Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 26 West Virginia 23

This Memorable Bearcat Game took place during the magical 2008 season. It was a battle of 6-2 teams, Cincinnati and West Virginia. The Bearcats came into the game 1-1 in the Big East, but were coming off a huge win at South Florida the week before. West Virginia had been rolling since starting the season 1-2. At this point in the season, we didn't know for sure if the Bearcats were going to be contenders in the Big East. This was their big chance to show their stuff. Every year it seems that the conference champion has to go through West Virginia to the crown, and it certainly was the case in 2008. Pat White even had a championship belt.

 The stage was set. Morgantown, West Virginia. 60,00 crazy fans. A night to remember.

The Bearcats took advantage of the opening kickoff. By took advantage, I mean Mardy Gilyard returned the kick 100 yards for a touchdown. Here's a picture of Mardy running.

Suffice to say, that stunned the crowd. Also stunning the crowd was when WVU went 3 and out. Cincinnati couldn't do much on their possession and punted back. The Bearcats defense stifled WVU yet again, forcing a punt. This time Pat McAfee shanked it, setting UC up at the Mountaineer 33. John Goebel popped a 5 yard run on first down, but the drive stalled there. Jake Rogers calmly nailed a 46 yarder to make the score 10-0.

That score seemed to wake the Mountaineers up. Starting at their 23, Pat White took over. He busted a 15 yard run, and an 8 yard run around a 4 yard run by Noel Devine to get WVU to midfield. The Bearcats forced a third and long, but White hit Jock Sanders for 30 yards to the UC 19. White hit Alric Arnett on the next play for a touchdown and it was quickly a ball game at 10-7. The Bearcats drive went nowhere, ending in a sack. The defense would end up making a big play. Facing a 3rd and 1, WVU gave the ball to Devine, who tried to go up the middle, but was stripped. Brandon Underwood recovered for UC at the WVU 34. Tony Pike hit Dominick Goodman for 12 yards, John Goebel for 6, and ran for 11 getting the ball to the WVU 5. This was the first full game Pike played in after his broken left forearm. He left the previous UConn and South Florida games. The Bearcats ate a false start, and couldn't get closer, settling for a 31 yard field goal to make the score 13-7 to end the first quarter.

WVU started quarter 2 with a little drive, going from their 23 to their 47, before a holding penalty, and a false start forced them into long yardage plays. They punted UC back to the 21, setting the stage for maybe the biggest drive of the game.

Pike started things off by hitting Goodman once again for 25 yards, followed by a 6 yard run by Jacob Ramsey and another 7 yard pass to Goodman. That put the ball at the Mountaineer 39. But things went back on the Bearcats, getting hit with an illegal use of hands and a holding penalty to make it 1st and 30 at the UC 41. A pass to Ben Guidugli  for 7, and a 6 yard Ramsey run set up a 3rd and 17. Pike found Goodman yet again for 18 yards and a Bearcat first down. Pike hit Kazeem Alli for 6, another Ramsey run for 5 yards netted a first down, and another pass to Goodman for 9 put UC at the 8 yard line. Pike hit Marcus Waugh for a first down to the 5. After a 1 yard Ramsey run, Pike scrambled the last 4 yards on a looking left, looking left, run right play for the Cincinnati touchdown, capping a 12 play, 73 yard drive that took 9 minutes plus. It also made the score 20-7.

WVU went 3 and out on their next possession, punting to the UC 25. The Bearcats popped a 66 yard pass to John Goebel to get the ball to the 13. The Bearcats could only move the ball 2 yards, setting Jake Rogers up for a 29 yard FG. Unfortunately for UC, Rogers jaked it off the upright for his first miss of the season. That was lame, but the lameness makes you like it. Neither team did anything special to end the half. We went to the locker room with UC up 20-7.

The third quarter pretty much played out like this. Incomplete pass, short run, sack, penalty, punt. The first 4 drives the teams went 3 and out with their punters Pat McAfee and Kevin Huber drilling 50 yard punts. McAfee ruined it by hitting a 49 yarder, and Huber followed with a 33 yard punt. McAfee boomed his next one 56 yards however. Huber's leg must have been tired, because his next punt was shanked, going 28 yards to the WVU 47.

The Mountaineers got the first 1st down of the quarter, when following a 7 yard White run, White passed to Sanders, who did a lateral to Devine for 10 yards. Following a sack by Curtis Young that ended quarter 3, White hit Devine for 7 to set up 3rd and 8. White rushed for no gain, but drew a personal foul penalty on the Bearcats to keep the drive alive. Runs by Sanders, and Devine set up 1st and 10 from the 11. White threw the ball three times, 2 incompletions around a 5 yard pass to Devine, setting up a big 4th and 5. WVU decided to go for it. White tried to run to daylight on a bootleg left, but was pushed out of bounds shy of the first down, resulting in a turnover on downs.

Cincinnati took over at the 3. Brian Kelly decided to ride Jacob Ramsey. Ramsey picked up 4, 4, 2 (resulting in the first UC first down of the half), 5 and 2. The last 2 yards resulted from holding, making it 2nd and 13. Goebel couldn't run for those yards, setting up a 54 yard Huber punt that was returned 7 yards by Sanders to the WVU 40. The UC drive took 4:32, leaving WVU with 6:49.

West Virginia would drive again. White hit Bradley Starks for 24 to the UC 37. After an incompletion and 8 yard pass to Starks, Devine converted a 3rd and 2 with a 4 yard run. White hit Devine with 2 passes of 4 and 5 yards around an incompletion, setting up a 4th and 1 at the UC 15. Once again White ran, but this time, he got the first down. His next pass attempt drew a pass interference, giving WVU a 1st and goal at the 2. White threw an incompletion, ran for a yard, and ran for a loss of a yard, setting up another huge 4th down. This time, WVU went for a pass. White stared down Jock Sanders, threw, and was intercepted by DeAngelo Smith. Smith played White and the ball perfectly. It looked like WVU had just blown their best opportunity to come back.

