1970, and it worked at the time. Now that we’ve been alternating, you can’t go back. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. Miami would never agree to this, and I don’t really blame them. They’ve seen the benefits of bringing the game to Oxford, and they can’t afford to lose that completely. Besides, one of my biggest gripes with the rivalry is that Miami doesn’t have enough fans that care about football. Move the series to Cincinnati and that will get even worse.

Option 5: Switch to 2–1–2–1

Alright, here’s what I’m doing as hypothetical athletic director. It’s a more complicated set-up, and one that Miami won’t like, but they have no leverage at this point. UC should alternate two years at Nippert with one year in Oxford. After the last decade, it’s fair. When the game is at UC, it’s usually sold out or very close to it. It’s almost always broadcast on television, even if it’s just ESPNews (like this season). When the game is in Oxford, you’re lucky to hit 20,000 fans for a game broadcast on ESPN3, and then you have to drag your team and fans up there to make Miami money in the biggest game of their season. There’s no give and take. I went to the 2013 game in Oxford, and I swear UC brought more fans than the RedHawks average by themselves. It’s not fair. They’re lucky to win four games in a season, and now here comes UC with a bag of cash. If Miami starts winning eight or nine games again, we can switch back. Until then, this is what UC deserves if they’re going to keep this rivalry going.

Option 6: Treat It As The FCS Game

I also like this option, especially when combined with Option 5. A major gripe among fans is that the RedHawks are so bad that playing them can only hurt us. I agree, and I think the best way to alleviate this is to cancel the annual FCS game for the time being. Treat Miami as the annual cupcake team and schedule three competent G5 or P5 teams to fill out the rest of the out-of-conference schedule. The issue with this solution is two-fold. 1) Now you have to pay a better team to come in place of an FCS team. 2) By eliminating the FCS game, you eliminate an automatic home game every year. To make Option 6 work, I think you have to combine it with Option 5.

Option 7: Cancel It

The favorite option among Bearcats #HotTakers is to cancel the rivalry altogether. “You suck and we won’t play you!” I see the frustration, but I can’t bring myself to do it as hypothetical athletic director. You don’t cancel a rivalry after a lopsided decade. Miami didn’t do it to us when we were terrible. I know college football is different now and the conference landscape has all but cemented the RedHawks will be permanently beneath the Bearcats in stature, but we’ve seen enough rivalries cancelled because of expansion and TV money. I can’t imagine losing this one, too. Cancel the Miami game and Jimmy Nippert will roll over in his grave.

(Note: Now that I’ve written this, I’m fully prepared for Miami to beat us by 20 this weekend. Because karma.)

Two Cents & Sense: Thoughts on UC vs Houston

(UC/Joseph Fuqua II)

I’m not in the business of recapping a game everyone saw. If you want the rundown, check here. I’ll just jump right into positives and negatives.

POSITIVES:

• Holy cow, that defense. Where did that come from? Forget the yardage, football has always been about bending without breaking. The Bearcats defense did a lot of bending on Thursday night, but rarely broke. With 12 minutes left in the game, they had the nation’s #6 team held to TWELVE points. Last year’s defense would’ve gotten absolutely torn limb from limb by this Houston team.
• More forced turnovers. This is one of the biggest things last year’s team was lacking. If your defense is struggling and giving up yards on a long drive, you can totally redeem yourself with a turnover. We didn’t do it last year. Last night we did, and it kept us in the ballgame with a Top 10 team. Going into the game, I figured we’d have a really good shot to win if we could be opportunistic on defense, and we were.
• Antonio Kinard is a machine. That’s it.
• Honestly, I thought Hayden Moore played pretty well… at least for most of the night. Was it an impressive outing, in total? No. Am I ready to bench a guy who’s putting up good numbers after he struggled against one of the best defenses in the country? Absolutely not. Hayden made a lot of tough throws to move the chains on Thursday, despite the fact that he was constantly in 3rd-and-long situations, it felt like.
• The receivers continue to impress. There was some worry about how the Bearcats would look without that elite WR class that left after last season. They look alright to me. Nate Cole is the veteran we need, Devin Gray is living up to his billing as a big play-maker, Avery Johnson continues to be a reliable target, and Khalil Lewis gives you an extra option while also being a home run threat.
• THIS PLAY!

[embed]https://twitter.com/FootbaIl_Tweets/status/776609159785517057[/embed]

• The student section was unreal. Just a hair over 40,000 showed up last night, and nearly 20% of those fans were students. 7,813 was a student section record for Nippert, and it felt like it. I’ve seen a lot of games in Clifton, but I’ve never felt the student section quite like that. Better than Louisville 2013 and Miami (FL) 2015, which were two of my favorite nights at Nippert.

[embed]https://twitter.com/uofcincy/status/776604175077629952[/embed] https://twitter.com/38Godfrey/status/776600051078598656[embed]https://twitter.com/GoBEARCATS/status/776575098895687686[/embed]

NEGATIVES:

