One day until graduation

First, if you’ve missed any of the countdown, here’s a look at each day in the countdown:

No. 10- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-days-until-graduation.html

No. 9- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/nine-days-until-graduation.html

No. 8- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/eight-days-until-graduation.html

No. 7- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-week-until-graduation.html

No. 6- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/six-days-until-graduation.html

No. 5- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/five-days-until-graduation.html

No. 4- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/four-days-until-graduation.html

No. 3- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/three-days-until-graduation.html

No. 2- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-days-until-graduation.html

Moment 1: “The Game” (Dec. 5, 2009)

It was cold and somewhat snowy when I opened the shades in the Pittsburgh hotel room I was sharing with fellow video team member J.P. Hummer. My dad had just texted me to say that he and my mom were up and headed to breakfast on a chilly morning.

I’d hoped for the best, but I knew it was going to be a tough battle. We were on the brink of a perfect season and a shot at the BCS National Title game. These were unforeseen and nearly unbelievable times in the Cincinnati football program. And I was in the center of it all.

We packed the meeting rooms up, and headed down to the buses to put away our things. In just hours, the ball would be kicked, and the 60-minute journey to perfection would be right in front of our very eyes.

Setting everything up at Heinz Field was just like normal: I headed to my endzone area, two guys headed to the TV truck, and John Sells, video coordinator, headed to his spot in the sideline video booth. Minutes later we all hooked up in the Heinz Field pressbox for breakfast.

WPTS Sport Director Jake Meyer, a good friend of mine, met me there. The previous night Jake and I hung out and watched the MAC title game, featuring a highly-touted Central Michigan squad, led by quarterback Dan LeFevour and head coach Butch Jones. The Chips defeated Ohio University, and little did any of us know the significance of that game at the time.

Jake and I made our way to the radio booth where I met his co-anchor for the day, Dan, who I’d talked to on the radio earlier that week when I was a live guest on Jake’s weekly sportscast on WPTS radio in Pittsburgh.

For three years I called into the radio show, live from practice. Dan and Jake asked me what it would take for UC to defeat the Panthers. When I got into the radio booth that morning to chat with the guys, Dan said, “The first one to 45 wins this game.”

Funny how things work out some times.

I headed down to the field to join my actual co-workers with about 45 minutes until kickoff. ‘If this is the biggest game I’m ever a part of,’ I thought, ‘I might as well go down on the field and soak in some of the atmospohere.’

I talked to some local news folks on the field, including WCPO sports anchor Dennis Janson, who was about to go live for a one-hour special preceding the game on ABC. DJ was one of the nicest guys I had the opportunity to work with at Channel 9, so I stopped by and said hello.

Oh, and then there was a game to be played. I found my way back up to my film booth, which was somewhat heated, but since we had the front windows open it wasn’t the warmest place in the world. However, I felt bad for the folks sitting out in front of us.

And I felt bad for my mom and dad, who, for some reason, got stuck in the very top row of Heinz Field. I thought my dad was kidding when he sent me a text that said, “Look out to your left. We’re in the top row of seats.”

Holy cow, they were. (“It was colder than hell,” my mom will still tell you)

When the game kicked off it was business as usual. Start recording, watch the play, stop recording. Repeat. It’s what I had done all season, nothing new.

Except the fact that what we hadn’t done all season was get beat, like a drum. We were tied after one quarter at 7-7, but in the second the Pitt Panthers decided that the Bearcats of Cincinnati didn’t deserve the perfect season we had our sights on. The rattled off three touchdowns and a field goal, and led 31-10 with 1:26 showing on the clock in the second quarter.

Brian Kelly, who had his sights on a job in South Bend, was suddenly looking like a normal human being, not the super coach that every national media outlet had made him out to be.

After the touchdown that put Pitt up 31-10 I received a text from John Sells, my boss. While I forget exactly what it said, the message basically said, “This one is over. We’re going to Charlotte, bye bye BK.”

I wanted to respond, but I just couldn’t think of anything to say.

And I didn’t have to say much, because seconds later the play on the field said it all.

