Tickets2004: Exciting Times for Bearcat Football
Contact: Tom Hathaway
8/11/2004
Trent Cole is one of eight returning starters on defense |
There is an air of excitement surrounding the University of Cincinnati football program.
A multitude of returning veterans with more than one season of extensive playing time return on both sides of the line of scrimmage, giving the Bearcats their most experienced team in years.
Gino Guidugli, who has rewritten the school?s passing and total offense records over the past three seasons, heads a cast on offense which encompasses both experience and depth at the skill positions.
Thirteen seniors?nine with starting experience?return from last year?s defense, which was ranked No. 27 in the final total defense national statistics.
Mark Dantonio, defensive coordinator at Ohio State the past three years whose work helped the Buckeyes to the 2002 national championship, takes over the leadership of the Bearcat program. Dantonio heads a new coaching staff, which has generated new levels of energy within the team.
Cincinnati?s move the the BIG EAST Conference, to take place for the 2005 football season, has elevated the status of the program, bringing affiliation with a BCS conference, not to mention aligning the Bearcats with several regional rivals.
Dantonio has busied himself preparing Cincinnati for its final run in Conference USA. The Bearcats have finished either first or second in the league race in three of the past four years, and their experience should make them a contender in 2004.
?I think our team strength will be an experienced quarterback and an experienced front seven on defense,? stated Dantonio. ?We should have experience on the offensive line. We've got players who have played well in the past. I like the team's toughness at this point. Preparation will be key, coaching and player-wise. Whenever you have a good quarterback, you have a chance.?
Guidugli has been the Bearcats? quarterback since the second game of the 2001 season. Not only has he exceeded just about every passing standard, he has shown good leadership skills. He has brought UC back from a fourth quarter deficit for a victory eight times during his career.
The Cincinnati offense is much more than the passing of Guidugli. Richard Hall, the team?s top rusher in 2003, is back to anchor the ground attack. The senior led the team in rushing (777 yards) and scoring (10 TDs) despite missing time due to injuries.
Four starters, all fifth-year seniors, return up front, giving the line a veteran hue.
Veteran Defense
Few teams can boast the experience level of Cincinnati?s defense. Six starters?all seniors?return to the front seven, which also has four seniors as backups.
The Bearcats have one of the best defensive end combos in the nation in Trent Cole and Andre Frazier. Cole was on the watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award last season and led the team in tackles for loss. Frazier is moving up the UC career records list for sacks. Both have the ability to come up with the big play.
The linebacking trio of Jamar Enzor, Tyjuan Hagler and Jason Russell will again be the heart of Cincinnati?s defense. That three-some combined for nearly 300 tackles in 2003, 137 by Enzor from the MLB position.
Doug Monaghan returns for his fourth season as a starter at strong safety. Daven Holly, another senior, became a big play performer in 2003, his first as a starter at cornerback. The main quest will be finding two new starters and developing quality backups.
Chet Ervin, who handled both the punting and kicking duties last season, is back to boost the kicking teams.
The Bearcats? experience and senior leadership will be counted upon to help the team respond to a tough early-season schedule. UC opens against Dantonio?s former team, Ohio State, and after facing rival Miami (Ohio) visits future BIG EAST foe Syracuse. Cincinnati also has a stretch in which it faces three of the top four teams from the 2003 C-USA race in succession beginning in mid-October.
New mentor Dantonio is excited about his team?s progress to date, and the challenges to come.