• The offense. For how much we continue to rip on the Eddie Gran offense, at least he seemed to play the cards he was dealt. When the only thing working against Memphis last year was the pass, he said “Heck, let’s just let the freshman throw it every single play.” I understand that you make a game plan going in and that you’d love to stick with that. However, sometimes the opposing defense makes the game plan for you. The Bearcats were simply not going to run the football last night. After a miraculous 10-yard scamper from Mike Boone late in the fourth quarter, the rushing attack finished with a combined 20 carries for 43 yards. Rushing 20 times for 2.2 yards per carry is irresponsible play-calling. The Bearcats lost the time of possession battle badly, holding the ball for fewer than 22 minutes. If that isn’t bad enough, we seemed to spend half that time futilely running for one yard. Everyone watching the game could see that there would be no running game. The passing game, meanwhile, was having a good bit of success, despite the bad situations the running game kept putting the Bearcats in. Sometimes you gotta scrap the game plan when a better one becomes available. Should’ve done it last night.
• The offense is worse than our defense. Two pick sixes, a safety, and a field goal that wasn’t taken. That’s 19 points our offense coughed up. You will never beat a Top 10 team doing that.
• The predictable fan reaction. Really, guys? You’ve watched all that has happened since the beginning of 2013 and coming up short against #6 Houston is where you draw the line in the Tuberville tenure? Look, I’m not about to draft up a contract extension, but at least reserve your outrage for a time when he does something he’s not supposed to do, like show up completely unprepared for a bowl game or raise the white flag in a marquee out-of-conference game against BYU. You can’t call for Tuberville’s head after every loss. He did a great job against Purdue, and had us in Thursday’s game all the way into the fourth quarter.
• The press conference. I need to stop watching these. Have you ever seen Tuberville accept responsibility for anything? It’s one of the reasons I love Mick Cronin’s leadership. Mick is really tough on his guys and holds them accountable, but he accepts responsibility for his mistakes and very rarely calls out a player in a press conference. For Tuberville to open the press conference saying the defense played well enough to win but the QBs made bad decisions is insane. At the time of Hayden Moore’s first interception, the Bearcats trailed 19–16. You know why we weren’t already winning at that point? We simply gave away three points by refusing to kick a field goal, and then we called a running play on our own one-yard line to give up a safety. The score easily should’ve been 20–17 in favor of UC at that point, considering we would’ve kicked a PAT after Nate Cole’s TD catch. I’m not saying the players were blameless last night, and certainly Hayden Moore’s interception when trailing by three points was huge, but it would’ve been refreshing to see Tuberville do something other than throw his own players under the bus. Again. “We practiced well. We prepared well. Our guys were ready to play…We just didn’t have enough to beat a very good football team.” Translation: Don’t blame me.

Overall, I’m not anywhere near to jumping off a bridge after that game. Through three games, this team, especially its defense, is much better than I anticipated. We’ve got some things to work on, to be sure, but if we play with the intensity of the Purdue and Houston games, we’re gonna do a lot of winning this season. The Battle for the Victory Bell is just around the corner, which is always fun. I’m having a hard time feeling down. Go Bearcats.

Cincinnati vs Houston: A Football History

Ray Jackson lunges for a touchdown against Houston in a game on 10/7/2000. (AP photo)

We have ourselves a showdown. The #6 Houston Cougars are coming to Nippert Stadium on Thursday night. The Bearcats have a history of springing the upset, but let’s take a look at the history between Cincinnati and Houston.

All-time series record: Houston leads, 14–10

First meeting: 1957–58 season

Last meeting: 2015–16 season

Current streak: Houston won last meeting

Record in Cincinnati: Bearcats lead, 6–4

Streak in Cincinnati: Bearcats won last six meetings

Here is a look at some of the important games in the series history:

October 5, 1957 — Houston 7, Bearcats 0

(Enquirer)

The first meeting between the two teams took place at Nippert Stadium, and the heavily-favored Cougars edged past the Bearcats thanks to a fourth quarter touchdown. “It was by far the greatest effort a Cincinnati team has shown in three years of Coach George Blackburn’s regime,” wrote the Enquirer’s Dick Forbes. The teams finished the season with matching 5–4–1 records.

October 3, 1959 — Houston 13, Cincinnati 12

(Enquirer)

In the first game of the series to take place in Houston, the injury-riddled Bearcats beat themselves with stupid mistakes. After a first quarter touchdown by Steve Rasso––who would later coach at St. Xavier High School and mentor a young defensive backs coach named Urban Meyer––the Bearcats missed the extra point. They tacked on another six in the second quarter on a touchdown grab by RB Ed Kovac, but the two point conversion failed. Houston slammed the door on the Bearcats offense in the second half and scraped out a win.

November 28, 1964 — Bearcats 20, Houston 6

Cincinnati RB Errol Prisby dives for yardage in the first quarter, 11/28/1964. (AP photo)

The Bearcats got their first win in the series on the final day of the 1964 season in Houston. The win capped off an 8–2 campaign and a MVC Championship, the best year for the red and black in a decade.

Legendary Bearcats QB Brig Owens led the effort, and UC scored on its first possession and never looked back. The only Cougar score came on a desperation heave as time expired. RB Al Nelson––who would go on to a successful eight years with the Philadelphia Eagles––used the game to cap off his historic season. His 973 rushing yards were good for #1 in Cincinnati history and #4 in the country in 1964. His 13 rushing touchdowns were good for #2 in the NCAA (behind Brian Piccolo).

September 25, 1971 — Houston 12, Cincinnati 3

Bearcat defenders close in on Houston QB Gary Mullins, 9/25/1971. (Dick Swaim/Enquirer)

This was the first meeting since the 1968 season, where the #12 Cougars decimated the Bearcats in Houston, 71–33. This time the game was in Cincinnati, and the Bearcats were determined to put up a fight. UC kept the Houston offense at bay for three quarters, leading 3–0 heading to the fourth. On the first play of the final frame, UH scored a touchdown which they matched on their next possession. Cincinnati’s upset bid in Clifton fell short, but the Cougars haven’t won there since.

November 13, 1993 — Bearcats 41, Houston 17

Bearcat RB David Small fumbles on the goal line, but UC would recover, 11/13/1993. (Tim Johnson/AP)

Between 1975 and 1993, the series took a long hiatus before Conference USA would bring the two together in 1996. A crowd of fewer than 11,000 people gathered at the Astrodome to see Houston get railroaded by the visiting Bearcats.