Mardy Gilyard stood on the UC goal line with a perfect season in his hands. He received the kickoff, and the rest, as they say, is history. The play that saved the perfect season took all of 16 seconds. Gilyard covered 99 yards and sprinted into the endzone away from me for a Bearcat touchdown.

“Why are you so negative?” I immediately responded to Sells.

From there, the momentum shifted. But it wasn’t the final time momentum would shift in the game.

With 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter an almost perfect Jake Rogers missed a PAT attempt to bring UC within seven. The Cats trailed Pitt 38-30. (Highlights from ESPN.com can be seen here: http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=293390221)

With less than six minutes left the Bearcats had the ball on the one yard line. Zach Collaros, who had played masterfully in replacement of Pike when Pike re-injured his left arm earlier in the year, came in to run the UC offense on the goal line. He handed the ball on a read option to Isaiah Pead for six. We trailed by two.

And who stepped up on the two-point conversion? None other than Mardy Gilyard.

Pike flipped the ball to Gilyard for two points, and the score was tied with 5:46 left in the game.

Pitt’s Dion Lewis punched the ball in from five yards with 1:33 left on the clock, leading my counterpart at Pitt to look at me and say, “Damn, bro, this is crazy! I think we left you with too much time though.” There was too much time for Pike and Gilyard to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Enter Andrew Janocko, Pitt’s third string back-up quarterback, and PAT holder. Janocko bobbled the snap and Dan Hutchins couldn’t put the PAT through the uprights. Pitt still led 44-38, but they needed to keep UC out of the endzone if they wanted to keep their hopes of securing the Big East title alive.

But with 33 seconds left on the clock Pike stood behind center Chris Jurek with four wide outs to his left and Armon Binns to his right. Binns, a junior from Pasadena, Calif., was only looking at one cover corner on his side of the field.

I don’t normally do this, but I glanced away from my camera for a split second and looked down at the field. ‘Oh…my…God. He’s singled covered!’ I thought. ‘Throw it to Binns Tony, throw it to Binns. This is a touchdown.’

Pike got the snap and lofted the ball for the right corner of the endzone. It fell into the arms of Binns in stride. The crowd in front of me—mainly Cincinnati fans—was pumped.

Pike celebrates (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)

Jake Rogers came on and nailed the PAT, leaving my counterpart from Pitt to once again utter, “Damn bro. This has been one of the craziest games I’ve ever seen.”

I couldn’t agree more.

When Pitt got the ball back with 33 seconds remaining in the game, they had to throw the ball. Bill Stull was pinned on his own 18-yard line, and Bob Diaco, whose defense had been torched all day on the ground, sent out the best pass coverage guys he could get on the field.

Stull’s first pass dropped incomplete. His second fell to the turf, also incomplete. On third down he turned to Jonathan Baldwin, who had been a stud for the Panthers all season; that pass also went incomplete. With just ten seconds remaining, Stull dropped back with the game on the line.

The Cincinnati Bearcats celebrate after defeating Pitt in 2009 (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)

He was sacked by Alex Daniels to end the game. Someone in front of me popped a cork on a champagne bottle. The party was on.

I leaned out of the video booth and waved at my mom and dad. I got the thumbs up from my dad. We had done it, so long as Tony Pike didn’t give the next snap to Pitt and let them run it into the endzone.

Brian Kelly sent the offense out onto the field and Pike took a knee. The clock said 0:00, UC-45 Pitt-44. For the second straight year I was headed to a BCS bowl game as the Big East champion.

Kelly and Jeff Quinn share a hug after beating Pittsburgh. (Cincinnati Enquirer photo)

“Good luck wherever you end up,” said my counterpart from Pitt. “And represent [the Big East] well.”

“Same to you guys,” I said as we left the video booth.

I walked down a few steps and my mom and dad were waiting. I think my mom hit me numerous times saying, “I drove all this way and you guys almost lost!”

Almost.

I said goodbye to them and headed down the elevator toward the locker room to set my stuff in the equipment truck. The first person who greeted me was co-worker Joe Stanek.

The Big East champs hold their title in the locker room (from the Twitter account of Tom Gelehrter aka Tommy G)

He picked me up and gave me a huge hug. “Can you believe we did it!” he said, as excited as I was that we were a part of something so very special.