UC had 3:22 on the clock, the ball at the 3, and 0 timeouts for West Virginia. The Bearcats gave the ball to Goebel twice, but he only got 4 yards. On 3rd and 6, Ramsey picked up 4. UC took a delay of game. Not wanting to risk a blocked kick, and playing for field position, Kelly did the smart thing and had Huber take a safety. That made the score 20-9 with only 1:11 remaining.

The free kick by Rogers was returned to the WVU 39 by Sanders. After an incompletion, White hit Sanders for 14 to the UC 47. The biggest play came on the next play. White hit Dorrell Jalloh for 23 yards, but UC was hit with a backbreaking personal foul putting the ball at the 9. White's first pass was incomplete. On second down, WVU had a false start, making it 2nd and goal at the 14. White hit Sanders for 11 to set up 3rd and goal at the 3. White's pass was incomplete. All UC needed was one more stop to finish the game. Instead, White converted with a pass to Jalloh. White ran in the 2 point conversion to make the score 20-17.

WVU got another break when Mortty Ivy recovered the onside kick. WVU's special teams made a big blunder to start the game, and a big play to save it. With 18 seconds left, White hit Jalloh yet again for 21 yard to the UC 35. An incomplete pass set up a field goal attempt for McAfee, which would tie his career high. The strong footed kicker made the pressure kick, sending the crowd into a frenzy, and sending the game into overtime.

Dustin Grutza was the starting QB for UC in 2008. He suffered a broken leg against Oklahoma, and watched Tony Pike turn into, well, Tony Pike. Grutza was the captain for UC on this day. His fateful call of I'm guessing tails, because tails never fails, allowed UC the option for overtime. UC took defense. At first, it didn't look good. Devine rushed for 9, 2, 3 and 4. That brought 3rd and 3 at the 7. Terrill Byrd made the biggest play for the defense, as he corralled White for a 3 yard sack. McAfee was true from 27, giving WVU a 23-20 lead.

UC took possession, and finally remembered that they were allowed to play offense. Pike hit Goodman for 10 yards and a first down, followed by a WVU personal foul that was half the distance to the goal. Jacob Ramsey busted for 5 yards. On 2nd and 2, Pike went play action. Every Mountaineer went left, Pike rolled right. Kazeem Alli was wide open. Earlier in the game, Pike overthrew a wide open Alli on a sure touchdown. This time, Pike was right on the money.

Pike for the game was 16-30 for 178 and the 1 TD. Goodman had 6 catches for 81 yards. Ramsey led UC in rushing, 18 carries for 83 yards. Aaron Webster had 13 tackles, and was big everywhere on defense for Cincinnati. On the WVU side, White was 20-38 for 219, 2 TDs and 1 INT. White had 41 yards rushing, and the conversion. Noel Devine led WVU with 58 yards on 19 carries, but fumbled. Jalloh was the leading WVU receiver, with 54 yards on 4 catches and a TD. Sanders had 52 yards on 5 catches. UC 260 yards, WVU 317. But WVU had 98 rushing yards, which was the first time they had under 100 yards rushing since 2001.

As you know, UC won this game and never looked back. This was the win that gave UC legitimacy. It was Brian Kelly's 5th win against a ranked team, UC had 4 it's entire history before him. It was the second win for UC ever over West Virginia. It was the win that gave confidence to the players, and especially fans, that UC was onto something special. That's why UC 26 West Virginia 23 is a Memorable Bearcat Game.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 67 St Louis 65

This week's Memorable Bearcat Game involves a history lesson. For those of you who forgot, or didn't know, Cincinnati used to play in a conference called the Great Midwest. The conference started after the old Metro dissolved. The Metro consisted of Cincinnati, Louisville, Georgia Tech from 75-78, Memphis, St Louis, Tulane, Florida State (starting in 76), Virginia Tech (starting in 79), and Southern Miss (starting in 82). Cincinnati and Memphis joined the Great Midwest, while Florida State and South Carolina went to the Big East and SEC respectively. Cincinnati was joined in the GM by Memphis, UAB, DePaul, Marquette, St Louis, and in 1993, Dayton. Yeah a 6 team basketball conference was weird, and then they made it weirder with 7. It was so weird that the conference didn't have an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. That would never happen now. Now we are in the era of superconferences, with soon to be 20 team leagues. Just look at the Metro, Florida State and South Carolina didn't join their conferences until 1991 full time. Florida State football was independent. South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992. Conferences weren't a big deal 20 years ago like they are now. Virginia Tech was in the Metro and then joined the A-10 for basketball until 2000. How weird is that now? That's just 10 years ago when V. Tech was no one in basketball, and now we get to see Seth Greenberg bitch about not making the tournament every season. It's one of the rites of March. You know the NCAA tournament is coming when Virginia Tech starts getting talked about as a bubble team. Especially when they beat North Carolina or Duke or NC State and people say "This is the signature victory." I put NC State in as a historical nod.

The Great Midwest Conference, now referred to as the GM, lasted from 1991-1995. It would reunite with the Metro, minus the Virginia teams (V. Tech, VCU yeah VCU) to form Conference USA. TCU joined after the SWC broke up. If you ever wondered how South Florida ended up as a big program, it's because they were in the Metro and were in the right place at the right time twice. Same with Southern Miss and Charlotte. But enough about how C USA was formed. The GM was owned by Cincinnati when it came to tournament play. The Bearcats shared the first season championship with DePaul before winning the tournament title. The second year, Cincinnati swept both. In year three, Marquette won the regular season before Cincinnati bounced them out of the GMT, and won the tournament.

