This is an except from my book, “This Is What The Top Feels Like,’ about the 2009 Cincinnati football season.
By Bill Koch
As Cincinnati football fans breathe a sigh of relief that their unbeaten Bearcats held on to beat Tulsa, 28-20, Saturday at Nippert Stadium it’s worth a look back to exactly 12 years ago today (on Nov. 7, 2009) when Brian Kelly’s 2009 Bearcats also held on at the end to get past Connecticut and keep their unbeaten season alive.
At the time, Cincinnati had the top-ranked defense in the conference, allowing 313.2 yards per game, and the seventh-ranked scoring defense in the country, allowing 13.71 points per game, to go with the top-ranked offense, which was churning out 454 yards per game. The fourth-ranked Bearcats were one of seven unbeaten teams in the country, along with Alabama, Texas, Boise State, Florida and Texas Christian. They were No. 5 in the BCS standings.
UConn’s 4-4 record (1-3 in the Big Easts) was underwhelming, but the Huskies had been ahead in the fourth quarter in each of their four losses. Starting quarterback Cody Endres had suffered a shoulder injury in the first quarter of the Huskies’ loss to Rutgers the previous week and was expected to be finished for the season. But his backup, Zach Frazer, had come off the bench to pass for a career-high 333 yards.
“The energy at Nippert Stadium, especially Nippert at night, it was hard to express how amazing it was to play in there,” said quarterback Zach Collaros. “That night it was especially electric.”
Cincinnati’s Jacob Ramsey carried 12 times for 91 yards. Isaiah Pead gained 67 yards on 10 carries and scored two touchdowns. Mardy Gilyard caught 12 passes for 172 yards, and Armon Binns caught five passes for 108 yards and one touchdown.
Those were all impressive performances, but it was Collaros who turned in the most dazzling, with 480 passing yards and 75 rushing yards. He passed for two touchdowns and ran for another. The 480 yards were the second-highest total in school history behind Greg Cook’s 554 yards against Ohio in 1968. He completed 29 of his 37 passes.
“You just felt like every throw you made was going to be caught,” Collaros said. “It was one of those kind of nights.”
Jake Rogers’ 34-yard field goal just before halftime gave the Bearcats a 30-10 halftime lead. At that point, the Bearcats had already gained 457 yards.
But this would not be another Bearcat blowout. UConn’s Jordan Todman, who rushed for 162 yards, ran for a 46-yard touchdown to make it 30-17 five minutes into the second half. Collaros needed only two minutes, 50 seconds to move Cincinnati 80 yards for a touchdown, which he scored himself on a 28-yard run to put the Bearcats ahead 37-17.UConn’s Robert McClain returned a Rogers punt 87 yards for a touchdown and it was 37-24 at the end of the third quarter.
A 35-yard field goal by Rogers improved Cincinnati’s lead 40-24. The Huskies then drove 68 yards in five plays and scored on Todman’s one-yard run to cut the deficit to 40-32. Todman scored again on a two-yard run and UConn went for two in an attempt to tie the score, but Frazer’s pass was incomplete, leaving the Bearcats clinging to a 40-38 lead.
Gilyard returned the kickoff 43 yards to the Cincinnati 44. Eight plays later, Pead ran 14 yards for a touchdown. Rogers’ extra point kick gave the Bearcats a seemingly safe 47-38 lead with 3:04 remaining But the Huskies scored again on Frazer’s 9-yard touchdown pass with 1:34 left. Dave Teggart’s extra point kick made it 47-45.
UConn still had a chance if it could recover an onside kick, but Cincinnati’s Charley Howard fell on the ball at the Huskies’ 41, which enabled Collaros to take a knee to run out the clock. The Bearcats finished with a school-record 711 yards of total offense.
“That game was done and over with,” Kelly said. “They couldn’t stop us. We were rolling up and down the field. They had no answers for us. They had some issues at safety and we were taking advantage of them left and right. And then all of a sudden the dam broke defensively for us.”
Just as they did Saturday against Tulsa the Bearcats found a way to win. The difference is that in 2009, as members of the Bowl Championship Series, they didn’t have to worry about style points. The championship game participants were based on computer rankings, the Harris Interactive poll and the USA Today Coaches poll. All they had to do was keep winning.
As UC coach Luke Fickell said after the game Saturday, according to The Athletic, "We set out this week and said, 'Guys, we have no control. Let's let it be. Let's do what we can do, control what we can control. Let the chips fall where they may. If you guys continue to win and at some point in time at the end of the year, we'll be up there pounding the table.' If it ain't good enough, it ain't good enough."