I’m not sure what my response was, but I know it’s almost unbelievable still. We were a part of one of the best college football teams in America that season.

And that, is the best moment I’ve ever been a part of in the past four years at UC.

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Disagreements? Comments? Concerns? Questions? Leave a comment below, and as always thanks for reading.

Check back tomorrow on graduation day for a special post. This has been a fun countdown to produce and organize. You’ve seen the good and the bad, the happy and the sad moments that I’ve lived through the past four years. These posts are only a small look into what I’ve experienced in the past four years, but it’s been a blast. I can’t wait to put some more memories in as I go through grad school. One more game like this one wouldn’t be too bad.

Have a good Friday.

Six days until graduation

The time is now unbelievably upon us. In less than one week I’ll be able to call myself a graduate of the University of Cincinnati. Until then, I continue the graduation countdown with some moments of unbelievable pride in my school.

Moment 6: “BCS Mania”(December/January 2009 and 2010)

Yesterday I told you of the month of December in 2008, which ended on New Year’s Eve, where I found myself standing on the field that the Florida Marlins, by the strength of Edgar Renteria’s 11th inning hit, won the 1997 World Series on.

From way up in right field, this was my view of the Orange Bowl

I always say that Carrie Underwood was right, “Crazy Dreams do come true.”

Well, that 2008 season led the Cincinnati Bearcats to their first ever BCS Bowl game, a place usually reserved for the biggest names in the sport. I watched the 2006 Orange Bowl that pitted Bobby Bowden and Florida State against Joe Paterno and Penn State just a few years earlier. Cincinnati was not a team that should ever be in a BCS bowl game, but some guy named Brian Kelly was a wizard, and he made it happen.

The Bearcats take the field in Miami. It was certainly an awesome feeling.

Standing in Joe Robbe Stadium that evening was an almost surreal experience. Before we left the hotel that afternoon for the game, myself and my co-workers discussed how we had come to the top of the college football food chain, so to speak, and reached one of the pinnacles of the game.

My how we were wrong.

One year later we found ourselves sitting in the video office with a perfect 12-0 record watching as Colt McCoy scrambled to his right and threw the ball out of bounds in the Big XII title game. No time remained on the clock. We were headed to play in the National Title game.

And then, as you all know, it was deemed that time had not run out, and Texas hit a game-winning field goal to go to the title game, where they lost to Alabama.

Well, we were close at least.

Back to Miami, where although the matchup between Virginia Tech and the UC Bearcats seemed like it would be a close game, nothing ever really clicked for us beyond the first drive. Tony Pike threw four interceptions and we lost 20-7.

Even though we lost, it’s one game that I’ll never forget.

In New Orleans 365 days later things couldn’t have been more different. Kelly had gone to Notre Dame and interim head coach Jeff Quinn was named head man at Buffalo, but he was still around coaching the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl.

That Sugar Bowl will forever be known as the final game for Tim Tebow. And Tebow made the most of it, throwing for 482 yards and three touchdowns. One reporter noted that the game was over by halftime, “30 minutes in which Tebow had already rung up the best statistical outing of his four-year college career.”

Tebow warms up before the Sugar Bowl where he absolutely lit up the UC secondary, leading then-UC defensive coordinator Bob Diaco to cry for mercy at halftime

That game may not have been fun to watch as a UC fan, but I enjoyed watching the team my brother has rooted for his entire life. It was pretty cool to see Albert and Alberta—the Gator mascots—and to hear the Florida band play their “Jaws” theme.

My brother Tony is still jealous when he sees photos like this one

Co-worker Joe Stanek even told me, “Your brother would love this I bet.”

He would have, no doubt, but I loved those two experiences even more. UC’s football program had truly reached the pinnacle of college football, and it was exciting to be wrapped up in those experiences. While we didn’t win either game, it was almost surreal to be at those games. I noted numerous times to friends and family that, “The endzones are painted just like you see them on TV!”

Yeah, I’m a dork. And I love it.

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That was moment No. 6 in the countdown, and tomorrow we check in to the beginning of the top five rundown in the most impactful and important moments in my undergraduate career.