RB David Small was the game’s MVP, amassing an impressive 31 carries for 201 yards to go with four touchdowns, pushing him to first on the UC career rushing touchdown list (a spot he later surrendered to DeMarco McCleskey). UC buried the Cougars from the start, as Small tacked on his third rushing touchdown early in the second quarter to push the lead to 24–0.

Houston only managed a single win in 1993. It was a renaissance year for the Bearcats, who finished the season at 8–3, narrowly missing a bowl game but amassing their best record since 1976 and first winning season since 1982.

November 14, 1998 — Bearcats 44, Houston 43

WR Cornelius Bonner celebrates with QB Chad Plummer after a first quarter 2-point conversion, 11/14/1998.

(AP photo)

The Bearcats were riding high following a decisive win over Utah State in the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl. The wheels fell off the following year, as the Bearcats lost their first nine games to open the 1998 season, in which they would finish with the nation’s worst defense. It was a nightmare for a program that seemed to be finally coming into its own. One Saturday afternoon in November, things turned around.

The Bearcats and Cougars started fast and played to a 14–14 tie after the first quarter, but Houston pulled away before halftime thanks to a 75-yard touchdown run and a 22-yard touchdown pass. UC tacked on a field goal on the half’s final play, but faced a 27–17 deficit at the break.

The Bearcats added a touchdown in the third quarter, but two impressive scores from the Cougars made it a 41–24 game heading into the final frame. UC was facing an 0–10 start to the season.

Then came the comeback.

McCleskey opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown run, bringing the game to 41–31. The defenses battled it out for nearly 10 minutes of game clock before Nathan Wize reached the end zone for another touchdown, bringing the score to 41–37. Looking for an extra point to make it a one-possession game, disaster struck as the Cougars blocked the kick and returned it 95 yards for two. Instead of needing a field goal, now the Bearcats needed a touchdown, down 43–37 with 4:19 left.

The Bearcats got the ball back and sophomore QB Deontey Kenner engineered the game-winning drive, completing all three of his passes to push the Bearcats 68 yards down the field where McCleskey punched it in to tie with a minute remaining. This time, the extra point wasn’t blocked and UC held on to win. Several hundred of an estimated 2,000 fans remaining at Nippert stormed the field.

“We had guys laughing, guys crying,” said Bearcat DT Kevin Ward. “Some guys were so confused, they didn’t know what to do.” Head coach Rick Minter called it one of the best games in Nippert Stadium history.

December 6, 2014 — Bearcats 38, Houston 31

QB Munchie Legaux celebrates the conference title, 12/6/2014. (Mike DiNovo/USA TODAY Sports)

The two programs parted ways following the 2004 season, with Cincinnati moving to the Big East and Houston remaining in Conference USA. The Bearcats and Cougars met in Houston in 2013, their first meeting in 11 seasons. It was the 2014 game that was important. The Bearcats had beaten the Cougars four straight times and eight out of the previous ten. None of that mattered if they couldn’t pull out a win in chilly Paul Brown Stadium with an AAC Championship on the line.

The red and black opened the scoring as freshman RB Mike Boone found pay-dirt early in the game before Houston tied it later in the quarter on a run of their own. Two Gunner Kiel touchdown passes in the second quarter offset at Cougar field goal, and UC took a 21–10 lead to halftime.

After the first play of the second half, Kiel left the game with leg cramps and headed to the locker room for an IV. He wouldn’t return, so the game was on the shoulders of Munchie Legaux, the senior who was coming off a devastating knee injury in 2013. Boone and Houston QB Greg Ward Jr. traded rushing touchdowns in the third before Boone’s third TD of the game gave UC a 35–17 lead heading into the regular season’s final quarter.

The Cougars battled to make it a one possession game with a shot to tie, and drove all the way to the UC 11-yard line. The Cincinnati defense held, as Ward missed the end zone three straight times. The Bearcats were conference champs.

The win helped UC finish the 2014 regular season 7–0 to win its sixth conference championship in eight years.

A History of Top 10 Teams At Nippert Stadium

Bearcats students and fans swarm the field following a 30–11 upset win over #7 Rutgers, 11/18/2008. (Mark Lyons/Getty)

As you may have heard by now, the Bearcats have a date with #6 Houston this Thursday night. There’s nothing quite like the opportunity to face a highly-touted team, because the potential for something magical to happen is endless. The Bearcats have nothing to lose. If they can’t find a way to derail the Cougar locomotive, nobody is going to hold it against them. Houston, on the other hand, has everything to lose. If this season goes just right, they’re looking at a potential College Football Playoff appearance. An early slip-up in Historic Nippert Stadium would almost certain put a hole in that balloon.

By all reasonable expectations, the Bearcats should not win this game. Top 10 teams should never lose to unranked teams. That said, the Bearcats have some recent history in springing the upset. Here’s a look at all the times Top 10 teams have come to Clifton.

Pre-BCS Era

Pre-BCS Bearcats football is usually something to shield your eyes from. The Bearcats are unique in that they’ve earned a reputation as a consistently successful team over the past decade despite the fact that the first 120 or so years of Bearcats football was a veritable wasteland of success. The ‘Cats stack up well with some of the best teams in the country since 2006, but it’s brutal looking back earlier than that.

October 24, 1942 — #2 Georgia 35, Bearcats 13

Scenes at Nippert Stadium in 1942, dates unknown. (UC Libraries)

While the globe was wrapped up in World War II, the 1942 Georgia Bulldogs were the first AP-ranked team the Bearcats faced in program history. Georgia would go on to finish the season 11–1 with a Rose Bowl win, and were recognized by several publications as National Champions. (9–1 Ohio State was given the crown by the AP.) The Bulldogs raced out to a 21–0 lead in the first quarter, which essentially killed any hopes of an upset. The Bearcats were able to fight for the next 45 minutes and the score over the next three quarters was a very respectable 14–13. The Bearcats went on to finish 8–2 that year, becoming the best UC squad since the red and black went 9–1–1 in 1897. Because of the ongoing World War, there would be no Bearcats football in 1943 and 1944.

