Cincinnati Team Report

Cincinnati has flown beneath the national radar for much of this season. But, following two consecutive victories over top-25 teams, the Bearcats are ranked in both major polls. The endgame is known—win out, and the reward in a BCS bid.

After using four quarterbacks this season, including two redshirt freshmen, the Bearcats are nearly at full strength.

Senior starter Dustin Grutza, out since fracturing his fibula Sept. 6 at Oklahoma, is physically ready to play.

But junior Tony Pike, who returned three weeks ago after missing time with a broken non-throwing arm, will start at Louisville.

The Bearcats are back to business following their euphoric victory in Morgantown, and focusing on the Cardinals.

Kelly doesn’t need to remind the Bearcats that, if they don’t progress one step at a time, someone will trip them up along the way.

“Everybody understands what it takes to win,” said Kelly. “But what it takes to win a championship is mental toughness. Now that we’re into November and we’re a contender, we’ll be able to test our team to see if we have what it takes.”

Notes, Quotes

Scouting The Offense:  

The Bearcats were shut out in the second half at West Virginia, but did score the winning touchdown on their first possession in overtime on a two-yard touchdown pass from Tony Pike to Kazeem Alli.

Head coach Brian Kelly gave credit to WVU’s defense for taking the air out of the Bearcats’ offense.

But their struggles on third downs continue, ranking last in the Big East in converting just 30 percent.

Penalties continue to haunt them, but UC still leads the conference in passing offense and ranks fourth in total offense.

Scouting The Defense:  

Cincinnati’s defense has found its swagger in recent weeks.

The Bearcats held WVU to just 98 yards rushing, becoming the first team since Virginia Tech in 2001 to limit the Mountaineers to fewer than 100 yards.

The Bearcats also sacked Pat White four times, giving them 13 sacks in the past five games after having just four in the first three games this season.

Cincinnati ranks third in the Big East in rushing defense.

Quote To Note:   “If you could’ve told me we were going to let them score three times and get an onside kick, probably not. At the time, you’re making decisions based on what you’re trying to eliminate. We were trying to eliminate the worst-case scenario, which was a blocked punt. We didn’t have the benefit of hindsight.”—Head coach Brian Kelly on having punter Kevin Huber take an intentional safety, which preceded West Virginia’s 11-point rally in the final 1:11 to tie the score.

Strategy And Personnel

None of UC’s seniors have experienced a victory over Louisville.

Despite leading the all-time series 26-20-1, the Bearcats have dropped five straight to the Cardinals.

“It’s not much of a rivalry if you don’t beat the other team,” said UC head coach Brian Kelly.

“Our seniors know that. This is a rivalry game, but more importantly it’s for the Big East championship.” Louisville won 28-24 last year at Nippert Stadium.

Players To Watch:  

Junior SS Aaron Webster—Earned Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording a career-high 13 tackles, including two tackles for loss at West Virginia.

Junior WR Mardy Gilyard—Ran the opening kickoff at WVU back 100 yards for a touchdown, tying him for the longest in school history. It was Gilyard’s second kickoff return for a touchdown this season, setting a UC record. He is the eighth player in Big East history to return two kicks for touchdowns in a season.

Sophomore K Jake Rogers—A semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, Rogers missed a 29-yard field-goal attempt, ending a streak of 13 consecutive made dating back to last season. After being benched earlier this season, the much-maligned kicker has reinvented himself in recent weeks. He’s 11-of-12 this season, tied for first in the Big East.

Roster Report:  

• Junior C Chris Jurek, who sprained his ankle Oct. 30 against South Florida, did not start at West Virginia. Sophomore Jason Kelce was at center, and redshirt freshman Alex Hoffman moved to left guard.

• Sophomore WR Armon Binns made his first career start against the Mountaineers.

• If healthy, senior QB Dustin Grutza will move to No. 2 behind Tony Pike on the depth chart this week at Louisville.

Grutza hasn’t played since Sept. 6 at Oklahoma, when he fractured his fibula and suffered a residual high-ankle sprain.

Louisville Team Report

In the last two weeks, the Louisville offense hasn’t clicked at all.

Though it scored 21 points against Syracuse, it slogged down the field and couldn’t hit a big play.

That continued against Pittsburgh, with the added handicap of more turnovers, dropped passes and killer penalties.

Cincinnati has legitimate BCS dreams, and for Louisville to derail that, the offense will need to do more than spark.

The Cardinals’ bowl hopes rest on Cantwell and crew catching fire down the stretch.

Notes, Quotes

Scouting The Offense:  

Louisville’s offense has turned the ball over 21 times this season, with 12 interceptions and nine lost fumbles.

Five of those turnovers came in last week’s loss to Pittsburgh.

If Hunter Cantwell wants to keep Mike Simms on the bench, he needs to do a better job of valuing the football.

Scouting The Defense:  

The Cardinals’ defense has been a strength this season, and it stopped the Panthers’ running game for the most part last week.

But the secondary hasn’t been as consistent, and Cincinnati will definitely put that unit to the test.

Quote To Note:  

“I’m not going to put anybody in for next year, because next year isn’t here. We’re playing in the present. We’re playing to beat Cincinnati this week.”—Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe told the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Strategy And Personnel

Louisville has won its last five meetings with its rival from across the Kentucky-Ohio border, but the Bearcats enter this one with a lot of momentum and the Cardinals with none.

A big key to this one will be turnovers; Louisville has had good luck making the Bearcats play sloppy and will need to keep that trend alive while cleaning up its own act to pull off the upset.

Players To Watch:  

WR/PR Doug Beaumont—There’s no way to sugarcoat how bad Beaumont looked last week, as he returned punts like it was his first time playing special teams.

He symbolized a Cardinals attack that looked dazed and confused by the Panthers. If he doesn’t look better this week, he’ll start losing snaps.

QB Hunter Cantwell—He might not lose his job, but Cantwell hasn’t been good enough under center to get the Cardinals where they need to go.

His receivers haven’t done him many favors this season either, but he hasn’t been making it easier on himself in recent weeks by missing open targets.

If he doesn’t step up his level of play, any possibility of a bowl game could soon slip away.

CB Johnny Patrick—Patrick has made some big plays on defense this season, but he gave up a 44-yard touchdown against the Panthers.

Louisville’s secondary sometimes plays like it doesn’t respect the deep ball, and it does so at its peril.

Roster Report:  

• C Eric Woods enters the week in position to set the school record for consecutive games started. His streak is at 46 with three games to play, and the Louisville mark is 48 games.