UC and Collaros improvise way to 28-7 win over Syracuse

One of the best parts of traveling around the country with the UC football program is the ability I have to experience different traditions of gamedays in different places. Yesterday I got to hear some snippets of the Syracuse radio broadcast of the UC 28-7 win over the Orange, and they were less than promotional of the nation’s now #7 (USA Today Coaches Poll) team.
One the third offensive play from scrimmage Zach Collaros—who once again started in place of the injured Tony Pike—rolled to his left. When he saw nothing there he worked his way back to his right where Armon Binns was standing with no one near him. Binns sprinted down the sideline and scored the 81 yard touchdown. 7-0 Bearcats.

After a Greg Paulus to Cody Catalina score tied the game at 7-7, the Bearcats traveled back down the field, only to have to settle for a field goal. Or so everyone thought. Collaros mishandled the snap, ran around for a few seconds and heaved the ball into the hands of Kazeem Alli for a touchdown.
“It was a good snap,” the redshirt sophomore from Steubenville, Ohio said. “I was actually going to try to run it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kazeem come across the end zone.” From there it was all Bearcats, but that’s not to say that Syracuse didn’t put up one heck of a fight.

The Syracuse radio highlights that I heard after the game called both of those plays, “lucky,” and the announcer noted that the #5 team in the nation was just getting by on luck. That’s far from true. “We do a scrambling drill every day,” Collaros added. “We have good chemistry with the receivers. All I know is I like to improvise a little bit.”
Practice, they say, makes perfect, and the Bearcats are 8-0 for the first time since 1954. That team finished 8-0-2. If this Bearcat team finished undefeated a second straight Big East title and BCS bowl game is in store. Just where Brian Kelly expected to be when he took this job three years ago.

“We’re right where we want to be,” said sophomore linebacker J.K. Schaffer. The Cincinnati native commented a few weeks back that as a lifelong UC fan these are the days that he dreamed of. Will the dream continue? UConn comes to Cincinnati this upcoming weekend, and the Huskies are the last team to defeat UC in a regular season game. Think the ‘Cats need any more incentive than that?

The Syracuse Orange was dressed as many things, including a pumpkin (in this shot). The UC Bearcat was dressed as field goal posts--pretty creative, right?

More on that later this week. For now, enjoy some more photos of UC’s visit to Syracuse, provided by yours truly.
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And one final note on the trip, the Syracuse band wins my ever changing award of “Best Band Ever”. They performed some of Michael Jackson’s hits, as are numerous marching bands this season. But, what put them over the top for me was the performance of “Thriller”. After all, it was Halloween. Only the drummers kept playing while the rest of the band did the “Thriller” dance. It was simply awesome (even though some I talked to didn’t think it was great).