November 3, 1979 — #6 Florida State 26, Bearcats 21

Cincinnati vs Florida State official game program

In November 1979, the Seminoles of Florida State ran out onto the Nippert Stadium AstroTurf as the first Top 10 team to visit Nippert Stadium in more than 37 years. The ‘Noles were led by Bobby Bowden in his fourth of 34 years as head coach in Tallahassee. A crowd of 14,539 gathered in Clifton and had no idea what they were in for. “Cincinnati just scares the daylights out of me,” said Bowden. His fear was justified. An early Bearcats turnover and a long touchdown drive put Florida State up 7–0 after the first quarter, but the tides quickly turned.

The Bearcats, having not registered a first down in the opening quarter, came to life. Tony Kapetanis was a scrambling QB, and would finish his career with 19 rushing touchdowns to just 10 through the air. He found freshman WR Ralph Williams for a touchdown, one of three TD passes on the season for Kapetanis. Following a quick fumble by Florida State, Kapetanis put another TD on the board for the Bearcats, this time on a nine-yard scramble. Late in the first half, a 39-yard run by RB Ellis Johnson helped to power a long touchdown drive that ended when Kapetanis plowed his way into the end zone again on a one-yard run. The Bearcats found themselves entering halftime with a 21–7 lead over the nation’s #6 team.

After a scoreless third quarter, Florida State woke up. Following a pair of fourth-down conversions, the Seminoles found the end zone. For some bizarre reason, they elected to attempt a two-point conversion and failed. The score was 21–13 in favor of UC with 11 minutes remaining. The ‘Noles engineered another long drive on their next possession, finding the end zone via the air again. They attempted another two-point conversion––this time to tie the game––and failed again. Clinging desperately to a 21–19 lead, the Bearcats mustered a first down on their next drive before being forced to punt.

In the pivotal play of the game, Seminoles punt returner Gary Henry returned the ball 38 yards and into Bearcat territory. Three plays later, Florida State was in the end zone for the game-winning score.

If this defeat weren’t crushing enough, the Bearcats lost in a nearly identical fashion the year before in Tallahassee. In that game, the Seminoles also enjoyed a 26–21 victory in which they also came from behind to escape the Bearcats. In 1978, the winning score came on a 4th-and-29 play with 1:29 remaining. (Thank God I wasn’t alive for that.) In 1979, the winning score came with 1:38 remaining. If it’s any solace, the Houdini maneuver didn’t impress voters, and FSU slipped to #7 in the following week’s poll. Florida State was happy. In the week following the game, they offered Bowden a $125,000 contract, which he signed.

The Bearcats finished just 2–9 in 1979, and the FSU loss was the first of a 12-game losing streak that stretched into the 1980 season. The Seminoles finished the regular season undefeated before losing to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

October 18, 1986 — #1 Miami (FL) 45, Bearcats 13

(Enquirer)

The #1 Miami Hurricanes, powered by eventual Heisman Winner Vinny Testaverde, made a stop at Nippert Stadium on their march to the 1986 National Championship Game. A sellout crowd of nearly 30,000 (the best in stadium history at the tiem) came out to see the nation’s top team, who was in the midst of a season where they steamrolled everyone they played.

The prior week, the Bearcats nearly sprung the upset on #5 Penn State in Happy Valley, losing 23–17. UC didn’t have enough ammo for the high-powered Hurricanes, who threw up 14 points in the game’s first two minutes. In all honesty, it could’ve been worse. The ‘Canes dropped 61 points on Texas Tech earlier that season, and 58 points on West Virginia the week before. Considering the ‘Cats were in the middle of their fourth of ten-straight losing seasons, they did well to keep this one respectable.

Miami eventually lost in the National Championship to the same Penn State team the Bearcats nearly knocked off.

September 5, 1992 — #8 Penn State 24, Bearcats 20

How amazing is this picture? Richie Anderson dives over the line, 9/5/1992. (The Sporting News)

The first thing to know about this game is how bad the previous meeting in Happy Valley was. In 1991, the Bearcats lost at #5 Penn State 81–0. Seriously. Here’s proof. “It was a helpless feeling,” said head coach Tim Murphy about that game. “We were coming off seasons in which we went 1–9–1 and 1–10. And then that. We were groping for straws trying to keep the players together because we had nothing tangible to go on.”

“After that game,” said UC linebacker Nate Dingle, “I felt less than human.”

The Bearcats were outscored by opponents 132–16 in the first two games of the 1991 season, but Murphy was able to rally the troops to close the season 4–3, creating some momentum into the 1992 campaign in which the Bearcats opened the season at a newly-renovated Nippert Stadium in front of the Penn State team that humiliated them the year before. They wanted revenge.

The Nittany Lions strolled into a rainy Nippert Stadium ranked #8 on opening night, and a crowd of better than 29,000 came out to show support for the red and black. The Bearcats returned the game’s opening kickoff 69 yards, setting up a quick score. After getting shut-out in the previous meeting, the Bearcats led 7–0 against the 8th-ranked Nittany Lions.

PSU entered the game shorthanded, as starting QB Kerry Collins (yes, that Kerry Collins) broke his finger in August playing volleyball. The team’s backup QB, John Sacca, injured his throwing shoulder on a scramble in the second quarter. Turning to freshman QB Wally Richardson, the Nittany Lions were forced to scrap most down-field passing plays. Knowing Penn State would be leaning on their running game, the Bearcats stacked the box with as many as eight defenders, committing themselves to holding the hobbled PSU offense at bay. It worked, and the halftime score was 7–7.