The final season of the GM was won by Memphis. Cincinnati had a down year, finishing 4th, and entering the tournament with a 17-10 record. That was the year UC lost to Canisius. Cincinnati came into the tournament having lost 6 of 9. UC was matched up in the first round with DePaul. The game went into overtime. LaZelle Durden made a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to give the Bearcats a 96-95 victory. Durden had memorably nailed 3 free throws with no time on the clock earlier in the season to beat Wyoming. Cincinnati was matched up with top seed Memphis in the semi finals. The Bearcats got 22 from Durden to upset the Tigers, who had beaten them twice. On the other half of the bracket, St Louis was dominating. They whooped Dayton, well everyone whooped Dayton that season. UD won 7 games, 0 in the GM. St Louis also beat down Marquette, who was hosting the tournament. In the regular season, the teams split, both winning at home.

The game was both ugly and tough. The teams shot terribly in the first half. Cincinnati was 10-29, 34%, while St. Louis was 10-32, 31%. The Bearcats led by a point at the half, 27-26. The game was close through the second half as well. Cincinnati was powered by a herculean effort by Danny Fortson. The power forward scored 31 points and had 6 rebounds. The Billikens trailed much of the second half, including down 64-63 with 16 seconds left. Erwin Claggett took the ball from the top of the key and drove on Durden. He got all the way into the lane, making a runner with 7.5 seconds left to give St. Louis the lead. Durden raced the inbound pass up the court. He got the left wing, turned, which in turn backed off his defender, which allowed Durden to drill a 3 with 1.2 seconds left. The celebration ensued on the UC sideline. It almost was all for naught, as Carl Turner threw up a 60 footer that hit the rim. Luckily, Durden's 14th point was another game winner for UC. The Bearcats finished the Great Midwest going 10-0 in the conference tournament. A streak that carried over to Conference USA.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Arizona 79 Cincinnati 76

This Memorable Bearcat game is quite painful. I remember this big Cincinnati v. Arizona clash being on a Sunday afternoon. My best friend and I were working on a huge project for school that was probably due the next day. For the life of me I can't remember what it was about. I do remember that it took all fucking day and it was boring as shit. Arizona came into the game rocking a 17-4 record, and Cincinnati an 18-1 mark. The Bearcats had been dominating since their 1 point loss to UAB, winning every game by at least 10 points. Arizona  was starting to get the ship right after some early Pac 10 struggles. Both teams had big time NBA talent. Cincinnati had Danny Fortson, Arizona Jason Terry (who didn't play) and Michael Dickerson. Both teams made runs deep into the tournament. Arizona went to the Sweet 16 where they lost to Kansas, and Cincinnati went to the Elite 8, where they lost to Mississippi State. 

The first half was a barn burner. The Wildcats played without standout center Ben Davis, who was in foul trouble, but that didn't stop them from putting 41 on the mighty Bearcat defense. The Bearcats hung in there, scoring 38. Cincinnati pounded Arizona on the glass, 26-16 in the half. The Bearcats won the rebounding 46-32, but Arizona must have gotten some rebounds in the second half that were huge, because Lute said "We got got killed on the boards, but as soon as Ben came back in the game the second half, he gave us strong rebounding." Davis had 6 rebounds, so that's kinda a weird thing to say. I'm going to go ahead and guess that Damon Flint had a huge first half, because he had 16 points. The highlight of the first half would have to have been when guard Reggie Geary got a steal and bent the rim on a breakaway dunk.


The second half saw Cincinnati dominate. Darnell Burton scored 9 of his 12 points in a big Cincinnati run that put the Bearcats up 68-59 with under 6 minutes left. Arizona would make a run. Obviously you knew they would make a run because hello, the score is in the title. Spoiler alert much. Michael Dickerson scored on a put back to cut the lead. Next trip, Geary drilled a wide open lead to cut the lead to 2 with 4 minutes left. Cincinnati was able to push the lead back out to 4. I'm guessing they got the ball to Fortson. I have no idea because no one says how Cincinnati scored, and all the youtube videos are of Arizona points. The score was 73-69 with 2:20 left in favor of the Bearcats. Dickerson got the ball after a pass inside to Davis, and knocked down a trey. On UC's next possession, Keith Gregor tried to get the ball inside to Fortson. The only problem was that Gregor was being trapped, and Danny was surrounded by 7 Wildcats. The bad pass turned into a breakaway lay up attempt by Simon that was blocked by I think Monroe, but Davis got the put back for the lead. Cincinnati took the lead on a 3 pointer. Or a 3 point play. Let's say it was Flint, since he made the most 3s in the the game. The Bearcats forced Arizona into a wild, tough shot by Dickerson. Dickerson fell on the floor. It appears UC tried to slap the rebound out of bounds, but the ball went right to Dickerson, who threw it back out top. Simon drove, found Davis on the wing, and he splashed one home in Fortson's face for the tie. UC raced the ball up the court. Keith LeGree drove to the rim and had his shot blocked by Davis out of bounds with 3 seconds left. It could have been a charge, but there was no call. LeGree for some reason tried to bounce pass the inbound to Fortson. The ball was tipped. Fortson couldn't bring it in. Simon wrangled the ball, took a dribble and threw one in from 65 feet for the win. It was terrible. There was a smashed chalkboard in the UC locker room, and a smashed face for my friend who said the shot was awesome.