If you’ve missed any of the top ten countdown, check the links below for the run down:

No. 10- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-days-until-graduation.html

No. 9- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/nine-days-until-graduation.html

No. 8- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/eight-days-until-graduation.html

No. 7- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-week-until-graduation.html

UC players discuss Sugar Bowl loss

After going 12-0 and capturing their second straight Big East title the UC Bearcats headed to New Orleans to play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Awaiting them was SEC runner-up Florida and all-everything quarterback Tim Tebow, playing his final collegiate game.

“We made Tim Tebow look great,” said junior tight end Ben Guidugli after practice on Tuesday. The loss was called “humbling” by numerous players who all told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bill Koch yesterday that the outside situation played on the team’s mindset before the game.

“It was just weird,” Guidugli told Koch, “with the coaches not knowing where they were going and the (returning) players not knowing what to expect after that game. Everybody wasn’t on the same page for that game. We made it that far and then to have everybody just kind of go their own way at the end was unfortunate, really.”

Brian Kelly left for Notre Dame less than a week after the Bearcats clinched the spot in the Sugar Bowl. Kelly stood on the stage at the team’s banquet, accepted the invitation from the Sugar Bowl representative there, and twelve hours later was standing in front of reporters in South Bend, Ind., proclaiming that Notre Dame was his team.

So UC picked up the pieces and named Jeff Quinn, offensive coordinator, as the interim head coach for the Sugar Bowl. Less than one week later, Butch Jones was hired away from Central Michigan (where he took over for Kelly when Kelly came to Cincinnati) but decided to not coach the Sugar Bowl, citing that he wanted to stay in the background, out of the way.

Jones at his introductory press conference stressed that he preaches "family" (Cincinnati Enquirer)

So Quinn went and applied for the vacant Buffalo head coaching job, and was hired before the Sugar Bowl, but Quinn announced he wasn’t leaving Cincinnati.

Quinn jokes with reporters outside a pre-Sugar Bowl press conference in UC's Lindner Center (Cincinnati Enquirer)

All in all, it made for some very tense situations. No one knew of anyone’s plans heading into the game, just as Guidugli suggested. Coaches were either going to Notre Dame or Buffalo, and some even might not have any idea what their futures were. Players didn’t know what to expect from the new regime, and everything showed in the 51-24 loss to Florida.

“It was a humbling experience,” said wide receiver Armon Binns—who hauled in the game winning touchdown pass in Pittsburgh. “It showed us that we can't let the situation of what was going on around us bring us apart. We have to come together in times of turmoil and stay close-knit, like we are now.

“I feel like we could have played with them,” he continued. “It wasn’t that they were that much better than us. Our heads just weren’t in it. There was a lot going on.”

And he’s right. It was one of the most awkward situations we’d ever faced in the video room. Coaches we’d grown to know over the past few seasons were packing up their offices, starting to put plans together to move out. It seemed to us like no one cared, as Binns pointed out.

This season, players and coaches have made it a goal to win the BCS game, if the Bearcats make it back there. Binns feels this team has the tools necessary to compete. “I think this team can be better than last year,” Binns said. “We’ve got the right guys. Guys are older. Guys are more experienced. I feel like this coaching staff is going to instill a certain kind of toughness in us that we might not have had last year.”

Cincinnati native JK Schaffer said, “We’re tired of going through the whole season winning and then ending on a bad note. We’re ready to step up to the next level and get to those BCS games and win them. It definitely gives us a little bit of motivation.”

With twelve practices left this spring the motivation is high for the two-time defending Big East champs. I’m sure we’ll find more storylines as spring progresses here in Cincinnati. Until then check out http://www.gobearcats.com/ for coverage and videos.

Niemeyer sibling rivalry underscores Sugar Bowl game

***This post was originally scheduled to be posted yesterday, Dec 29th***

By now I’m sure you know about the intense sibling rivalry that my brother and I have heading into Friday evening’s UC/Florida matchup. The thing is, even though people want him to root for the school he attends, I have to tell you that he has been a Florida Gators fan his entire life.

Why? Well, for the same reasons I like the Florida Marlins and Mark Martin—I honestly couldn’t tell you.