In perhaps the turning point of the game, the Bearcats lined up for a 37-yard field goal with 10:30 remaining in the third quarter, aiming to take a 10–7 lead. Nittany Lion nose tackle Vin Stewart blocked the attempt, and the Lions drove 66 yards for a touchdown on the ensuing drive, putting PSU ahead 14–7. These kinds of swings in momentum are nearly impossible to recover from in upset bids.

In the fourth quarter, Bearcat RB David Small grabbed an 8-yard touchdown pass to bring UC to within three, 17–14. After Penn State jumped ahead 24–14, the Bearcats brought it back to a one-possession game on a 2-yard rush by QB Paul Anderson with 1:08 left. They couldn’t muster any late-game heroics, and again UC was on the short end of the stick in a shot at a monumental upset.

Like the Florida State game 13 years prior, the Bearcats near-upset knocked the opposition down the rankings, as Penn State fell from #8 to #10 in the following week’s polls. PSU fell apart in October that year, losing five of their final seven games en route to a 7–5 finish. The Bearcats closed 1992 at 3–8.

BCS Era

In 1994, Rick Minter took the reigns of Bearcats football. After a lousy 2-win effort in his first season, Minter managed winning records in 1995, ’96, and ’97. Things seemed to be on the up-and-up in Clifton, until a disastrous 1998 campaign that saw the Bearcats lose nine consecutive games to open the slate. Just when it seemed things couldn’t get any worse, the Bearcats lost at Nippert to FCS Troy State on September 11, 1999. Looming large the following week were the mighty Badgers…

September 18, 1999 — Bearcats 17, #9 Wisconsin 12

QB Deontey Kenner (7) celebrates the upset, 9/18/1999. (Ernest Coleman)

The Wisconsin Badgers came to Nippert Stadium in 1999 surrounded by a ton of hype. RB Ron Dayne, en route to a Heisman Award and an NCAA career rushing record, was poised to steamroll a hapless UC team coming off a loss to FCS Troy State. Nearly 28,000 Bearcats faithful filed into Nippert Stadium expecting to see a bloodbath. Instead, they got their money’s worth.

Early in the second quarter, the Bearcats took a 7–3 lead on a 51-yard dash by senior RB Robert Cooper. Somehow, they never looked back.

Late in the fourth quarter, reality nearly came calling. Leading 14–12, UC defensive back Tinker Keck nearly intercepted a Wisconsin pass, but forced the Badgers into a fourth down. On the ensuing punt, Keck tried to field the ball inside his own 10-yard line and muffed it. Wisconsin recovered the ball, giving them incredible field position, trailing by just two points. On the second play of the drive, the Bearcats were able to jar the football out of the giant mitts of Dayne on the 2-yard line, getting themselves out of extreme danger. UC failed to score on the following drive, and were forced to punt. This time it was the Wisconsin returner who muffed it, and the Bearcats fell on the ball, eventually leading to a 41-yard field goal by freshman kicker Jonathan Ruffin that gave UC a 17–12 lead that would hold up.

Joy in Clifton.

Fans storm the field after the Bearcats knocked off #9 Wisconsin at Nippert Stadium on 9/18/1999. (Ernest Coleman)

Enquirer columnist Tim Sullivan wrote the following day:

Paul Klaczak had tried to plan for it. During an athletic department meeting last week, UC’s associate athletics director/operations had said if the students decided to storm the goalposts, he wanted campus security to get out of their way. The campus police laughed at his presumption, convinced the Bearcats were 26-point underdogs for a reason.

This was the same UC team, after all, that had lost the preceding Saturday to Troy State, a Division I-AA team presumably playing above its station. If the Bearcats couldn’t beat a podunk school like that, what business did they have on the same field with a Big Ten power such as the Badgers?

Answer: plenty.

Of all the improbable wins in Bearcats football history, this has to be the most unlikely. The ‘Cats pulled this one out of thin air. In the Enquirer, Mike DeCourcy laid it out:

Although the Badgers held the ball for 15 more minutes, gained 164 more yards, produced nine more first downs and drew 231 rushing yards from All-America tailback Ron Dayne, who played part-time because of an ankle injury, they left town with a defeat they could not have conceived.

UC students storm the field and bring down the goalposts, 9/18/1999. (Ernest Coleman)

Of all the bad luck UC has experienced over the years, this one seems awfully lucky. They escaped every bad break unscathed and relied on a few incredibly unlikely mistakes by the Badgers.

Wisconsin lost to #4 Michigan the following week, and then ran relatively seamlessly through a tough Big Ten schedule, finishing 10–2, winning the conference, earning a victory over Stanford in the Rose Bowl, and finishing the season as the AP’s fourth-ranked team. The Bearcats, after knocking off a championship contender, finished the season just 3–8.

“Is this an upset? Well, we’re not upset,” said Minter. “You’d have to ask someone else if it’s an upset.”

The Bearcats travelled to Madison the following season for a rematch with the #4 Badgers, but needed Nippert’s magic. They lost 28–25 in overtime.

November 18, 2006 — Bearcats 30, #7 Rutgers 11

Students and fans storm the field following the upset over Rutgers, 11/18/2006. (Brett Hansbauer)

Nine days before playing in Cincinnati, Rutgers knocked off #3 Louisville in New Jersey, launching themselves to #7 in the polls, right in the thick of the National Title conversation. On November 18, their hopes came crashing down in Clifton, inside a packed Nippert Stadium.

Senior QB Nick Davila, starting his first career game, piloted the Bearcats to an upset of college football’s newest Cinderella, the 9–0 Scarlet Knights.

Leading 3–0 late in the first quarter, a 38-yard pass from Davila to Derrick Stewart helped set up a 1-yard QB sneak for a touchdown early in the second quarter. The Bearcats were up 10–0 with some momentum.