Unbelievably, it's hard to find information about a random February basketball game from 1996. You would think that it would be incredibly easy. But no, it's not. The AP didn't bother to say how UC scored to take the lead at the end of the game for crying out loud. Sadly, there is video of the shot that sucked. It's video of Arizona's run the last few minutes, making it even worse. View it if you want to punch something.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 64 DePaul 62

Today's Memorable Bearcat Game comes from the year 2000. As you can suspect, that makes it a good one already. The subject of today's game is the Kenyon Martin lead comeback against DePaul.

Cincinnati came into the game at 26-2, 14-0 in C-USA. DePaul was 18-9, fighting for an NCAA tournament bid. The teams played a couple weeks earlier in Cincinnati, with the Bearcats thrashing the Blue Demons by 23. The Bearcats were without Pete Mickeal, who was suspended by Huggins. Mickeal was benched during the previous game against Louisville, didn't see action in this one, but he came back to play out the string relatively well. This may sound a bit crazy now, but the Bearcats walked into a hornets nest in Chicago this night. The Blue Demons needed this game for their NCAA lives, something that seems strange when you look at how bad of shape that program has been the past few seasons.

The Bearcats missed Mickeal early. Pete guarded, nay, hounded Quentin Richardson into a 3-13 night in the first meeting, but with him out, DePaul rained threes early. The Blue Demons hit 5 in the first 8 minutes, charging out into the lead. Richardson was loving the change, drilling 3 triples and having 11 points at the half. DePaul shot 56% going into intermission, and held a 36-29 lead. There were 18,253 fans filling the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, a then record. Needless to say, they were all pretty excited at the way things turned out in the first half. You might be saying to yourself, Bearcats Blog, want to get a little more specific with the first half? That's a great, great question and I appreciate the fact that you asked it. The answer is no. Let's move on to the second half.

DePaul jumped right back on the Bearcats to start the second frame. The Bearcats helped by playing pretty terribly and fouling a whole lot. The Bearcats had 6 fouls the first 7 minutes, including 3 on one possession. They put DePaul in the bonus with 12 minutes to go. The Blue Demons demanded it though, as they hit 5 of their first 6 shots out of the break. Rashon Burno, DePaul's point guard, was supposed to be guarded by Kenny Satterfield, but Kenny left him to double on Richardson. Burno thanked him for the open shot by draining a 3, pushing the margin to 46-31. Burno had 7 in the game. The Demons got the lead to 16 when Lance Williams scored inside. UC got a basket that neither the Enquirer, CNNSI, nor ESPN cared to mention, when Richardson drilled his last 3 of the game to push the lead to 51-34. Cincinnati faced it's largest deficit of the season. Kenny Satterfield would have none of it. He scored 5 points, and I'm just going to assume that he assisted Steve Logan for a 3 to cut the lead to 51-44. Cincinnati also remembered to play defense, getting 7 stops. Cincinnati had 10 steals in the game, 4 blocks, forced 17 DePaul turnovers, but the Demons shot a piss poor 6-15 at the free throw line. NBA players Richardson and Bobby Simmons were both 1-5, and 70%, and 75% foul shooters respectively.

Down 7 with 10 minutes left, it looked as if the Bearcats had used everything to get back into the game. The lead ballooned up to 10, 60-50, with 3:46 to go. That's when Bob Huggins told his team one thing, "Get the ball to Kenyon." I'm sure there were other words in there, and Bob didn't just say that, drop his clipboard, get a soda and adjust his tie. Sure enough, Satterfield took the ball upcourt, passed to Martin who was guarded by Williams, and watching as Martin hit a turnaround off glass. Burno, who was a midget, couldn't deal with the UC pressure and threw the ball away to DerMarr Johnson. After some quick passes, Johnson missed from the top of the key, but Satterfield pulled home the rebound. UC pulled back out, getting the ball to Satterfield on the left wing. Martin called for the ball on the block, got it, and hit another turnaround on Williams. DePaul looked rattled. They couldn't get into their offense. A deflection by Johnson gave the Demons the ball out of bounds with 3 seconds on the shot clock, but they couldn't do anything off the inbound, and committed another turnover on a shot clock violation. The crowd remembered they were allowed to make noise as UC brought the ball up court. Satterfield waved away a Jermaine Tate screen attempt, looking to get the ball to Martin. He did. Martin this time took Williams left, dropping a little pump fake jumper from the bottom of the circle in his face. That made the score 60-56 with 2 minutes left. Cincinnati threw on a very sloppy press that was broken. Burno hit Richardson high off the left wing, and Q saw an open Paul McPherson under the basket. By the time McPherson went up with his left hand, Martin crashed the rim from the top of the key blocking the shot. Maybe the pass was short armed a little, but it was a pure hustle play by Martin on an amazing block. That started a UC break, as Satterfield raced up court and dropped off for Johnson driving from the right baseline. Johnson was fouled on his dunk attempt, and drilled both, making it 60-58. DePaul called timeout, but looked discombobulated on offense, getting 3 guys in the paint. The man taking the shot was Bobby Simmons. This happened.

UC took about 15 seconds off the clock running their offense, but there was no doubt where the ball was going. This time, it was Logan who fed Martin on the right block. Martin took a dribble, then dropped another turnaround jumper in Williams' face to tie with 1:11 left. UC went back to the trapping defense. Martin and Johnson ended up with a trap on McPherson, but they left room in the middle. McPherson stepped through, finding Williams all alone under the basket for a dunk. Cincinnati took a timeout, but the Bearcats were stunned when DePaul went zone. With no easy entry to Martin, they worked the ball around the perimeter. Martin worked his way over to the left wing. He got the ball with 5 on the shot clock. Kenyon went baseline on Williams, blowing right by him. Simmons came to help at the basket, but was too late, as Martin banked home the tying shot.