The best I can come up with is remembering back to when my cousin TJ played baseball over the summer and his team was nicknamed the Gators. My uncle would often take us up to Delhi Park and let us watch TJ’s games. My brother was, and still is, a baseball fanatic. He learned so much from watching my cousin play catcher, and even inherited some of TJ’s skills.

And some clothes. Lots of clothes

Tony still has a few of their old jerseys which say “Gators” across the front. Looking back at photos from our first day of school in the late 90s I found that Tony was sporting a Florida Gators hat.
So it is tough to blame him if he sports a Florida Gators shirt on Friday evening while watching his school and his brother’s team duke it out for the 2010 Sugar Bowl title?

Today, December 29th is his 19th birthday, and for the second straight year I find myself calling him from the lobby of a hotel, telling him to enjoy his birthday, and of course the phrase to end all phrases this week, “Go Bearcats!”

One of the best memories I have of celebrating my brother’s birthday was heading to Dave and Busters in Fairfield in 1997. That same day the UC football team, led by Rick Minter, played in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho.

Oh the connections we could make right now. Dave and Busters held a UC team send off party last Monday night, and the colors of Boise State, where the game was played? Blue and orange, just like Florida.

So on today, the 19th anniversary of my brother’s birth, I offer this short story and while there are way too many stories about my brother and I to print here, I’m just giving you just one more thing to think about when the Gators take the field to take on the Bearcats on New Year’s Day at 8:30 (Eastern).
Oh and he’s going to be the first person I call when the improbable upset occurs on Friday night. Who else would I call?

Former Bearcat to coach against ‘Cats in Sugar Bowl

When Urban Meyer played football at the University of Cincinnati less than 2,000 people showed up to see the ‘Cats play. “We were playing Memphis State,” he said when addressing the UC football squad after a spring practice in 2008. “And getting our butts beat.”

This isn’t Urban Meyer’s program anymore. The UC Bearcats will actually head to New Orleans ranked ahead of the Gators, who are considered heavy favorites by many “experts”. But all Meyer has to do is point to his former program, Utah, who beat Alabama in last year’s Sugar Bowl to show his team that anyone can win on any given day.

The kid from Ashtabula, Ohio got drafted by the Atlanta Braves out of high school, and ended up at the University of Cincinnati playing defensive back.

“The one thing I can remember is him saying this used to be a rinky-dink program. That's the only thing I remember,” UC wideout Mardy Gilyard said. “The team knew we weren't a rinky-dink program. That just kind of fueled me.”

But Meyer came away impressed with that version of the Cincinnati Bearcats, who won the 2008 Big East title. “Watching practice, I walked away saying that this was an SEC-caliber team,” he said. He added that he wouldn’t want to play UC. “If your AD calls our AD and wants us to play you guys, I'm telling him, ‘No way. I don't want to play those guys’.”
Strong words from one of the best coaches in the nation, but as I stated last year in October, “What if he has no chance?” Sometimes even my craziest dreams come true, but did Meyer ever think he’d be playing his alma mater in a BCS bowl game? Probably not.

Meyer showing off his ball security skills after winning the National Title last year

Which is why after last season, current Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly traveled to Gainesville and met with Meyer and the Florida staff to share some coaching insights. Both sides shared ideas about offense and even some special teams insight.

“We shared some ideas about some things,” Kelly said. “That's the fraternity of the coaching business. We certainly weren't looking at a matchup with Florida on our regular schedule. We run some similar things offensively. We share some similar ideas in terms of practice.”

When Meyer visited UC back in the spring of 2008 he stood next to Kelly and they chatted. Wouldn’t it have been fantastic to be a fly buzzing around those two offensive masterminds? I know of more than a few people who would love to have been in that situation (and most of them have been beaten by Meyer or Kelly in the past few seasons).

Tim Hinton, UC’s running backs coach, and Meyer met at Ohio State in the late 1980s and have continued a close relationship ever since.
“I had never met Coach (Brian) Kelly and one of their coaches is a very good friend, Tim Hinton,” Meyer said. “I was invited down to practice. Without disrespect to the University of Cincinnati, I didn’t expect what I saw and what I saw was one of the best teams in America practicing and the way their defensive staff was coaching and the way Coach Kelly was directly involved, I remember walking away from that and saying wow. Since then I made it a point and I never miss a game when they were on.”

