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Football Heads To West Virginia Saturday

Football Heads To West Virginia SaturdayFootball Heads To West Virginia Saturday

Nov. 4, 2008

Game Notes | Season Statistics | Live Video | | Listen


PREVIEWING THE WEST VIRGINIA GAME


GAME 9: CINCINNATI at No. 20/23 WEST VIRGINIA

Saturday, Nov. 8 | 7 p.m. EST | Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000) | Morgantown, W.Va.

Series: West Virginia leads 14-1-1
Last Meeting: WVU 28, UC 23 (Nov. 17, 2007 - Nippert Stadium)
Television: ESPNU: Clay Matvick (PXP), David Diaz-Infante (ANA)
Streaming:
Radio: 700 WLW & XM Channel 173: Dan Hoard (PXP), Jim Kelley, Jr. (ANA) Tom Gelehrter (SL), & Mo Egger (Host/ENG)

SETTING THE MATCHUP

FOOTBALL STARTS TWO-GAME ROAD SWING AT NO. 20/23 WEST VIRGINIA SATURDAY
The University of Cincinnati football team heads back out on the road this weekend, taking on No. 20/23 West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium, Saturday at 7 p.m. in a game televised by ESPNU. The Bearcats (6-2, 2-1 BIG EAST) are in the middle of a stretch playing four games in 21 days, including three road contests. UC knocked off No. 24/23 USF on Oct. 30 in front of 31,175 fans at Nippert Stadium, the 10th-largest crowd in stadium history. The Mountaineers (6-2, 3-0 BIG EAST) enter on a five-game winning streak and sit atop the league standings, one game ahead of UC and Pittsburgh.

THE SERIES
Cincinnati and West Virginia meet for the 17th time on the playing field Saturday. WVU holds a 14-1-1 series advantage and has won the past three meetings. UC is 1-1 in its past two trips to Morgantown, earning a 15-13 win in 2003.

THE COACHES
Brian Kelly, the 2007 BIG EAST Coach of the Year, is in his second full season at the helm of the Cincinnati football program with a 17-5 record and an 18-year career mark of 154-56-2. Kelly led the Bearcats to a school-record-tying 10 wins in 2007 and a victory in the Papajohns.com Bowl. He won two NCAA Division II National Championships at Grand Valley State and led Central Michigan to the 2006 Mid-American Conference Championship. He is the leader in victories among active BIG EAST coaches and is the only current BIG EAST coach with 150 or more career wins.


Bill Stewart is 7-2 in his first season as WVU's head coach. He spent the previous nine seasons on the Mountaineers staff.

STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS

  • UC is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the season, playing four games in 21 days with three coming on the road.
  • The Bearcats played one of the first games of the 2008 season on Aug. 28 and UC will play the last game of the regular season with its 11:30 p.m. EST kickoff at Hawai'i on Dec. 6.
  • With a win at West Virginia Saturday, UC would be bowl eligible for the seventh time in the past nine years.
  • Quarterback Tony Pike showed no ill effects from a broken left (non-throwing) arm, throwing for 281 yards and two touchdowns in UC's 24-10 win over USF on Oct. 30.
  • UC has used four quarterbacks this season, Chazz Anderson, Zach Collaros, Dustin Grutza, and Pike. Grutza started the first two games before breaking his right fibula at Oklahoma, and Collaros led UC to a 17-15 come-from-behind win at Akron.
  • The UC defense has produced 12 sacks in its last five games after recording three in the first three games of the season.
  • Defensive end Connor Barwin has seven sacks on the season, leading the BIG EAST and tied for 13th best nationally.
  • Wide receiver Dominick Goodman needs one receiving touchdown to tie for UC's all-time lead Jim O'Brien (21).