I haven’t blogged in a long time. Life tends to get in the way. However, my facebook memories keep popping up
with pictures from the 2008 UC football season and I couldn’t resist. The Bearcats won their first Big East
Championship and earned a spot in the Orange Bowl. As someone who grew up attending nearly every
UC home football game this was unfathomable.
I was someone who constantly sang the virtues of UC football…who was
personally offended by UC basketball fans that chose to support OSU, Notre Dame
or Michigan in football. I was adamant
growing up we had a perfectly good, D1 football program right here in town that
had potential to grow. I dreamed of something
like what 2008 became but the reality was so much more.
While 2009 is rightfully viewed as the pinnacle of Bearcat
football and is unquestionably the best season in Bearcat football history,
2008 was the place where it all came together.
If you followed UC football close back then you thought something
special might happen. 2006 and 2007 had
shown that UC could compete at the highest levels and 2008 promised to be their
best team yet. I was so convinced that
UC could win the conference and make a BCS Bowl I decided to attend as many
games as possible. I wound up going to
12 of 14 games (missing trips to UConn and Hawaii). Despite the anticipation for what the season
could be, when you look back it’s incredible what UC achieved that season given
the adversity they faced.
The Bearcats started the season taking care of business
against Eastern Kentucky, then took a trip to Norman, Oklahoma. Sam Bradford was magnificent and Oklahoma
unveiled their new, incredibly up tempo offense. The Bearcats couldn’t stop them and despite
keeping up with them decently for a good stretch ultimately got run off the
field. More importantly, the Bearcats
lost their starting quarterback for what most thought would be the entire
season. Suddenly, the expectations for
the season took a hit.
The Bearcats followed that loss up by running Miami off the
field (no surprise there), but then struggled at Akron partly due to an injury
to Tony Pike. Down 15 to 14 in the
fourth quarter, Zach Collaros helped get the Bearcats in range for the game
winning field goal and the Bearcat defense held on late. The Bearcats won at Marshall the next week
with Chazz Anderson giving a serviceable effort. The following week the Bearcats opened
conference play against Rutgers. What I
remember about that game was the punt fest.
Neither offense was particularly effective, but Kevin Huber was great
and UC snuck out with a 13-10 win.
Then it all fell apart.
The Bearcats went to Uconn. Pike
tried to play but was abysmal going 10 for 27.
Chazz Anderson really wasn’t any better.
The Bearcats got run off the field losing 40 to 16. They fell to 1-1 in the conference with the
meat of their conference schedule still to come. They recovered beating USF at home on a
Thursday night. Tony Pike was back and
played well. The Defense made Grothe
look bad all night. This set up what I
consider the most important three game stretch in Bearcat football
History.
There was no way for the Bearcats to win the conference
without winning at West Virginia. West
Virginia was the class of the conference.
They’d blown out Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl the year before. They still had Pat White. They were a force in the Big East. We traveled to Mograntown, West Virginia
hoping for a great performance and expecting the fans to be all over us.
Bearcats @
Mountaineers, November 8, 2008
I should say, their fans were great. A group came up to us in the tailgate lot and
had us join their tailgate. We partied
the entire program with WVU fans with zero issues. We walked to the stadium and found are seats
in the Cincinnati section. The place was
electric. UC chose to receive to open
the game and Mardy Gilyard took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. The UC section was rocking and the Bearcats
seemingly controlled the entire game from that point forward.
The Bearcats had the ball with 2:11 to go up 13 and on their
own 2. WVU stuffed them 3 straight plays
and used their last timeouts. On fourth
down the Bearcats took a safety instead of punting hoping to avoid
disaster. After the safety it was 20 to
9, but there was only 1:11 to play. UC
gave the ball back to WVU on their own 39 yard line. WVU took seven plays to go 61 yards for a touchdown. There were 18 seconds left and WVU was down
20 to 15. They had no timeouts.
I remember turning to my friend unable to believe what had
happened. He tried to say, it’s still
over. WVU converted the two point
conversion and suddenly it was 20 to 17.
WVU had to onside kick…they did and recovered. I’m stunned at that point. Even after recovering they had to get into
field goal range. They went 3 plays for
21 yards setting up a game tying field goal from 52 yards. I’m loudly saying I can’t believe this is
happening, while my friend tells me he isn’t going to hit a 52 yard field
goal. I remember asking him, “Have you
not been watching the last minute?” Sure
enough, McAfee drills a 52 yard field goal as time expires. It was 20 to 7, UC with the ball with 1:15 to
go. The game was now tied 20 to 20.
How this team responded in overtime is something I will
never forget. The Bearcats gave up one
first down, but stopped Devine twice, leaving WVU with third and 3 from the
7. WVU was made for third and 3s. I still remember watching the play and seeing
open space ahead for Pat White as he tried to take off toward it. Somehow Terrill Byrd caught him before he
could get moving, sacking him for a 3 yard loss. The Bearcats held him to 3 setting up what
for me is one of the most memorable plays in Bearcat history.
