TicketsIt's the oldest non-conference rivalry in college football and the winner gets to keep the Victory Bell until the two schools meet again, but for Bearcat linebacker JK Schaffer, the 116th meeting between and is personal.
"I think about this game all year and it really, really, means a lot to me," Schaffer told me. "When I was going through the recruiting process, I wanted to go to and was hoping to get an offer from UC, but I was also trying to get offers from other places. narrowed it down to me and one other linebacker and then said, 'Sorry, but we can't offer you a scholarship. We're going to take the other kid.' Them not wanting me has really driven me."
Schaffer's fellow seniors didn't have to be snubbed by the RedHawks to share his desire to beat on Saturday. The Bearcats have won the last five meetings between the two schools, meaning UC's senior class has never spent a day on campus without the Victory Bell in their midst.
"You don't want to be the senior class that lets the Victory Bell go," said wide receiver OJ Woodard. "I had never been a part of such a big rivalry. When I was a freshman, our seniors had so much passion that it started to grow in me. Haruki Nakamura came across the middle and hit this guy from . He just picked him up and slammed him to the ground. I understood then that we could never let the go."
Woodard is from and knew nothing about the rivalry before arriving at UC. But the veterans quickly make sure that the newcomers know what the game means.
"We've been talking about it every day," said Schaffer. "I think it's our most important rivalry. They're 45 minutes up the road and it's one of the oldest rivalries in the country."
And the rivalry should guarantee that the Bearcats do not take the RedHawks lightly - despite their 0-3 start.
"We can't overlook anybody," said Woodward. "We have to respect them or we're going to get beat."
"I definitely don't plan on letting go of that ," said Schaffer. "I want to make sure that my senior year is stamped on the side.
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