Perhaps that will help him when he stalks the sidelines in January 1st against his alma mater. Until then, Meyer will think back to that day when he walked away from that spring practice thinking about just how good the UC Bearcats were. They certainly aren’t the same Bearcats he played for in the 1980s. These Bearcats can beat Florida, and that probably scares Meyer just a little bit.

Playing Florida certainly won’t scare the UC Bearcats, who realize that they have an opportunity to do some unbelievable things in this game. Finishing a perfect season, finishing in the top five in the final polls and beating Florida would legitimatize the UC football program as one of the premier programs in all the land. “Who is more recognized as a program in the past five years than Florida?” asked Brian Kelly before he bolted for South Bend.

The answer is no one. Who is a better recognized coach than Urban Meyer over the past five years? With all due respect to Kelly, it’s still probably Urban Meyer. And now Meyer has a chance to see his program play on a national stage. The only problem is it’s against his Florida Gators.

“Nobody’s going to pick us to win that game and we understand that,” said Gilyard. But even if UC wins you’ve gotta think that Urban Meyer would be at least happy to see his program succeeding against the best in the game.

And hopefully we get to see if Meyer can give us that reaction on New Year’s Day.

Gilyard among six Bearcats from Sunshine State looking to beat Florida

If there’s been one man who has been the most outspoken player for this UC Bearcat football team it was Mardy Gilyard. When the media looks for quotes from a team leader, they get Gilyard. When the players voted on a team MVP, Gilyard came home with the trophy.
Even though he may not be the atypical collegiate football player, Gilyard, the kid from Bunnell, Florida has been a story of perseverance and triumph. When he got to campus in 2005 Head Coach Mark Dantonio put Gilyard on defense. After a shaky early start to his career, Gilyard was kicked off the team and Brian Kelly gave him a second chance.

And did Gilyard ever relish that second chance. He now leads the Bearcats in career touchdown catches with 25. Mardy has snagged 11 touchdowns in each of the past two seasons and been a huge contributor on special teams. After all, it was his kickoff return in Pittsburgh two weeks ago that might have provided the spark that UC needed to overcome a three score deficit.
Gilyard is definitely the voice of the Bearcats, but he isn’t the only ‘Cats player to reign from the Sunshine State. Five others—sophomore defensive back Dominique Battle, redshirt freshman safety Pat Lambert, freshman punter Patrick O’Donnell, redshirt freshman defensive back Quincy Quetant and junior offensive lineman CJ Cobb—also all hail from Florida. All but Quetant, who was injured at Camp Higher Ground and has sat out all season, have seen some action this season for UC.

Often when people think of high school football the talent rich state of Texas comes to mind. Florida and California follow close behind, and while Ohio is a hotbed of talent itself, the state rarely compares to Florida and Texas.

Florida, a national recognized football power, has 38 players on their roster not from Florida. Numerous Gator players come from Texas and Georgia. Florida has the distinct advantage of being able to pluck every great high schooler from the state and leave other good high school recruits for everyone else.

Cincinnati, not quite yet a national powerhouse in football, draws from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Northern Kentucky for most of its talent. 47 non Ohioans play for the Bearcats, but only 23 of those are from outside of Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana. If you take out the ‘Cats from Pennsylvania, Illinois and Iowa the number drops to single digits.

Since Florida is so talent rich schools like Florida can have the finest high schoolers in the state and leave kids who aren’t quite good enough to play at the highest level to teams like Cincinnati. Occasionally they miss a kid like Gilyard who is blazing fast and catches nearly everything thrown his way, and O’Donnell, who, before he injured his leg, was a viable second option at punter for the UC Bearcats.

Don’t look for Gilyard and the rest of the Florida gang to take out their anger on the Gators for not offering them scholarships. They, like the rest of the collegiate world, understand that they may not have been good enough to compete at a place like Florida. But they’re enjoying their ride at Cincinnati.
After all, they’ve done something that the Gators haven’t been able to accomplish this season: win every game. And if they can win one more, the six Bearcats from Florida will be able to tell their grandkids how they defeated their home state’s biggest collegiate team in one of the biggest games in their own program’s history.

