No. 5 Football Takes On Illinois On Senior Day

Nov. 26, 2009

Game Notes | Roster | | Live Audio

AT A GLANCE
Date: Nov. 27, 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 game will be televised nationally in HD by ABC. Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Bob Grise (analyst), Chris Spielman (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 11:30 a.m. on 700 WLW AM, XM 203, and Sirius 91. 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. 5 Football Takes On Illinois On Senior Day
The University of Cincinnati football team steps back into non-conference play Friday, taking on the University of Illinois on senior day at Nippert Stadium. Prior to the game, UC's 16-member senior class (Kazeem Alli, Craig Carey, Alex Daniels, Mardy Gilyard, Charley Howard, Brad Jones, Chris Jurek, Jeff Linkenbach, Ricardo Mathews, Tony Pike, Jacob Ramsey, Andre Revels, Marcus Waugh, Aaron Webster, Mike Windt, and Curtis Young) will be honored. UC has a 15-game home winning streak in non-conference games and will meet the Fighting Illini for the first time.

THE SERIES
Friday marks the first meeting for the two schools. UC will return the game in 2013 at Illinois.

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 32-6 record and a 19-year career mark of 169-57-2. 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.

Ron Zook is 21-37 in his fifth season as the head coach at Illinois with a career mark of 44-51 in eight years as a head coach. The Loudonville, Ohio native was the defensive coordinator at UC from 1981-82 under Mike Gottfried.

A LOOK AHEAD
UC, bowl eligible for the fourth-straight year and eighth time in 10 years, faces BIG EAST rival Pittsburgh on Dec. 5 at noon inside Heinz Field. The game will be televised nationally by ABC. The winner of the game is the 2009 BIG EAST Champion and earns the league's Bowl Championship Series bid. UC trails 7-1 in the all-time series and has lost five straight in Pittsburgh.

STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS ...

• Cincinnati remains one of six unbeaten teams in the nation.
• Cincinnati started a season 10-0 for the first time in school history and became the first FBS team to 10 wins this season.
• Isaiah Pead was the first to rush for 100-plus yards in the first half in the last five seasons (Richard Hall did it twice in 2004).
• Cincinnati had 3 consecutive double-digit win seasons under head coach Brian Kelly. Prior to Kelly's arrival, Cincinnati had one season with double-digit wins (1951).
• UC's 31 wins over the last three seasons are tied with Florida, Texas, and Boise State for the most in the FBS over that span.
• Cincinnati has won 16-straight regular season games.
• UC sits at No. 5 in the Associated Press poll, USA Today Coaches Poll, and the BCS rankings. UC is 18-7-1 as a ranked team.
• QB Tony Pike is expected to start after missing three of the last four games due to a non-throwing arm injury. He was 2-of-4 with two touchdown passes in UC's win over West Virginia.
• WR Mardy Gilyard has 1,801 all-purpose yards and ranks sixth nationally at 180.1 yards per game.
• Gilyard has eight touchdown receptions this season and 22 for his career, tying him for UC's all-time lead with former teammate Dominick Goodman (2005-08).
• UC has turned the ball over six times in 2009, the fewest turnovers in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.
• UC was the last NCAA FBS team to lose a fumble in 2009.
• LB Andre Revels has a team-high 89 tackles.
• DE Alex Daniels has 5.5 sacks to lead the team.