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Football Hits The Road For Final Time In 2017 At ECU

Football Hits The Road For Final Time In 2017 At ECUFootball Hits The Road For Final Time In 2017 At ECU
CINCINNATI AT ECU
Date Saturday, Nov. 18 | Noon ET
Venue Greenville, N.C. | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (50,000)
Preview Info  Game Notes | Press Conference Video 
Records Cincinnati (3-7, 1-5 American) | ECU (2-8, 1-5 American)
Head Coaches Luke Fickell (First Year) | Scottie Montgomery (Second Year)
Series Record ECU leads 12-8, including 7-3 in Greenville.
Last Meeting Cincinnati won 31-19 on Oct. 22, 2016 at Nippert Stadium
Live Stats Live Stats
Watch CBS SN
Listen 700 WLW AM | TuneIn Radio
Twitter @GoBearcatsFB | @GoBEARCATS
Tickets Buy Tickets | Gameday Information

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati football team hits the road for the final time during the 2017 regular season, traveling to Greenville, N.C. to face ECU on Saturday at noon inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network and air on 700 WLW AM. UC (3-7, 1-5 American) has won six-straight games against ECU (2-8, 1-5), including three in-a-row in Greenville.

THE SERIES
The Bearcats and Pirates meet for the 20th time Saturday. UC has won six straight in the series but trails 12-8 overall. UC has won two of the last three games against ECU on go-ahead field goals, including one as time expired in Greenville in 2015.

THE COACHES
Luke Fickell was named the 42nd Football Head Coach at the University of Cincinnati in December 2017. He took the reins of UC's program after spending 15 years at his alma mater, Ohio State. An 18-year coaching veteran at the FBS level, Fickell was a part of nine Big Ten Conference titles (seven as a coach, two as a player) and two national championship squads with 15 postseason games and 12 NFL Draft selections under his belt.

Scottie Montgomery is 5-17 in his second season as ECU's head coach. Montgomery joined the Pirates after a three-year tenure at Duke where he served as the Blue Devils' assistant head coach, OC and QB coach. Prior to joining the Duke staff, the NFL veteran wideout spent three seasons on the Pittsburgh Steelers staff under former UC assistant coach Mike Tomlin.

STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS ...
  • The University of Cincinnati football team plays its 130th season in 2017. The program dates to 1885 and is one of the 10 oldest in major college football. UC has won a league title in five of the last 10 seasons and played in a bowl game nine time in the past 11 years. 
  • UC is one of 30 NCAA FBS teams with 100 wins since 2005. The Bearcats' .667 winning percentage since 2007 ranks among the Top-20 teams in the NCAA FBS, winning at least nine games seven times in the last 11 years.
  • The Bearcats returned to Nippert Stadium in 2015 after a 20 month, $86-million renovation and drew 222,578 fans in the first year back at Nippert Stadium, a single-season record average of 37, 096. The Oct. 24, 2015 attendance of 40,124 was the largest in Nippert Stadium history. The previous stadium record was 40,101 set on Oct. 1 against Miami (Fla.).
  • UC won back-to-back American Athletic Conference FB Team Academic Excellence Awards in 2015 & 2016.
  • UC had 28 players take the field for the first time during the opening three games of the 2017 season.
  • Almost sixty-nine percent of UC's roster (77 of 112) is made of up freshmen, RS freshmen and sophomores.
  • The Bearcats started conference play with four of the top offenses in the league who shared a combined record of 27-7 while its last four foes of 2017 currently sit at 12-24.
  • The Bearcats have found success against the American's best defensive units, setting season highs in nearly every offensive category at Navy, including 439 yards of total offense on what was then the No. 2 defense in the American. UCF entered its game against UC ranked No. 1 in the AAC in scoring defense and No. 2 in total defense and gave up a season-high 23 points and 396 yards of total offense to UC.
  • UC's defense held USF, which entered the game as the No. 5 rushing offense in the country, to it's lowest yards per rush total against an FBS opponent and its fewest offensive touchdowns (2) in 2017. SMU came in to Nippert Stadium averaging 43.8 points per game, the No. 6 scoring offense in the country and were held to their lowest point total of the 2017 season and almost 12 points below their season-scoring average.
  • LB Jaylyin Minor had a game-high 16 tackles against Temple and surpassing the  100 tackle mark for the season.
  • The Bearcats will finish below .500 in back-to-back years for the first time since 1998 and 1999.
  • Cincinnati has had its three highest rushing totals of the season in its last three games, averaging 213.3 rushing ypg.
  • UC matched a season high by forcing two turnovers against Temple with an INT by CB Marquese Taylor and a FF and FR by LB Tyrell Gilbert.
  • UC has lost four consecutive games at Nippert Stadium for the first time since the 1998 campaign. The Bearcats are 49-19 (.721) on the home turf since 2007.