Defenses in charge of stopping Tebow and Pike have tall order ahead

I’ve never been a defensive guy. I like to think I’m an offensive guy, and it makes sense. In high school at Elder, head coach Doug Ramsey was the de facto offensive coordinator and playcaller. For the past three seasons at UC Brian Kelly pretty much did the same on gamedays, calling the shots for the Bearcat offense.

When I watch football I like to call out formations, personnel packages and offensive plays. I do pay attention to defense, but I’m no defensive expert. When people ask me if I’d ever like to coach football (obviously in the far future) I note that I need someone who knows defense to help me on that side of the ball.

The UC defense had to replace ten starters before the season. For this reason numerous experts said the Bearcats wouldn't be the same team they were last season. Little did they know that the Bearcats would actually be better

So defense isn’t my forte, but I certainly can tell you that both offenses in the Sugar Bowl will provide the opposing defense with certain challenges. Tebow can pound the ball up the middle with his powerful frame. Pike is escapable, slips away from pressure and slings the ball deep down field to his wideouts. So how will each defense go about stopping two of the best offenses in all of college football today?

If I had the answer to that question I doubt I’d tell you. Plus I’d see how much money I could get for my expertise. So I can theorize about both teams, and not lose any money. We’ll see if I’m right on January 2nd after the game is over.

Florida comes into the game with the number twelve offense in the nation averaging 442 yards per game. Florida scores an average of 35 points per game. When Florida runs they prefer the ball stays in the hands of Tim Tebow, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who watches college football. This season Tebow rushed for 859 yards on 203 carries and scored 13 touchdowns. Running back Jeffery Demps ran the ball 96 times for 738 yards.

Tebow runs against Alabama in the SEC Title game. How often will he do this against Cincinnati?

UC has had trouble defending the run as the season progressed, and Pittsburgh nearly made that flaw fatal. The Bearcat defense surrendered 146 points in the final four games of the year (UConn, West Virginia, Illinois and Pitt), but in total the ‘Cats finished 25th in the nation in scoring defense averaging 21 points per game. Something has got to give here.

One of the main reasons that current Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly expressed an interest in switching to a 3-4 defense this season at Cincinnati was to defend the speed of teams like USF and West Virginia in the Big East conference. Little did he know that the switch would also help in a bowl game. Florida will more than likely try to spread the field, and UC should be fine with that. But if Tebow starts pounding the ball between the tackles, UC will need to find the right mix of defensive personnel to deal with the speed and power of Florida.

On the flip side, the Bearcat offense, a much ballyhooed unit, averaged nearly 40 points per game. Tony Pike and Zach Collaros led a passing attack that was sixth in all the land, putting up 320 yards a game. Oddly enough the UC offense was also sixth in total offense. So the edge yardage wise between the offenses goes to UC.

However, the Florida defense is pretty darn good themselves. The Gator defense only gave up 11.5 points per game and held teams to just a hair over 253 yards. So what does the UC offense have to do to defeat the vaunted Gator defense? I think one of the hall marks of the Bearcats this season on offense will have to remain stable in order to beat Florida and that is ball security. In twelve regular season games the UC offense has lost one fumble, and no running back has lost a fumble for UC this year. That has to stay the same in order for the Bearcats to pull off a victory in New Orleans.

When I was a guest on Jake Meyer’s radio show before the Pittsburgh game two weeks ago on WPTS the two guys hosting the sports show with Jake mentioned that they wanted a prediction from me. “I don’t do predictions guys,” was my response. Before the Rutgers game my good friend Greg Metz sent me a text stating, “What’s your prediction for today?” I responded simply, “UC-1 more point than Rutgers. I don’t do predictions Greg, you know that.”

In the game against Pittsburgh sophomore corner Dominique Battle made a diving interception

So if you read all this way looking for a prediction, well, I’ll apologize. I’m just hoping that my statistical insight into the UC and Florida offenses and Bearcat and Gator defenses help you to make your own predictions for the January 1st matchup between the two teams.