Rutgers began to move the ball on the following drive, nearly working their way into the red zone. Facing a 3rd-and-2, Rutgers QB Mike Teel’s pass was picked off by DeAngelo Smith, who sprinted 84 yards for a touchdown, putting the Bearcats up 17–0. The Knights were in shock, and the halftime score was 17–3.

Late in the third quarter, the Bearcats received a punt at their own 17-yard line. One the first play from scrimmage, Davila flicked a pass to TE Brent Celek, who scampered 83 yards for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 27–3.

Rutgers finally found the end zone and grabbed a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, but the game was well out of reach. Bearcats students hopped the brick wall and prepared to storm the field after the final whistle:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogkBy9tdgkM[/embed] [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdukxMs6zck[/embed]

November 17, 2007 — #5 West Virginia 28, #21 Bearcats 23

Ben Mauk uncorks a pass, 11/17/2007. (GoBearcats.com)

That’s right, the Bearcats once faced two Top 7 teams at Nippert Stadium in less than a calendar year. My, how times have changed.

The 2007 NCAA football season was wild. You may remember 2007 as the year #1 Ohio State lost their second-to-last game, at home, against unranked Illinois, and still worked their way back to #1 to appear in the National Championship. In September of that year, the West Virginia Mountaineers were ranked 5th and coughed one up to #18 South Florida in Tampa. Because of the massacre happening to Top 10 teams that season, all it took was a month for WVU to work their way back to #5 in time for a Big East showdown in front of a sold-out Nippert. The Bearcats were ranked that season for the first time since 1954, and the fans were hungry for a repeat of 2006’s upset win.

The high-powered WVU offense, led by QB Pat White and RB Steve Slaton, stormed down the field to take a 7–0 lead on their first possession. At the end of the opening quarter, the ‘Cats responded when QB Ben Mauk found WR Marcus Barnett for a 70-yard strike to even the score. The Mountaineers found the end zone twice more and entered the half with a 21–10 lead over UC.

The third quarter was scoreless, and West Virgnia scored again early in the fourth quarter to take a 28–10 lead with less than 11 minutes remaining in the game. The ‘Cats needed points, and they needed them in a hurry. Following the West Virginia touchdown, Mauk engineered a 71-yard drive of his own, capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass, again to Barnett. Two crucial fumbles by White allowed the Bearcats to hang around, and RB Bradley Glatthaar punched it in with two minutes remaining, bringing the score to 28–23. An onside kick attempt failed, and the Mountaineers survived Clifton.

The Bearcats got their schadenfreude two weeks later, as WVU choked against arch-rival Pittsburgh on the doorstep of a National Championship. The Bearcats won their final game in Syracuse, ensuring a bowl appearance, where they beat #23 Southern Miss.

By The Numbers:

• Since 1986, the highest-ranked opponent to play at Nippert Stadium is a tie between the #5 West Virginia Mountaineers (in 2007) and the Bearcats themselves, who were also #5 (in 2009).
• The Bearcats were 2–1 at Nippert against Top 10 teams in the BCS era, after going 0–4 before that.
• The Bearcats, when unranked, have won the last two games at Nippert vs Top 10 teams. They’re unranked for this week’s matchup.

Cincinnati vs Purdue: A Football History

LaDaris Vann outruns Purdue’s Ralph Turner for a 20-yard TD in the first quarter of a game on 9/2/01

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(AP photo)

This Saturday, the Cincinnati Bearcats pack their bags and head up to Purdue for the first time in their 131-year history. The 1–0 Boilermakers await, as the Bearcats look to calm the nerves of fans after a less-than-convincing 28–7 Week 1 victory over the UT-Martin Skyhawks. On their end, the Boilermakers cruised to a 45–24 win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and hope to keep momentum moving in the non-conference before a crushing Big Ten schedule greets them in October.

All-time series record: Tied, 1–1

First meeting: 2001–02 season

Last meeting: 2013–14 season

Current streak: UC won last meeting

Record in West Lafayette: N/A

Streak in West Lafayette: N/A

These two teams met for the first time in 2001, despite co-existing as programs since 1887. Considering just 181 miles separate Nippert and Ross-Ade, you’d think the two teams would’ve found time to play in those first 114 years.

To set the scene in 2001, the Bearcats were coming off a 7–5 campaign in 2000 that ended with a crippling loss to Marshall in the Motor City Bowl. They opened the 2001 season on September 2nd against Purdue. (The next week’s game was against––of all teams––Army, in New York just three days before 9/11.) Fans packed Nippert hoping to see a win against a Big Ten team. A sellout crowd of 35,097 was the largest in stadium history.

The fans got a treat. The teams traded long touchdown drives on their first possessions to knot the score at 7–7 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the UC defense bent but didn’t break, allowing field goals of 25 and 39 yards to enter the half trailing 13–7.

Purdue increased its lead with a 16-yard touchdown run by Joey Harris in the third quarter, but a failed two-point conversion left the score 19–7. The Bearcats answered back with a 17-yard touchdown pass to LaDaris Vann, his second of the game, to bring the score within five headed to the fourth.

On the last play of the game, a pass intended for Tye Keith is intercepted in the end zone, sealing the Purdue victory on 9/2/01. (AP photo)

Late in the fourth quarter, looking to take the lead and spring the upset, the Bearcats beat themselves. “In the most crucial play of perhaps the biggest football game in the school’s history,” wrote Bill Koch in the Enquirer, “The Bearcats grappled with the most basic element of the game — placing the proper number of players on the field.” Following a timeout, the Bearcats sent 10 men onto the field. The 11th, running back Ray Jackson, wasn’t able to scamper onto the field and get set in time, spurring an illegal shift penalty that negated a long fourth down conversion that would’ve put the Bearcats on the Purdue six yard line.

