TicketsSept. 23, 2009
Game Notes | Roster | | Live Audio
AT A GLANCE
Date: Sept. 26, 2009
Time: Noon (EST)
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Venue: Nippert Stadium
Capacity: 35,000
Surface: FieldTurf
Live Stats: GoBEARCATS.com
Series Record: First Meeting
In Cincinnati: First Meeting
ON THE AIR
The BIG EAST Network will televise the game regionally. Mike Gleason (play-by-play), John Congemi (analyst), and Quint Kessenich (sideline) will have the call.
The game will air over the Cincinnati Bearcats Radio Network presented by IMG College starting at 6:15 p.m. on 102.7 WEBN FM and on Sirius Channel 122. Dan Hoard (play-by-play), Jim Kelly Jr. (analyst), Tom Gelehrter (sideline), and Mo Egger (host/engineer) make up the UC broadcast team.
The radio broadcast can also be heard over the internet at GoBEARCATS.com.
NO. 14/15 FOOTBALL WELCOMES FRESNO STATE FOR NON-LEAGUE TILT SATURDAY
The No. 14/15 University of Cincinnati football team welcomes in the Fresno State University Bulldogs for a Noon contest at Nippert Stadium. Saturday's game marks the first meeting between the two schools. The Bearcats knocked off No. 24 Oregon State on Saturday night at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore., to run their record to 3-0 on the season. UC's win snapped the Beavers 26-game non-conference home winning streak. Fresno State enters with a 1-2 record having knocked off UC Davis in the season opener, falling to Wisconsin in a double overtime thriller, and dropping a 51-34 shootout to No. 10 Boise State. UC enters on a seven-game winning streak at Nippert Stadium.
THE SERIES
Cincinnati and Fresno State meet for the first time on the gridiron Saturday. UC is 17-18-2 all-time versus Western Athletic Conference (WAC) teams. UC is scheduled to play at Fresno State in the 2010 season.
THE COACHES
Brian Kelly, the two-time reigning BIG EAST Coach of the Year, is in his third full season at the helm of the Cincinnati football program with a 25-6 record and a 19-year career mark of 162-57-2. Kelly led the Bearcats to a school-record 11 wins, a BIG EAST Championship, and a Bowl Championship Series game berth in 2008. 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.
Pat Hill is 93-63 in his 13th season with the Bulldogs.
A LOOK AHEAD
UC heads to Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio on Oct. 3 for the 114th Battle for the Victory Bell against Miami (OH). The Miami-Cincinnati series is the oldest non-conference college football rivalry in the United States. The two schools have met 113 times on the field with Miami leading the all-time series 59-47-7. UC has won the past three matchups and four out of five.
STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS
- UC is ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press poll, and No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches poll entering the week. This marks the third-straight season UC has been ranked.
- UC achieved its highest-ever ranking of No. 12 in all three major polls (AP, USA Today, BCS) at the close of the 2008 regular season entering the 2009 FedEx Orange Bowl.
- The Bearcats have scored 145 points in three games and are 3-0 for the second time in three years (2007).
- Cincinnati ranks fourth nationally in scoring offense, averaging 48.3 points per game.
- UC ranks second nationally and leads the BIG EAST in tackles for a loss, averaging nearly 11 (10.67) per game.
- Despite 10 new starters on defense, UC ranks in the top-25 of our major statistical categories (rushing defense, scoring defense, total defense, pass efficiency defense).
- DJ Woods earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after his seven-catch, 117-yard performance at Oregon State.
- Cincinnati is 11-7-1 all -time when ranked.
- Under third-year coach Brian Kelly, Cincinnati had its second straight 10-win season in 2008. Before Kelly arrived, Cincinnati had exactly one 10-win season (1951).
- Cincinnati was picked third in the BIG EAST preseason media poll, despite the Bearcats' receiving as many first-place votes (eight) as favorite Pittsburgh.