Hope everyone has had a great day and the end of the week is near. Got a lot more storylines for this UC-Florida game, so I hope you can tune in and read them all leading up to the big game on New Year’s Day. Tune back in tomorrow and until then, have a nice night.

15+15=Sugar Bowl Sweetness

One of my favorite things about Christmas time is the annual viewing of A Charlie Brown Christmas on TV. One of the funnier parts is when Lucy has to convince Linus why he has to be a shepherd in the school play. She says, “I’ll give you five good reasons, one, two, three, four and five,” as she curls her fingers into a threatening fist.

I’ll give you 30 good reasons to watch the Sugar Bowl—and no violence is required to read on.

Tim Tebow will don his blue #15 jersey for the final time in his storied college career on January 1st in New Orleans. So too will Tony Pike, but of course his #15 jersey will be white. Pike’s rise to national prominence came about through a little hard work, injuries and some luck. Tebow’s national prominence has made many fans sick.

Whether you’re a fan of the outwardly religious Tebow or not, you must admit that he’s had one whale of a run as college football’s premier player the past three seasons. In his sophomore campaign Tebow snatched his only Heisman trophy. He won a National Title in 2007 by being Chris Leak’s backup, but Tebow’s role as the original “Wildcat” quarterback saw him score eight rushing TDs.

He led the Gators to another SEC title and National Title last season, and although they came up just short this season Tebow gets just one more chance to prove why he’s been the talk of the town in college football.

But here to dethrone him is Tony Pike. Pike, from Cincinnati’s Reading High School (the same high school the produced former Gator DeShawn Wynn, whom Tebow handed off to in the aforementioned 2007 National Title game) was not heavily recruited out of high school, but flourished in Brian Kelly’s no huddle spread attack. Pike flung the ball around as Dustin Grutza’s backup last year after Grutza was injured in the Bearcats’ second game in Oklahoma (the team that Tebow and Florida later beat for the National Title).

Pike filled in for Dustin Grutza and then got injured, his comeback and subsequent ability to lead UC to the Orange Bowl was a great storyline for the 2008 Bearcats

While their styles may differ the one thing that will keep fans tuned in to this game is the uncanny ability of both quarterbacks to lead their teams to victory. Down 21 points in the snow and wind at Pittsburgh with the Big East title on the line? No problem, Pike hits Armon Binns with 33 seconds left to clinch the 2009 Big East title and Sugar Bowl berth for the ‘Cats.

Pike celebrates after hitting Armon Binns for the game winning TD two weeks ago in Pittsburgh

With his team tied with Arkansas earlier this season in “The Swamp” Tebow led a similar drive, ending with a game winning field goal and Florida staying perfect.

When Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly was on Dan Patrick’s radio show one week ago (he was still Cincinnati’s Head Coach) Patrick raised two interesting questions about the Sugar Bowl. He asked Kelly who was the better college quarterback. Kelly responded, “Tebow.” But, Patrick asked, with the game on the line and two minutes left in the game, who do you want? With no hesitation he said, “Pike.”

Tebow’s guts and leadership will never be questioned, but the one thing that has been questioned by his critics is his ability to throw the ball. This season he has fared better than most throwing 279 times, completing 182 of those passes for 2413 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also has run the ball for 859 yards on 203 carries, adding thirteen scores on the ground for the Gators.

But Pike still has that ability to stretch the field both vertically and sideline to sideline that scares most defensive coordinators silly. Pike missed four games this season and still threw for 2,350 yards and 26 touchdowns, numbers that would have been higher, and might have earned him a shot at being a Heisman front runner if he didn’t re-injure his non-throwing arm in October at South Florida.

But the debate now isn’t about who has thrown for more yards or who has the better rushing statistics, it’s all about who can lead his team to victory on January 1st in New Orleans. Both teams will put up yards and points, but which #15 will prove to be the MVP?

Pike started off red hot against Rutgers, can he finish red hot against Florida?

Well, you’ll be able to find out by tuning in to the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. Until tomorrow enjoy your day thinking about how great it will be to see the two senior #15’s battling it out in “The Big Easy” to start the 2010 calendar year.