“It was a blunder,” head coach Rick Minter said after the game. “It really was.” Uhhh, yeah.

The Bearcats would get another shot at the upset on the game’s final play, but an Adam Hoover pass was picked off in the end zone and Purdue escaped with a 19–14 victory.

The teams would meet again in 2013. Again it was a season opener in Cincinnati, and again it was a sellout crowd. 36,007 fans––a new stadium record––packed Nippert Stadium on August 31st to see the first game of the Tommy Tuberville era.

They were not disappointed this time.

Freshman Tion Green finds the end zone in the fourth quarter of a game on 8/31/13. (Lisa Ventre/UC)

After a scoreless first quarter, QB Munchie Legaux found the end zone on a 10-yard scamper to give the Bearcats the lead. Purdue would equalize with 3:26 remaining in the half, but the Bearcats slammed on the gas, finishing the game on a 35–0 run for a 42–7 victory over the Boilermakers.

Scoring touchdowns were TE Blake Annen, RB Ralph David Abernathy IV, DB Adrian Witty, RB Hosey Williams, and RB Tion Green. Green notched his second career TD in that game, and faces Purdue on Saturday as a senior looking for number 18.

Saturday’s contest determines who takes the lead in this brief three-game series. Maybe Tuberville and crew can recapture 2013’s magic and lay a beating on the Boilermakers. I think the team, and the fan base, needs it. In 2001, the Bearcats followed a disappointing bowl game with a heartbreaking loss to Purdue. Last season’s Hawaii Bowl was a disaster. I’m not sure any of us can handle a tragedy in West Lafayette.

Cheer Up, The Bearcats Did Not Lose This Week

UC’s last loss to an FCS team, vs Troy State on 9/11/99, in front of 16,091 fans. [Ernest Coleman/Enquirer]

Never whine after a win. It can always be worse.

Here’s the thing: I understand that Thursday’s 28–7 win over FCS UT-Martin wasn't ideal. I understand that a weeknight game against an FCS team with the Bengals playing down the road meant attendance was the worst it’s been in a few years. I understand that the Bearcats allowed a long touchdown drive to start the game and looked sluggish through the first half, heading back to the locker room trailing 7–6. I understand they didn’t exactly slam the door in the second half, scoring 22 unanswered points but allowing many doubts to linger. I understand.

That said, watching (some) Bearcats fans melt down on Twitter Saturday afternoon as Houston (a very good team) blew the doors off of Oklahoma (another very good team) was frustrating. Houston has not beaten the Bearcats in 2016. Houston has not accepted a Big 12 invitation, leaving UC in the dust. Houston got a great win, we should be really jealous, and we should be itching to play a Top 10 team at Nippert Stadium in two weeks.

I’m not going to turn into the guy that calls people out, telling them how to be a fan or how to feel about their team. However, I feel that we need to put the past few days into perspective. Stick with me here, I’m going to try to make you feel better.

The Bearcats did not lose on Thursday. They won fairly decisively, and currently are 1–0 with many positives to look at. After the first drive, the defense looked surprisingly stout, allowing 248 yards, forcing three turnovers and a turnover-on-downs, and holding UT-Martin to zero points. (Last year, the Bearcats had three turnovers after three games.) Tion Green finished with one of the better games of his career after starting with a fumble, and looked reinvigorated in the new offense. Veteran Nate Cole impressed with six grabs for 66 yards and a touchdown. Newcomer Devin Gray made a splash with five catches for 111 yards. Avery Johnson had just two catches for 38 yards, but had an impressive TD called back after he couldn’t quite tiptoe the line.

The offense as a whole was far from pretty, but certain growing pains are to be expected. You can’t judge a new offensive system after a single game. The Eddie Gran era opened at UC with a 42–7 flogging of Purdue, and look how that ended. Now he’s at Kentucky, where his offense fell completely stagnant in the second half, helping to cost them a football game.

Speaking of Kentucky, here are the teams I’m glad I’m not a fan of after Week 1 of the college football season:

• Kentucky, who lost to Southern Miss after their new coordinator got outscored by their old coordinator 34–0 to close the game.
• Northwestern, who lost to Western Michigan. PJ Fleck has turned the Broncos into a pretty scary MAC team, but a Big Ten team should not lose to a MAC team.
• Mississippi State, who lost to South Alabama by clanging a 28-yard field goal off the upright in the final minute.
• Virginia, who got truly blown out by Richmond, an FCS school they share a state with.
• Washington State, who lost to Eastern Washington, an FCS school they share a state with.
• Iowa State, who lost to Northern Iowa, an FCS school they share a state with. They committed three turnovers in the final six minutes of the game, which was only broadcast on Cyclones.tv
• Kansas, who won their first football game in 665 days when they beat Rhode Island, an FCS team whose lone 2015 win was Delaware. This win was such an extraordinary event that the KU students stormed the field, much to the chagrin of the PA announcer.
• UCF, who won their first football game in 639 days when they beat FCS South Carolina State.
• Tulane, who allowed just seven points to ACC bottom-feeder Wake Forest, bust lost because they only scored three.
• Temple, who got canned by Army, a team who won two games in 2015, one of which was against something called “Bucknell.”

These are all programs that are where UC is trying to get (the Power 5) or where UC is trying to leave (the AAC). They all had miserable opening weeks. The Bearcats didn’t thrill me on Thursday, but let’s remember that it can always be worse. The Bearcats have been there. One rocky win isn’t a sign that we’re headed back.

The Bearcats are undefeated. Their first road game is very winnable, and will be filled with Bearcats fans. A Top 10 team has a date with Blackout Nippert in less than two weeks. UC is still a Big 12 expansion favorite. Cheer up. Let’s beat Purdue.