DePaul had 22 seconds, 20 after a timeout. DePaul tried some kind of weird play where Burno brought the ball up, Simmons and Williams stood side by side at the free throw line, probably going to screen for each other I dunno, they just stood there, while Richardson screened for McPherson behind that in the paint, and came up top while McPherson went to the wing. Whatever the weird play was, it allowed Tate to jump into the passing lane, where Burno threw an ill, ill, ill advised pass Richardson's direction. Tate handed to Martin, who took the ball up the court, and dropped off for Johnson. In a play a little similar to the Northern Iowa play the beat Kansas, Johnson looked like he was going to pass, the defense went away from him, and he drilled an open 17 footer with 2.6 left. DePaul got the ball into Richardson, who flew up court. He lost a behind the back dribble for just a half of a second, but that was too long, as the buzzer sounded before he drilled a 35 footer.

It was a great, great win for Cincinnati. It was the game that got Kenyon the player of the year award. It made UC one of the favorites for March. It gave the fan base a sense of destiny for this team. Martin had 33-9-2 blocks, but he had one in the highlight package ESPN showed and 2 during the game. Whatever. Johnson was the only other Bearcat in double digits with 10. Satterfield had 7-9 rebounds-4 assists, playing nearly the whole game. After those 3, BJ Grove was UC's next leading scorer with 6. DePaul had Richardson with 17-11, Williams with 14, and McPherson and Simmons (8 rebounds) with 8.

Just remembering this game makes me remember this season and the love I had for this team. This, and the 01-02 teams will always be my favorite UC squads. Things didn't turn out for either one of them, but they were incredibly fun to watch. The 00 team had it's season derailed, but it had a UC legend give amazing performances like this. The Kenyon Martin game, the comeback, whatever you want to call it, this was a Memorable Bearcat Game.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Xavier 83 Cincinnati 79

Yesterday's post about Lance Stephenson got me to thinking about this past season. While this wasn't the greatest year for Cincinnati basketball, there sure as hell were some entertaining contests. One in particular was exceptionally great. That game was the Crosstown Shootout. Now I know what some of you are thinking.Why that game happened in December, how you can you wax nostalgic about that? I thought this series was about football games? I thought this was about wins? No to all of those. It's about memorable games, and sometimes the most memorable are the losses. The old poker saying is that you can't remember the hands you win, but you remember with absolute clarity the hands you lost. This is kinda like that too. Plus, like 4 people read what I wrote in December, so this is new to you.

The Crosstown Shootout didn't have as much luster as normally, partially due to a Sunday night start time on a weird station, ESPNU. That didn't stop the teams from putting on an instant classic. I know it was an instant classic, because when it replayed on ESPNU, it said instant classic. Xavier got off to a solid start, jumping out to a 12-5 lead. The Muskies blocked 4 of the first 8 UC shots, 1 by Jamel McLean and Kenny Frease and 2 by Jason Love. As Charles and Kenny say on Inside the NBA, it was a block party and the Bearcats were invited. Xavier scored point 12 at the 14:35 mark, and that's when Cincinnati's defense shut down the Muskies. The Muskies didn't score until the 7 minute mark, 2 free throws by Dante Jackson, and didn't get a field goal until the 6:52 mark. Cincinnati went on a 14 point run during that span, getting buckets by Larry Davis, Deonta Vaughn, a pair of threes by Darnell Wilks, an assist by Wilks to Yancy Gates, and a Lance Stephenson lay up. Xavier closed the half on a 20-7 run of their own, and lead 31-26. Terrell Holloway scored 11 points in that span for the Muskies, getting to the line and drilling threes. The fireworks came in the middle of the half. At the 7 minute mark, Jordan Crawford and Rashad Bishop got into a war of words, both receiving technical fouls. The chippyness helped the Musketeers, as you can see from when they started scoring again. Things got even more high strung with 3:30 to go in the half. Lance Stephenson was driving in for a lay up, when Jason Love gave him a hard foul. It was called intentional. The benches cleared going into the media timeout. Terrell Holloway pushed Ibrahima Thomas away, leading to this

Cooler heads would prevail after, but the tension was underlying the rest of the game.

The second half started where the first half ended, with Xavier in charge. The teams traded buckets, but Xavier held on to their lead, with Cincinnati chipping the lead to 4 a couple of times. The Muskies got a Jason Love lay up, a Frease free throw and a Crawford triple to push the lead to 10. The Bearcats slowly chipped away at the disadvantage, at the under 12, the score was 45-39. A pair for Mark Lyon freebies pushed the lead to 7, 51-44, before Lance Stephenson took over. Stephenson scored a lay up, a three pointer from Vaughn, and pulled down a rebound, drove down court and calmly sank a jumper to tie. Cashmere Wright gave UC the lead on a lay up, followed by a Vaughn lay up for a 4 point lead with 5:44 to go. Cincinnati would go on a cold streak the next 3 minutes, allowing Xavier to go on a 6 point run to take the lead by 2. Rashad Bishop tied the score seconds before Holloway would drive for the Xavier lead. Yancy Gates hit 2 free throws with a minute left to tie. Holloway gave X the lead with 26 seconds left on a jumper. Stephenson hit a jumper for UC with 15 seconds left to tie. Holloway drained the clock, but missed a last second runner. Dante Jackson pulled down the rebound, threw up a shot that fell, and celebrated. But, it was after the buzzer and we went to overtime.

Cincinnati took the early overtime lead by 4. Gates hit a shot, and Lance Stephenson crossed Holloway over badly and hit a step back j. Here's proof.