The Bearcats got a first down on a pass to Goodman to open
OT, then after a penalty and a Jacob Ramsey five yard run were sitting 2nd
and goal from the 2 yard line. The
Bearcats came out in a rare power set.
They ran play action and you could see Kazeem Alli flash wide open
before Pike ever threw the football. As
the ball is in the air I was ready to explode.
He caught the ball and bedlam encompasses the entire Bearcat section. From being sure we’d win, to being devastated
to be in overtime, to unparralled exhilaration all within the span of
minutes. Suddenly, a Big East title and
BCS Bowl seemed more real than ever.
Bearcats @ Cardinals,
November 14, 2008
The Cardinals were struggling as the
Bearcats traveled to Louisville, but this was a rivalry and the Bearcats hadn’t
beat Louisville since 2002. Even during
a really strong 2007 season, an inferior Cardinals team had managed to beat the
Bearcats at Nippert. The 2008 game took
place on a chilly, rainy Friday night. The
first half was back and forth with the Bearcats falling behind 17 to 14
entering the locker room. The Cardinals
expanded the lead to 20 to 14 after a Bearcat fumble.
The entire game had a sloppy field. With both teams turning it over and the
offenses unable to consistently sustain drives.
The Bearcats took the lead on a 23 yard touchdown pass to Dominick
Goodman (an awesome, full out diving catch by Goody) halfway through the third
quarter. After a Tony Pike interception
early in the fourth quarter, the Bearcat sent Dustin Grutza onto the
field. It was incredible to see Grutza back after the
injury in the Oklahoma game. Grutza
promptly took the Bearcats on a 5 play, 72 yard touchdown drive to put the
Bearcats up 8 with 6:29 to go.
The Bearcat section was rocking hard the rest of the game, making
as much noise as possible. Louisville
turned it over on downs twice, on two drives totaling 23 yards. The defense suffocated them at the end and
the Bearcats were suddenly 1 win from a Big East Championship. Nobody in the Bearcat section wanted to leave
that night. I remember standing in the
concourses for maybe half an hour after the game with hundreds of Bearcat fans
repeatedly performing down the drive exchanging hugs and high fives. It was an absolute celebration for so many
who had followed this program for years.
Bearcats vs.
Panthers, November 22, 2008
Both Bearcat BCS bids were clinched against the Pitt
Panthers. This would be the first. Everyone knew the stakes. One win and the Bearcats would be Big East
Champions…one win and they would be heading to a BCS Bowl (everyone assumed the
Orange Bowl). The game took place at
8:00 pm and I believe it is the coldest Bearcat game I’ve attended. By my memory the game was in single digits at
kickoff.
I arrived to set up my tailgate about 9:00 a.m. Back then we were still tailgating in the lot
between Calhoun and McMillan where In The Wood used to be. Nearly every Bearcat fan I knew at that time
braved the cold to party all day and go to the game. A group next to us had a tent set up with a
fire to go inside and warm up. You could
feel the excitement around Clifton all day.
Everything seemed to go perfect for most the game. After Pitt scored to go up 7-0 the Bearcats
rolled off 28 unanswered points between the second quarter and the first minute
of the fourth quarter. Of course, it
would not be this season for the Bearcats not to leave some doubt at the end. Pitt scored a touchdown with 10 minutes to
go, then another with 1:22 to go. They
tried an onside kick and the Bearcats recovered. However, UC couldn’t put the game away Pitt got
the ball back at their own 32.
On third and 8 with one play left, Pitt threw the ball to
McCoy who appeared like he was being tackled.
Students poured onto the field ready to celebrate. However, McCoy lateraled the ball and Pitt
kept lateraling until one was finally intercepted by Brandon Underwood and
everyone could exhail. The Bearcats had
done it. They were Big East Champions
and Heading to a BCS Bowl. The
celebration on the field was epic. A
season that seemed to have so much go wrong early had culminated to this. And three huge weeks in a row had lead the Bearcats
to the promise land.
There were two more games and the Orange Bowl to
follow. The Bearcats clinched an
outright Big East title at home vs. Syracuse, then won a satisfying, though
irrelevant game at Hawaii in dramatic fashion.
The trip to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale is one I’ll never forget despite the disappointing
result. Bearcat fans were all over the
place. We went down for a full week,
having a buddy hook us up with a free hotel room. It’s been 10 years now, but I’ll never forget
that stretch of football games that culminated in a Big East Championship and
Orange Bowl bid. Still the most
important three games in Bearcat football history…forever a thrill for those of
us who grew up living and dying with the program.
