TicketsApril 21, 2007
Cincinnati, Ohio-- Head Coach Brian Kelly debuted a new era of University of Cincinnati football with a 20-0 win for the Red over the Black in the inaugural Bearcat Bowl. An estimated crowd of 5,200 spectators were on hand to catch the new-look Bearcats at Nippert Stadium.
"The day was all practice together and it started this morning with the annual Captains' Breakfast, then our youth clinic out here with 300 kids," said Kelly. "It turned into a great evening and a great atmosphere. Once you split up the squads and you are playing with different people, you aren't going to be able to consistently do the things you want to do on offense. "
The Red squad marched down the field on each of its first two drives of the night. The first drive came to a halt when Jason Whitehead jarred the football loose from Bradley Glatthaar deep in the Black team's territory. On the 15th play of the drive, Whitehead forced the turnover by Glatthaar on the nine yard line.
After a punt, it took three plays for Dustin Grutza to move the Red 41 yards, highlighted by back-to-back pass completions of seven and 23 yards, before Derrick Stewart scored from four yards out on a reverse.
The Red added to the lead on its third possession on Jake Rogers' 31-yard field goal. The lead was 10-0 after one quarter of play.
Joe Carithers padded the lead with a 40-yard field goal on the opening possession of the third quarter. The advantage remained 13-0 heading into the final frame.
With 1:10 left in the exhibition, Tony Pike found Earnest Jackson cut through the middle of the field for a 56-yard catch and run to the end zone. The score capped a 20-0 victory for the Red.
Pike, who played for both sides in the game, finished 4-of-6 for 75 yards. Grutza, the incumbent under center, ended the evening 17-of-23 for 114 yards and no interceptions.
The Black squad's Craig Carey finished 15-of-32 for a UC-best 160 yards, including a 40-yard hookup with Mike Daniels. Daniels, fresh off of rehabilitation that sidelined him for the 2006 season, paced the receivers with six catches for 94 yards. Jared Martin added five receptions for the Black.
Dominick Goodman and Marcus Barnett each caught five passes for the Red.
Punter Kevin Huber boomed six punts for an average of 40.5 yards per punt. The rising junior also notched three kicks inside the 20 yard line.
Rogers, who split the uprights from 31 yards early in the game, had plenty of distance, but missed wide right of the pipes from 51 yards in the second quarter.
A walk-on battling to find a spot on the roster, Justin Moore registered a key interception for the Red. Moore's pickoff came in the endzone and stopped the Black's best scoring chance of the contest.
With Bearcat Bowl in the books, Cincinnati concludes its spring drills and takes a two-week break from team activities to focus attention on the classroom.
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