Bearcats improve to 12-0; win Big East Title in thrilling 45-44 win over Pitt

I’ve never been so dumbfounded in my life. Have you ever seen a game that was so back and forth, dominated by turnovers and odd plays? Two missed PATs, a kickoff return for a touchdown, heavy snow, a packed Heinz Field.

What more could we ask for?

A Dion Lewis run put the Panthers up 44-38 with two minutes left. Andrew Janocko mishandled the snap and was stopped short of the goal line. Tony Pike and the Bearcats responded, as they have all season. Pike to Gilyard, Pike to Woods, Pike to Binns for six.

Jake Rogers, who earlier missed a long field goal and a PAT of his own, put the ball between the uprights with 33 seconds left to put the ‘Cats up 45-44. The UC defense nearly picked off three Bill Stull passes before getting a game clinching sack on fourth down. All Pike had to do was genuflect to run out the last three seconds and the UC team stormed the field, donning brand new blue hats that proclaimed “2009 Big East Champions”.

How sweet it is…Sugar? Oranges?

It was a game that still has me shaking my head. How did that happen? How did we look shaky at times and come back from a deficit of three touchdowns at one point?

Early in the game it looked to be a shootout between Pike and the UC receivers and the freshman sensation Lewis. Lewis finished with 194 on a Big East record 47 carries and he scored three touchdowns for the Panthers who may end up in the Meineke Car Care Bowl or the Papajohns.com Bowl.

Pike threw for 302 on 44 passes. Pike threw an uncharacteristic three picks on the day. It was a tale of two different Tony Pike performances though. In the first three quarters Pike had flashes of last season’s Orange Bowl where he threw four picks.

In the first 45 minutes of play Pike threw 29 passes, completing only 11 for 174 yards. In the fourth quarter though, Pike turned it on, throwing only four incompletions, going 11 for 15 for 128 and the game winning score—a 29 yard strike to junior Armon Binns.

On that play UC lined up with four receiving options to Pike’s left, and Binns on his right. Pitt decided to roll their safety to the four wide side, leaving Binns one on one with defensive back Jovani Chapel. Binns blew by Chapel and Pike hit him.

It was almost surreal. But even more surreal was winning the game, driving home to see the throngs of students who were lined up to greet the players, and catching the final quarter of the Nebraska-Texas game. Most experts agreed that if Texas won, they’d be playing for the national title on January 7th.

Texas of course needed a last second 46 yard field goal to beat the Cornhuskers. Now Cincinnati and TCU will need help from the human polls and computer polls to leap the Longhorns to go to the BCS National Title Game. That game is played in Pasadena.

Armon Binns’s hometown of course? Pasadena, California. And with one catch Binns gave UC a shot to go there and play for all the marbles. We’ll see if voters agree tonight. (If not, I’ve got a little Nostradamus for you…You wouldn’t believe what I said 14 months ago, and how it has come true this season)