TicketsDec. 17, 2007
STORY LINES
Riding the momentum of three wins over Top 25 foes and its fi rst nine-win season in decades, No. 20/23 Cincinnati heads to its sixth bowl game in eight years. Listed among the Top 25 at the end of its schedule for the fi rst time in the program's 120 seasons, UC faces former Conference USA foe Southern Miss. in the Papajohns.com Bowl.
First-year head coach Brian Kelly guided the Bearcats to a 9-3 regular-season finish that included a 4-3 record in the BIG EAST Conference and earned him BIG EAST Coach of the Year honors. Cincinnati's 9-3 mark is the third-best posted by a first-year coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season.
One win shy of equaling the record for wins in a season, during the 2007 campaign Cincinnati has set records for points (441), touchdowns (59), passing touchdowns (32), and punting (46.0 yards average). UC also established a single-game record for sacks, with 11, in the regular-season finale.
SERIES NOTES
The 2007 Papajohns.com Bowl pits a pair of old Conference USA rivals against one another. It marks the 15th time that the Bearcats and Golden Eagles have met on the gridiron.
The all-time series between Cincinnati and Southern Miss. is knotted, at 7-7. The two sides have not tangled since the Bearcats cruised to a 52-24 win over the No. 21-rated Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Nov. 6, 2004.
Southern Miss. owned a 5-2 advantage when the two sides met as C-USA adversaries from 1996-2003.
The series dates back to Oct. 2, 1976, when Cincinnati claimed a 28-21 victory at M.M. Roberts Stadium. UC won four of the fi rst fi ve meetings in the series.
BEARCATS FINISH REGULAR SEASON IN TOP 25: Riding the momentum from three wins over Top 25 teams and its fi rst nine-win season in decades, No. 20/23 Cincinnati concluded its regular season with a 52-31 triumph at Syracuse. UC is hoping to finish in the fi nal Top 25 for the fi rst time in the program history.
VOTERS TAKE NOTICE: Receiving votes from the national pundits for a record 13 straight weeks, Cincinnati maintained its spot in the Dec. 2 Associated Press Poll. At No. 20 in the AP Poll with 394 votes, Cincinnati is listed No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll with 215 tallies. UC stands at No. 20 in the Harris Interactive Poll and is 22nd in the all-important BCS Standings.
TARGET 10: At 9-3, Cincinnati posted nine wins for the fourth time in the program's 120 seasons. A win in the 2007 Papajohns.com Bowl would give the Bearcats 10 victories for the second time in history. The only 10-win season in Cincinnati history came in 1951 when UC finished 10-1 and won the Mid-American Conference crown.
IN DECEMBER: Cincinnati is 5-4-1 all-time when playing in the fi nal month of the calendar. The fifth-oldest program in the Bowl Subdivision, UC's fi rst December football game resulted in a 0-0 tie against Miami (OH) on Dec. 8, 1888. Dating back to the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl, Cincinnati is 2-3 in December bowl games. The last time UC played in the 12th month, it throttled Marshall 32-14 in the 2004 Fort Worth Bowl.
ONE OF THE TOP FIRST-YEAR COACHES: A far cry from a rookie, Brian Kelly has led UC to the third-most wins of any fi rst-year head coach in the country. The top five win outputs of fi rst-year coaches is listed below:
Coach (School) Record Bowl Opponent
Dennis Erickson (Arizona State) 10-2 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl vs. Texas
Jeff Jagodzinski (Boston College) 10-3 Champs Sports Bowl vs. Michigan State
Brian Kelly (Cincinnati) 9-3 Papajohns.com Bowl vs. Southern Miss.
Troy Callahan (Air Force) 9-3 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl vs. California
Todd Graham (Tulsa) 9-4 GMAC Bowl vs. Bowling Green
KELLY BOASTS IMPRESSIVE RECORD WITH BEARCATS: Dating back to the 2007 International Bowl, Brian Kelly is 10-3 as head coach of the Bearcats. The only coach to start his tenure 7-0 at UC, Kelly has the best record of any fi rst-year coach in the modern era of Cincinnati history.
KELLY AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE COACHES: People in Cincinnati know Brian Kelly is an excellent football coach, but do they know he is one of the winningestactive coaches in Division I Bowl Subclassifi cation? Utilizing winning percentage,Kelly is listed 12th among active coaches with a minimum of five full years experience.
Rank Coach (School) Record Pct.
1. Pete Carroll (USC) 75-14 .843
2. Urban Meyer (Florida) 70-15 .824
3. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) 97-21 .824
4. Mark Richt (Georgia) 71-19 .789
5. Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee) 146-45 .764
6. Bobby Bowden (Florida State) 373-118-4 .758
7. Lloyd Carr (Michigan) 120-40 .750
8. Joe Paterno (Penn State) 371-125-3 .746
9. Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) 163-56-2 .742
10. Jim Tressel (Ohio State) 208-72-2 .741
11. Paul Johnson (Navy) 107-39 .735
12. Brian Kelly (Cincinnati) 147-54-2 .729
13. Dan Hawkins (Colorado) 100-39-1 .718
14. Gary Patterson (TCU) 61-25 .709
15. Dennis Erickson (Arizona State) 158-67-1 .701