No. 13/12 Football Heads To Hawai'i To Close Regular Season

Dec. 3, 2008

Game Notes | Season Statistics | Live Video | | Listen

PREVIEWING THE HAWAI'I GAME

• BOWL: 2008 UC Bowl Central
  
• AWARDS: Cincinnati National Awards Candidates
• MARKETING: Vote BEARCAT In 2008
• FOOTBALL: Weekly Press Conference Quotes
• AWARDS: Rogers Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
• RANKINGS: Bearcats Grab Highest Ever BCS Ranking
• BOWLS: Bowl Travel Plans Being Finalized
  

• GAME 13: No. 13/12 CINCINNATI at Hawai'i
  

  Saturday, Dec. 6 | 11:30 p.m. EST | Aloha Stadium (50,000) | Honolulu, Hawai'i
  

  Series: Tied 1-1
  Last Meeting: Hawai'i 20, UC 19 (Nov. 23, 2002 - Aloha Stadium)
  Television: ESPN2: Joe Tessitore (PXP), Rod Gilmore (ANA)
  Streaming: www.ESPN360.com
  Radio: 700 WLW & XM Channel 173: Dan Hoard (PXP), Jim Kelley, Jr. (ANA) Tom Gelehrter (SL), & Mo Egger (Host/ENG)
  

  SETTING THE MATCHUP
  NO. 13/12 FOOTBALL HEADS TO HAWAI'I TO CLOSE REGULAR SEASON
  The University of Cincinnati football team earned its highest ever Bowl Championship Series ranking Sunday as the BIG EAST Champion Bearcats check in at No. 13 in the latest standings. UC, ranked No. 13 in the latest Associated Press poll, tied its highest ever ranking in the AP poll, dating back to Nov. 1, 1954. The Bearcats No. 12 standing in the latest USA Today poll tops its best mark of No. 16, achieved a week ago. Cincinnati (10-2, 6-1 BIG EAST) won its first outright conference championship since 1964 after knocking off Syracuse 30-10 in front of 34,603 fans at Nippert Stadium Saturday. The Bearcats tied the school record for wins and earned the first back-to-back 10-win season in program history. UC has earned the BIG EAST's automatic bid to the BCS and will learn its postseason destination on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. during the BCS Selection Show on FOX. The Bearcats close out the regular season on Dec. 6, heading to Hawai'i to take on the Warriors in Aloha Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. EST and the game will air on ESPN2.
  

  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 21-5 record and an 18-year career mark of 158-56-2. 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.
  
  Greg McMackin is 7-5 in his first season at Hawai'i. He was the UH defensive coordinator a year ago when the team went 12-1, won the WAC Championship, and played in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

  BIG EAST CHAMPIONS

• The University of Cincinnati football team clinched a berth in the Bowl Championship Series and the BIG EAST Championship on Nov. 29.
• UC won its first outright football conference championship since 1964 when the Bearcats won the Missouri Valley Conference.
• The football team is the first squad at UC to win an outright conference championship since the Bearcats men's basketball team in 2001-02.
• The Bearcats were co-champions of Conference USA in 2002 along with TCU.
• UC is 6-4 all-time in bowl games and will play in January for the fourth time in school history (2-1)
• Cincinnati will learn its postseason destination on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. during the BCS Selection Show on FOX.

STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS

• UC clinched its first BIG EAST title and will play in a Bowl Championship Series game for the first time in school history.
• UC is ranked No. 13 in both the Associated Press poll, and Bowl Championship Series rankings, and No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Polls entering the week.
• Under second-year coach Brian Kelly, Cincinnati now has its second straight 10-win season. Before Kelly arrived, Cincinnati had exactly one 10-win season (1951).
• 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.
• UC has used five quarterbacks this season, Chazz Anderson, Zach Collaros, Dustin Grutza, Demetrius Jones, and Tony Pike.
• Despite the different signal callers, UC leads the BIG EAST in passing offense (260.0) and passing efficiency (140.6).
• Pike leads the league in passing efficiency (144.1).
• The UC defense has produced 27 sacks in its last eight games after recording four in the first four games of the season.
• Connor Barwin has amassed 10 sacks this season, leading the BIG EAST and is tied for seventh nationally (0.9 spg).
• Mardy Gilyard leads the league and ranks 10th in the NCAA FBS averaging 28.4 yards per kickoff return.