I Got A Cool UC Athletics Tour Before The Opener vs UT-Martin

Earlier this week I was contacted by the folks behind @GoBearcats to take part in a behind-the-scenes tour of Nippert as part of a #UCInfluencers program. I know they’ve done this in the past, and I think it’s a great idea, so I was excited to participate. We got a quick tour of the new press box at Nippert, we walked around the field during warmups, and we saw some things in the bowels of the Lindner Center that the public rarely has access to. It was a great time and I encourage anyone who gets the opporunity to participate to do so. It’s a smart idea by the UC social media team that I hope continues. Most programs don’t take the time to bring fans “behind the curtain” like UC has done.

[embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/771465520361111552[/embed]

I‘ve watched a ton of games at Nippert. It was super bizarre looking at the field from this angle. Overall, the new field (which has been the topic of Twitter controversy) looked pretty great. The new press box looked even better.

[embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/771472771801083904[/embed]

It’s hard to believe this is Nippert Stadium. It’s incredible. I should’ve taken a couple more pictures in here. I’ve been in the club level at Great American Ballpark, and Nippert has them beat. Honestly.

[embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/771472312663093248[/embed]

This is the kind of thing the fancy seats get you. On my list of game day priorities, a small TV at my seat is basically at the bottom. Nippert covered all their bases though. Not much more you could want if you’re watching the game from here.

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I think I’m one of the few that loves the white uniforms. Adding white facemasks makes all the difference.

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Seriously, Nippert Stadium is gorgeous. Especially from this angle. Dear UC, please let me tweet the Houston game from this spot.

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People don’t understand how extensive the Lindner Center is. I know it just looks like a long building with offices from the first floor, but the place is endless. This is the practice gym, which gets used by men’s and women’s basketball, as well as the volleyball team. It’s located directly beneath Sheakley Lawn. If you’re worried about the structural integrity of that, I’ve now been told twice that a 747 could park on the roof of this place and be totally fine. It’s basically a bomb shelter with a court in it.

[embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/771478240565272577[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/OhVarsity/status/771478768292618240[/embed]

New graphics abound. The weight room is used by all varsity sports except for men’s basketball, who has their own place. (Theirs was all locked up.)

Bonus tidbit: Bengals fans may remember this Sports Illustrated cover from 2006. It was shot in the Lindner Center. UC was the first school in the country to have an underwater treadmill on campus for student athletes. Unsurprisingly, the Bengals do not have one.

2016 Bearcats Football Predictions Preview

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve been pestered about my 2016 Bearcats Football Predictions:

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I’m kind of a loser when it comes to a lot of things. One of those things is numbers. I love seeing people’s mentality in chart form, so here we are. This is my first time using Google Forms, so there’s almost definitely a better way for me to have done this. Maybe I’ll figure it out by basketball season.

If you answered a multiple choice question in the prediction form, your answer was thrown into a pie chart with everyone else. In total, we had 105 respondents. My goal was 100, so I won.

Here is what your fellow Bearcats fans are saying about the 2016 season:

This one was interesting, because after about 40 responses, it was almost dead even. More and more people hopped on the Hayden train as the season grew closer. My guess: Hayden Moore

This was a blowout from the start, and I believe Tion actually gained ground towards the end. I agree that all signs point to Mike Boone leading the way, but I’m perfectly fine with a tw0-headed team, as long as the better performer gets a few extra carries. My guess: Mike Boone

This one is my favorite, because there are actually some differing opinions. Khalil Lewis is the fan favorite for 2016 breakout star, and Nate Cole is the lone returning receiver with serious experience. I’d love for Lewis to blow everyone away, but I took the safe route and chose experience over potential. My guess: Nate Cole

This answer is going to be subjective. I threw in “losses by one possession” so we’d have something concrete to point to in case of controversy. Otherwise, I’m hoping we can come to an agreement on which losses are going to steal our souls. We’ll know it when we feel it. It can’t be as bad as last year, and you guys think we’ll get our hearts torn out twice. My guess: One

Ahh, the unpredictable nature of Bearcats attendance. There is rarely any rhyme or reason to it, and the responses here are proof. Most people think four of seven games will sell out, with three games being the next most popular choice. This one is a crapshoot. My guess: Three

I’m happy to see you’ve all started to temper your expectations. I think October is a very safe bet at this point. Six people think it will never happen. That’s depressing. My guess: #Big12Confirmed

I also asked you guys to submit wild predictions. I won’t share them all, especially the ones that are somehow still Harambe jokes. Here are a few of my favorites, copy and pasted verbatim:

“Gunner Kiel finishes with 4,000 yards passing and at least 25 TDs (lol)”

“Chad Banschbach is leading rusher in multiple games”

“Someone will break Mike Mickens pick 6 record”

“Tommy Tuberville has a stroke week 4”

“Uc loses to Houston at home in regular season on a national televised heartbreaker this sparks the Bearcats to a 10–2 finish only losing to byu in a close one to get a rematch AT houston for the AAC championship and we beat them redeeming ourselves Then (as long as sdsu or Boise don’t have a year) the Bearcats finally get their ny6 bowl win ontop of tommy actually getting winning his first bowl game at cincy”

“UC demolishes all legitimate B12 contenders (BYU, UH, UCONN, Memphis) then loses to the last place American team.”

“Travis Kelce will actually find love on that dating show.”

“Wat”

“THE WORLD WILL END IN FIREY DEATH AND WE FALL INTO A NUCLEAR WINTER ALL IS HELL AND THIS IS OUR STORY. MAY 3, 2017. THE HAVEN’T FOUND ME YET. I HAVE BEEN HIDING IN THIS ABANDONDED WENDY’S. I RAN OUT OF 4 FOR 4 DEALS 2 MONTHS AGO. SEND HELP.”

“Tubby uses golf metaphor to explain a win or loss.”

Let’s just go undefeated. Go Bearcats.