Nasty wasn't it? Lyons got Xavier back into the game with a jumper and a pair of free throws. Gates and Frease exchanged scores before UC took a 3 point lead on a free throw by Bishop and another silly move by Stephenson. Lance shook the defender, spun, and hit an up and under lay up. Watch.



The video kinda sucks, but the move is still sweet. Deonta Vaughn pulled down a rebound and drove for a lay up, giving UC a 5 point lead with 55 seconds left. Holloway took over. He drew a foul on Vaughn and made both shots. Rashad Bishop had the ball stolen by Love, leading to Holloway getting fouled by Gates going to the rim. Holloway hit both again. Xavier had to foul, and they fouled my best friend Dion Dixon. Dixon calmly nailed both to push the lead back to 3. For some reason unknown to anyone, and completely illogical, Mick Cronin tapped Jaquan Parker off the bench. Parker didn't play any of the second half, or any of the overtime. He had Holloway blow by him earlier in the game and was benched. 19 seconds to go, Holloway has the ball. Of course he drives to the rim. Of course he makes a lay up. Of course he's fouled by Parker. Of course he ties the score. Of course he does. UC had a chance to win. Stephenson missed a step back three, and Dixon missed on a put back. That sent us to double overtime.

Cincinnati jumped out to another lead to start overtime. Cash hit a free throw, followed by a Vaughn lay up. Holloway scored for Xavier, but Gates scored on a lay up to push the lead back to 3. Xavier would tie the score thanks to sloppy play by UC. Crawford hit a free throw, followed by a Gates travel. On the Xavier possession, Love made a lay up for the tie. Stephenson would get called for a charge, but X couldn't take the lead. UC held the ball the next minute, but were unable to score. Vaughn missed a lay up, foreshadow, and Steve Toyloy bricked a couple of huge free throws. Holloway drove down the lane and dropped off a pass that Love converted for the Xavier lead. Lance Stephenson played really hard and smart in this game, but he made a silly move with about 25 seconds left. Instead of circling back out and making a strong move with the ball, he passed to Dixon. Dixon threw up a horribly ill advised three that was a brick leaving his hand. He fouled Dante Jackson, who made 1 of 2. Vaughn took the inbound pass and decided to go for the lay up to cut the Muskie lead to 1. Great plan, but terrible execution, as he blew a wide open lay up. Love got the rebound, his 19th of the game, and iced things with a free throw. Desperate threes by UC missed, and that lead to this vomit inducing photo.

Ok, I couldn't find the real picture, but Mick looking like he's taking a dump will do. This was a wild game. Stephenson and Yancy Gates dominated for UC. Stephenson had 22 on 9-19 shooting, with 6 rebounds. Gates had 18 and 6. Vaughn was the other Bearcat in double digits with 13, but he was 6-19. He did have 9 rebounds. Holloway had a career high 26 for Xavier, while Crawford put up 16 on 5-16 shooting.

This wasn't the prettiest Crosstown Shootout, despite the pretty moves by Stephenson. X shot 41%, and UC 37%, but this was the game that brought the intensity back out. This was a blood and guts Crosstown Shootout. We had pull aparts, hard fouls, trash talking, big shots, clutch moments, and breakout performances. Unfortunately, it was a UC loss. But, it was one hell of a game, and that's why it's a Memorable Bearcat game.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 30 Rutgers 11

Today's memorable Bearcat game is the November 18, 2006 victory against Rutgers. I think it's safe to say that this was Mark Dantonio's finest hour as Cincinnati coach. He would springboard to Michigan State just one game after this, so this victory was pretty huge. It was also pretty huge because at the time, Rutgers was ranked in the top 10, and undefeated. The Scarlet Knights were coming off an epic victory over undefeated Louisville, while the Bearcats were coming off a loss at West Virginia. Starting QB Dustin Grutza was injured, giving way to first time starter Nick Davila. The stage was set for success.

The first snap Nick Davila took, he fumbled. Rutgers couldn't capitalize. Jeremy Ito, who beat Louisville with a last second FG, missed from 31 yards. The Bearcats went on an 11 play drive that resulted in a field goal of their own, as Kevin Lovell was true from 32. The Scarlet Knights high powered rushing attack was held in check, and QB Mike Teel was pretty bad early. That resulted in quick possession. UC took over at their 20. 10 plays later, led by the sharp Davila, UC would score a touchdown. Davila took it in himself from 1 yard out. Nippert Stadium was in a frenzy. The big play on that drive was a 38 yard pass from Davila to Derrick Stewart to take the ball down to the 2.

Rutgers quickly bounced back on their first drive of the second quarter. Ray Rice started breaking out for some yards. Teel hit James Townsend to with a pass to get the ball to the UC 29. After a couple 4 yard runs by Rice, DeAngelo Smith did this

Adam Hoppel got pressure on Teel, wrapped him up, causing Teel to throw a desperation pass. Don't believe me?

That made the score 17-0. The lead would be short lived however. The Bearcats forced a 3 and out. On the punt, Antoine Horton fumbled the kick, allowing Rutgers to get the ball at the UC 25. The defense held firm, allowing a 34 yard FG by Ito to make it 17-3. The teams traded 3 and outs. UC took over with 2 minutes to go in the half, and were content to run the clock out. After a first down, it looked like they would. But, Doug Jones coughed the ball up trying to make something happen at the UC 21. Rutgers had 12 seconds. Teel went for the end zone, and was intercepted by Mike Mickens to close out the half and leave things at 17-3.

