My
tailgate group began arriving at the lot around 11:00. Despite the rain we set up four tents, a
couple fires and a couple TVs to tailgate all afternoon in preparation for the
big game. Temple had won four in a row
against the Bearcats. True 2 of those
games had been against the Tuberville Bearcats and one against year 1 Fickell,
but Temple had been the second best AAC program in the East over that span,
consistently finding themselves in the conference championship race. Despite the Bearcats being 11 point favorites
most Bearcat fans understood this would be a battle. On the line, the AAC East championship and
the opportunity to play for a conference championship in two weeks. In the end the defense came up huge, the
special teams made more enormous plays and the running game did just enough for
the Bearcats to survive.
The
first quarter was a mess. Temple moved
down the field early, but the UC defense held them on 4th down to
get the offense the ball. Both teams
then traded three and outs (each offense going 3 and out twice) before UC went
on a 16 play 53 yard drive culminating in a field goal early in the second
quarter. On the drive the offense only
completed 1 pass (a seven yard pass to Mdodj on first down). Every other positive play was a run. Crosa capped of the drive with a 36 yard FG
to put the Bearcats on the board.
It
looked like 3-0 would be the score going into the half. Both offenses struggled immensely throughout
the second quarter. Neither team put
together a drive longer than 27 yards. With
2:02 left in the half Temple punted the ball back to UC. UC caught the punt for a modest return. However, when they came back out UC had been
given the ball on the Temple 6. Temple’s
punter had caught the snap with his knee down, so UC took over from that
spot. The Bearcat offense went backward
from there and had to settle for a 37 yard field goal to take a 6-0 lead into
the locker room. The drive all but ended
on first down when UC called a rollout for Ridder. The rollout enabled Ridder to make a couple
reads and if he didn’t like what he saw he could just throw the ball out of the
endzone without getting grounding.
Instead Ridder took a 14 yard sack, putting UC in a near impossible
situation. It was maybe the most frustrating
play of the many frustrating plays Ridder made throughout the night.
#
Like
the 2019 Bearcats against Temple, the 2009 Bearcats went into a home game
against West Virginia with a chance to clinch an opportunity to play for an
outright conference championship. West
Virginia was the biggest game on the home schedule. They’d been the class of the Big East and a
top ten type program in their recent history.
The Bearcats forced a three and out to start the game then Colloros
marched the Bearcats down the field with a couple of passes and a series of
Pead runs. When the Bearcats reached the
redzone, Tony Pike took the field for the first time since USF. On the first play he found Binns across the
middle in the endzone and the Bearcats took a 7-0 lead. The UC defense continued to play well in the
first quarter, but a fumble by Adrien Robinson on an 18 yard reception set up a
short field and WVU capitalized tying the game at 7.
West
Virginia would take the lead a couple drives later. After Jake Rogers missed a 34 yard field
goal, West Virginia went 80 yards in eight plays to give them a 14-7 lead. The Bearcats rarely trailed in 2009 and they
wouldn’t trail for long. Mardy Gilyard
took the kickoff 48 yards into WVU territory (Huge Mardy Gilyard kick returns
would be a thing the last three weeks of the season) and the Bearcats quickly
scored the tying touchdown on a 2 yard Pead run. The teams would go into the half tied at 14.
#
The
Bearcats opened the second half against Temple with their biggest drive of the
day. It was the kind of physical,
imposing drive this team has seemingly come through with all season. They completed zero passes on the drive (only
throwing it once) and instead ran 8 times for 65 yards culminating in a 13 yard
Michael Warren touchdown run. After a
Grosa extra point the Bearcats lead 13-0.
It would remain 13-0 for the rest of the third quarter.
#
Similarly,
the 2009 Bearcats came out of the half and marched down the field for a touchdown. They started the drive with a heavy dose of
Isaiah Pead. Collaros then completed
three straight passes getting UC to the WVU 6.
Once again Brian Kelly brought Tony Pike back into the game and Pike delivered
on third and goal, throwing a strike to D.J. Woods for a touchdown to put the
Bearcats back up 21-14. It would remain
21-14 for the rest of the quarter.
#
Just
when it seemed like the Bearcat defense was going to shut Temple down the
entire game, Temple fought back into it.
Temple opened the fourth quarter with a 10 play, 73 yard touchdown
drive, cutting the lead to 13-6. Temple
lined up for the PAT to cut the lead to 6 and then the Bearcat special teams
came up with the defining play of the game.
The Bearcats blocked the PAT then Coby Bryant looked around and decided
to pick up the ball and try to take it back.
From the endzone it didn’t look open and then suddenly as he burst left
it did. A cavalcade of blockers ran alongside
him as Bryant sprinted toward the endzone and two points. Instead of a touchdown beating UC, Temple
would need two scores to win the game.
The
Bearcats got the ball back with a chance to run some clock and put Temple
away. It did not happen. Warren ran twice getting UC in third and 3,
but Ridder took another sack on third down and UC punted the ball back to
Temple. Temple got the ball back and for
the second straight time marched down the field putting the ball in the endzone
and cutting the Bearcat lead to two. A
field goal would now beat them. With the
game on the line, the offense mostly did its job, moving the ball 42 yards in
10 plays (mostly on the ground, though UC managed a key third down conversion
through the air), running off 4:18 of clock and setting Crosa up for a 40 yard
field goal. However, Crosa missed the
field goal and the UC lead remained 2.
Temple
got the ball back with a chance to win the game with a field goal of their
own. That’s when the Bearcat defense, again
came up with the key play it needed.
After converting a 4th and one, UC pressured Anthony Russo into
a throw he didn’t want to make and Derek Forest was there to run under it,
catch it and seal the victory. It wasn’t
pretty. The passing game continues to
have severe issues, but ultimately, this team made enough plays to beat a good
Temple team, remain unbeaten the AAC and lock up their spot in the AAC
Championship game.
#
For as
much as people dogged on the Bearcat defense in 2009 they often came up with
plays when the offense was struggling.
After the TD drive to open the second half the Bearcat offense
struggled. However, the Bearcat defense
continued to keep WVU out of the endzone.
With 6 minutes left in the game and the Bearcats up 7, UC forced a
turnover on downs getting the ball back to the offense. The offense moved 55 yards in 7 plays before
Rogers kicked a Field Goal to go up 24-14 with 3:15 to go. Though West Virginia would add a touchdown,
the Bearcat defense forced them to take up most the clock to do so. By the time WVU found the endzone there was
only 39 seconds left. The Bearcats
recovered the onside kick, took a knee and put themselves one win away from a conference
championship.
#
The
Bearcats have to beat Memphis to win the conference. If they win at the Liberty Bowl this week
they’ll host the AAC Championship in two weeks.
If they lose, they’ll be back at the Liberty Bowl again needing to beat
Memphis to win the conference. A win
next week and they’ll likely be hosting Navy for the conference
championship. However, should Navy lose
to Houston the Bearcats would be playing Memphis again, though this time at
Nippert. Bottom line is the Bearcats are
likely to need better production from Ridder to have any hope of beating
Memphis. Memphis has been the most
consistent team in the conference all season.
Their offense is explosive and will almost certainly find the endzone a
few times. Despite their flaws, the
Bearcats are exactly where we all hoped they would be with 2 weeks to
play. It’s been a hell of a season. Let’s hope they can win two more.
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