By Bill Koch
As Cincinnati football fans breathe a sigh of relief that their unbeaten Bearcats held on to beat Tulsa, 28-20, Saturday at Nippert Stadium it’s worth a look back to exactly 12 years ago today (on Nov. 7, 2009) when Brian Kelly’s 2009 Bearcats also held on at the end to get past Connecticut and keep their unbeaten season alive.
At the time, Cincinnati had the top-ranked defense in the conference, allowing 313.2 yards per game, and the seventh-ranked scoring defense in the country, allowing 13.71 points per game, to go with the top-ranked offense, which was churning out 454 yards per game. The fourth-ranked Bearcats were one of seven unbeaten teams in the country, along with Alabama, Texas, Boise State, Florida and Texas Christian. They were No. 5 in the BCS standings.
UConn’s 4-4 record (1-3 in the Big Easts) was underwhelming, but the Huskies had been ahead in the fourth quarter in each of their four losses. Starting quarterback Cody Endres had suffered a shoulder injury in the first quarter of the Huskies’ loss to Rutgers the previous week and was expected to be finished for the season. But his backup, Zach Frazer, had come off the bench to pass for a career-high 333 yards.
“The energy at Nippert Stadium, especially Nippert at night, it was hard to express how amazing it was to play in there,” said quarterback Zach Collaros. “That night it was especially electric.”
Cincinnati’s Jacob Ramsey carried 12 times for 91 yards. Isaiah Pead gained 67 yards on 10 carries and scored two touchdowns. Mardy Gilyard caught 12 passes for 172 yards, and Armon Binns caught five passes for 108 yards and one touchdown.
Those were all impressive performances, but it was Collaros who turned in the most dazzling, with 480 passing yards and 75 rushing yards. He passed for two touchdowns and ran for another. The 480 yards were the second-highest total in school history behind Greg Cook’s 554 yards against Ohio in 1968. He completed 29 of his 37 passes.
“You just felt like every throw you made was going to be caught,” Collaros said. “It was one of those kind of nights.”
Jake Rogers’ 34-yard field goal just before halftime gave the Bearcats a 30-10 halftime lead. At that point, the Bearcats had already gained 457 yards.
But this would not be another Bearcat blowout. UConn’s Jordan Todman, who rushed for 162 yards, ran for a 46-yard touchdown to make it 30-17 five minutes into the second half. Collaros needed only two minutes, 50 seconds to move Cincinnati 80 yards for a touchdown, which he scored himself on a 28-yard run to put the Bearcats ahead 37-17.UConn’s Robert McClain returned a Rogers punt 87 yards for a touchdown and it was 37-24 at the end of the third quarter.
A 35-yard field goal by Rogers improved Cincinnati’s lead 40-24. The Huskies then drove 68 yards in five plays and scored on Todman’s one-yard run to cut the deficit to 40-32. Todman scored again on a two-yard run and UConn went for two in an attempt to tie the score, but Frazer’s pass was incomplete, leaving the Bearcats clinging to a 40-38 lead.
Gilyard returned the kickoff 43 yards to the Cincinnati 44. Eight plays later, Pead ran 14 yards for a touchdown. Rogers’ extra point kick gave the Bearcats a seemingly safe 47-38 lead with 3:04 remaining But the Huskies scored again on Frazer’s 9-yard touchdown pass with 1:34 left. Dave Teggart’s extra point kick made it 47-45.
UConn still had a chance if it could recover an onside kick, but Cincinnati’s Charley Howard fell on the ball at the Huskies’ 41, which enabled Collaros to take a knee to run out the clock. The Bearcats finished with a school-record 711 yards of total offense.
“That game was done and over with,” Kelly said. “They couldn’t stop us. We were rolling up and down the field. They had no answers for us. They had some issues at safety and we were taking advantage of them left and right. And then all of a sudden the dam broke defensively for us.”
Just as they did Saturday against Tulsa the Bearcats found a way to win. The difference is that in 2009, as members of the Bowl Championship Series, they didn’t have to worry about style points. The championship game participants were based on computer rankings, the Harris Interactive poll and the USA Today Coaches poll. All they had to do was keep winning.
As UC coach Luke Fickell said after the game Saturday, according to The Athletic, "We set out this week and said, 'Guys, we have no control. Let's let it be. Let's do what we can do, control what we can control. Let the chips fall where they may. If you guys continue to win and at some point in time at the end of the year, we'll be up there pounding the table.' If it ain't good enough, it ain't good enough."
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