Rutgers made a big comeback the week before against Louisville, so there was cause for concern in this match up. The Bearcats punted to start the half, and Rutgers marched down the field. With the ball near mid field, Teel took a shot deep. Once again, it was Mickens who picked him off at the UC 10. Davila converted a 3rd and 6 by hitting Dominick Goodman for 19 yards. The next play, he hit Butler Benton for 62 to get the ball to the Rutgers 4. The Bearcats were stoned at the goal line, but another Lovell FG (20) made it 20-3.

Rutgers got good field position on the kick return, but couldn't get the ball past their 44. The punt went to the 17. UC took over and iced it with this:

Fans smelled the upset. Overrated chants flew from the crowd. The good times for UC continued the very next Rutgers drive. After moving the ball to the UC 41, Teel was picked for the 4th time, this time by Anthony Williams. Cincinnati picked apart the demoralized Rutgers defense for a 7:30 drive that went 16 plays 47 yards. It ended with a 27 yard Lovell FG to make it 30-3.

Rutgers took 3:29 to march down the field and score, as Ray Rice poked it in from 1 yard. Rice became the single season rushing leader for Rutgers in this game, even though he only had 54 yards. Teel hit Taquan Underwood for the 2 point conversion. UC didn't do anything on their drive, and only took a minute off the clock. The last ditch effort by Rutgers failed, as Teel, 21-42 238 0 TDs 4 INTs, was off target. UC worked the clock leading to this.

Davila was 11-15, 277, 1 TD, 1 rushing TD. Greg Moore had 16-56 to lead UC on the ground, while Brent Celek led UC in yard with 83. UC's defense was the story though. Despite 3 turnovers, UC forced 4. They held Rutgers to 288 total yards. The third best rushing attack in the nation had but 50. It was a spectacular win for Cincinnati, and was one of the victories that has led the springboard to success. That's why this is a memorable Bearcat game.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 35 Utah State 19

Bearcats Blog is caught up in a Rick Minter nostalgia rush. The next entry into the Memorable Bearcat Games is the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl. As Cincinnati fans, we've tasted sweet, sweet BCS bowl berths the last 2 seasons, and have started expecting to go to bowl games. 8 of the 12 UC bowl appearances have come since 2000. Before the Humanitarian Bowl, Cincinnati had not been to a bowl game since 1950. One nine five zero. Believe it or not (believe it), it was the longest streak in Division 1 at the time. The game was the first UC bowl victory since December 3, 1949. That Bearcat team was loaded with NFL talent. They had 6 players drafted, Brad Jackson, Artrell Hawkins, Jason Fabini, Derrick Ransom and Roderick Monroe. They also starred Chad Plummer, who would be drafted the next season. Conference USA recognized as Tinker Keck was named first team and Special Teams Player of the Year. He was joined on the first team by Phillip Curry, Fabini, and Jackson. The second team consisted of Pierre Brilliant (great name), Ransom and Brian Uhl. UC was coming off back to back 6-5 seasons, and this was the breakthrough year. Cincinnati finished 7-4, second place in Conference USA. Quite the accomplishment. For their winning efforts, they made a bowl game. The Humanitarian Bowl.

This was one of the first games that I remember seeing from Boise. The blue turf was wild. It still is. The game started with UC being stopped at the Utah State 6 yard line. Did I mention Cincinnati played Utah State? Now I did. That seems like the weirdest part. Utah State didn't do anything with the ball on their possession. The Bearcats drove down the field for the only score of the first quarter. Chad Plummer connected with Cornelius Bonner on a 14 yard touchdown pass. It looked something like this.

Utah State would go 3 and out. The Bearcats took advantage big time, driving 56 yards for another touchdown drive. Once again, it was Cornelius Bonner who made the catch, but it was freshman Deontey Kenner who completed another 14 yard TD pass. Kenner and Plummer rotated at QB, as UC was trying the Antwaan Randle El thing of putting Plummer at receiver so he would have a shot at the NFL. It worked. Kenner played great, finishing with 10-16 for 124 yards and the TD. Bonner had 4 catches for 48 yards in the game. Cincinnati once again put the clamps down on the high powered Aggie offense. Utah State QB Matt Sauk threw a bomb that was intercepted by Tinker Keck. Keck returned it 59 yards, to the USU 18. The Bearcats pounded the ball in with fullback Landon Smith from 1 yard out. The 21-0 UC lead was all the scoring the first half.

Utah State started the second half the way they ended the first half, with a turnover. Demario Brown, who had 12 carries for 56 yards, coughed up the ball. The Bearcats drive started at the 43. They would cash in 7 plays later. Chad Plummer took the ball around the right end and walked in from 15 yards out to make it 28-0. The Aggies wouldn't be held down. Just a minute later, Sauk hit Steve Smith, apparently every receiver in Utah has to be named Steve Smith, with a 5 yard pass. Smith broke tackles and turned on the jets, going 75 yards to cut the lead to 28-7. Cincinnati took the air out of the ball for the next 5 minutes, driving down the field on the Aggie D. Orlando Smith, who had a team high 82 yards, scored from 7 yards on a screen pass that was ruled a lateral.

The Aggies staged a comeback attempt. In just 1:54, they drove 80 yards for a touchdown, capped by a 3 yard Melvin Blue touchdown run. The extra point was missed however. The start of the 4th quarter saw Cincinnati commit a huge gaff. On a punt attempt, the ball couldn't be handled by Doug Johnson. Brent Passey picked up the ball, ran 10 yards, and cut the lead to 35-19. Cincinnati would not let that stop them. The Bearcats ate the clock, and pounded the ball on the ground. The Bearcats had 265 yards rushing. I mentioned Smith's 82, Robert Cooper chipped in 15-64, and Chad Plummer had 15-53. The Bearcats controlled the ball for 42:17. Utah State had quick strikes, 25 of their 56 TD drives that year were under 2 minutes, but their defense couldn't handle Cincinnati. The Bearcats had 186 yards passing, and held the 280 yard per game Aggies to 253. The last Utah State gasp was after the long Bearcats drive ended. Sauk went back to pass, but this happened.

It was the second interception of the day for Brad Jackson. That secured the victory for Cincinnati. The MVP was this man, Chad Plummer.

Plummer was 5-10 for 61 yards and a TD passing, had 15-53 and a TD rushing, plus, he caught 4 passes for a team high 63 yards. The 179 yard effort was more than enough for him to win the honors. Phillip Curry had 1.5 sacks as well for the Bearcats. Artrell Hawkins had 6 tackes as well for the winners.

This game may not be the most outstanding game. Cincinnati was kinda lucky to be invited. They had to schedule a series with Boise State in basketball to help seal the deal. But, it was a great thing. Cincinnati got some major pub. The football team got started on a winning track for the first time since the 1940s. The Bearcats had pro prospects. And most importantly, the Bearcats went to a bowl game and won. I was so excited for this game. It was on a week day in the middle of the afternoon a couple days after Christmas. I planned a day around it. It was finally exciting to watch a Cincinnati football game. We should remember that as we look forward to Saturday and the Spring Game. Cincinnati has come a long way to be on top of the Big East 2 years running, and this game is where it started.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 17 Wisconsin 12

The first edition of Memorable Bearcat games starts with one that is near and dear to my heart. It happened way back in 1999. The opponent? The Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin came into this game ranked #9. This Badger team would lose the next week to Michigan, but run the table and won the Rose Bowl. They had Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. The Bearcats team? They were coming off a loss to Division II Troy. Troy is respectable now, but back then, they were hot garbage. Of course, there is no record of that game at all, besides the score, so I can't tell you more about it. I can put more commas in sentences though. I had a friend who lived in Wisconsin at this time. I sent him emails every day for a week that Cincinnati was going to beat Wisconsin. He laughed it off because the Badgers were really good and the Bearcats were not. But ladies and gentlemen, that's why they play the games.

I was at this game with my dad. We were on the Wisconsin side, because every time you buy tickets at the gate you are always on the visitor side. In fact, I don't remember any time I've been behind the Cincinnati bench. Always visitor side or end zones. I almost caught an extra point once. It wasn't at this game, so I don't know why I brought it up. The game was pretty slow starting. It was dominated by Wisconsin in the first quarter. Cincinnati had the ball to start the second. With the ball at their 49, the Cats handed the ball to this man.

Robert 'Sterling' Cooper. Only Cooper didn't get tackled. He ran 51 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 Cincinnati lead. Cooper had 143 yards on the day. After a Wisconsin field goal, the Badgers looked like they took the lead, but an 81 yard punt return by Nick Davis was called back. The Bearcats added the lead in the third quarter, when Deontey Kenner ran a QB draw 5 yards for a touchdown. I loved Deontey Kenner. I wonder what happened to him? Apparently, he's a golfer. No joke. He's on the Golf Channel Amateur Tour or something. See?

 That's incredibly weird to find out. He had a little write up in Sports Illustrated after the Ohio State game. It's here. Try to shake off that crazy turn and let's get back to the game.

After the Bearcats drove to make it 14-6, Wisconsin went on a 96 yard, layin the smack down, drive for a score. Ron Dayne, who had 28 carries for 231, ran in from 18 yards out. Believe it or not, Dayne was injured with a sprained ankle and didn't play the whole game. And he had 28 carries for 231 yards. Pro Ron Dayne was a bust, but college Ron Dayne was special. In this game, he passed Archie Griffin for most yards by a Big 10 back. Wisconsin ended up going for 2, but the pass was broken up by Tinker Keck!!! Another blast from the past there. Tinker Keck would have another big play in the fourth quarter.

With 8 minutes left, Wisconsin punted. Captain Tinker Keck, known for his near recklessness, was set to return. The kick went back to the 10, as did Keck. The ball bounced off his facemask. Wisconsin recovered. The Badgers gave the ball to Dayne on the second play. It looked like he was going to score. Bobby Fuller had other ideas, and popped the ball out. Jeff Burrow recovered, and Cincinnati avoided a big one. I remember sitting there and seeing the ball come flying out of Dayne's hands and jumping up and down like a spaz when UC recovered. The Bearcats wouldn't convert a first down, but on their punt, Davis muffed it, was blown up by LaVar Glover, allowing Carlton Sykes to recover. When Davis dropped the ball, the whole side of the stadium across from me jumped up at once. It was really cool to see. I still remember it, that should show how cool it is. UC would go 3 and out, but Jonathan Ruffin showed why his number is retired by drilling a 41 yard field goal with 5 minutes left.

The Badgers drove down the field for their game winning drive. They stalled late and had to make a play on 4th down. For a second, it looked like they did. Scott Kavanaugh threw to the end zone, and found a familiar name, Lee Evans. The touchdown was wiped out by an illegal motion penalty as Nippert gave a sigh of relief. With 6 seconds left, Kavanaugh went back to pass again. This time, he threw too high for Nick Davis. The Bearcats did this:

the crowd did this in like 2 seconds:

and also this:

I was one of the people who stormed the field. I even shook Rick Minter's hand. It was pretty awesome. It was all pretty awesome. The win over Wisconsin was the first win over a top 10 team in Cincinnati history. I was happy to be there for it. That and the sheer awesomeness of the whole thing is why Cincinnati 17 Wisconsin 12 is a memorable Bearcat game.