TicketsCINCINNATI – Coming off back-to-back off weeks, the No. 9/10 University of Cincinnati football team heads out on the road for the first time in 2020, traveling to Dallas to face No. 16 SMU on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 9 p.m. ET inside Ford Stadium. UC's Oct. 17 game against Tulsa was shifted to Dec. 5.
The 3-0 Bearcats are ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, no. 10 in the Amway USA Today Coaches poll and playing their first night game of the season. It's UC's first Top-10 ranking since the final poll of the 2009 season when the Bearcats were No. 4 in the final AP poll and No. 9 in the final Coaches Poll.
UC leads the American in scoring defense and total defense and is tied for fifth in the NCAA FBS with seven interceptions.
8/10 CINCINNATI BEARCATS
Head Coach Luke Fickell
Record at Cincinnati 29-13 (Fourth Year)
Overall Record 35-20 (Fifth Year)
16 SMU MUSTANGS
Head Coach Sonny Dykes
Record at School 20-11 (Third Year)
Overall Record 61-56 (10th Year)
GAME INFORMATION
Facility Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Capacity 32,000
TV ESPN2
Radio 700 WLW AM / Sirius 111 / XM 207 / Internet 967
Online TuneIn.com
Series Record Cincinnati leads 3-1
At Dallas Cincinnati leads 2-0
Last Meeting Oct. 27, 2018 - UC W, 26-20 (OT)
ON THE AIR
TV: ESPN2
• Play-by-Play: Beth Mowins
• Analyst: Kirk Morrison
• Sideline: Kris Budden
• Online: WatchESPN.com
• Mobile App: ESPN
RADIO: BEARCATS SPORTS NETWORK
• Play-by-Play: Dan Hoard
• Analyst: Jim Kelly Jr.
• Host/Engineer: Mo Egger
• Local: 700 WLW AM
• Satellite: Sirius 111 / XM 207 / Internet 967
• Online: Tunein.com / iHeartMedia App
• Mobile App: TuneIn (search Cincinnati Bearcats)
THE SERIES
Saturday marks the fourth meeting between the two schools and first since 2018. UC leads the series 3-1. UC holds a 2-0 edge at Ford Stadium as SMU's lone win in the series came at Nippert Stadium. Each of the last two matchups have finished in overtime with each team winning on the road.
THE COACHES
LUKE FICKELL, the 2018 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, is in his fourth season at UC. He has led UC to back-to-back 11-win seasons, the 2019 AAC East Division Championship along with consecutive bowl-game wins in the 2018 Military Bowl and 2019 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. A veteran of 20 years in the FBS ranks, Fickell has been a part of two national championship squads, nine conference title-winning teams (seven as a coach, two as a player at Ohio State) with 16 postseason games and 13 NFL Draft selections under his belt.
Sonny Dykes is in his third season at SMU with a 20-11 mark. He led the Mustangs to a 10-3 mark in 2019, SMU's most wins since 1984. He joined SMU after head coaching stints at Cal (2013-16) and Louisiana Tech (2010-12). He spent 2017 at TCU as an offensive analyst. Dykes holds a career record of 61-56 in 10 years as a head coach.
STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS …
The 3-0 Bearcats are ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, no. 10 in the Amway USA Today Coaches poll and playing their first night game of the season. It's UC's first Top-10 ranking since the final poll of the 2009 season when the Bearcats were No. 4 in the final AP poll and No. 9 in the final Coaches Poll.
UC leads the American in scoring defense and total defense and is tied for fifth in the NCAA FBS with seven interceptions.
8/10 CINCINNATI BEARCATS
Head Coach Luke Fickell
Record at Cincinnati 29-13 (Fourth Year)
Overall Record 35-20 (Fifth Year)
16 SMU MUSTANGS
Head Coach Sonny Dykes
Record at School 20-11 (Third Year)
Overall Record 61-56 (10th Year)
GAME INFORMATION
Facility Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Capacity 32,000
TV ESPN2
Radio 700 WLW AM / Sirius 111 / XM 207 / Internet 967
Online TuneIn.com
Series Record Cincinnati leads 3-1
At Dallas Cincinnati leads 2-0
Last Meeting Oct. 27, 2018 - UC W, 26-20 (OT)
ON THE AIR
TV: ESPN2
• Play-by-Play: Beth Mowins
• Analyst: Kirk Morrison
• Sideline: Kris Budden
• Online: WatchESPN.com
• Mobile App: ESPN
RADIO: BEARCATS SPORTS NETWORK
• Play-by-Play: Dan Hoard
• Analyst: Jim Kelly Jr.
• Host/Engineer: Mo Egger
• Local: 700 WLW AM
• Satellite: Sirius 111 / XM 207 / Internet 967
• Online: Tunein.com / iHeartMedia App
• Mobile App: TuneIn (search Cincinnati Bearcats)
THE SERIES
Saturday marks the fourth meeting between the two schools and first since 2018. UC leads the series 3-1. UC holds a 2-0 edge at Ford Stadium as SMU's lone win in the series came at Nippert Stadium. Each of the last two matchups have finished in overtime with each team winning on the road.
THE COACHES
LUKE FICKELL, the 2018 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, is in his fourth season at UC. He has led UC to back-to-back 11-win seasons, the 2019 AAC East Division Championship along with consecutive bowl-game wins in the 2018 Military Bowl and 2019 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. A veteran of 20 years in the FBS ranks, Fickell has been a part of two national championship squads, nine conference title-winning teams (seven as a coach, two as a player at Ohio State) with 16 postseason games and 13 NFL Draft selections under his belt.
Sonny Dykes is in his third season at SMU with a 20-11 mark. He led the Mustangs to a 10-3 mark in 2019, SMU's most wins since 1984. He joined SMU after head coaching stints at Cal (2013-16) and Louisiana Tech (2010-12). He spent 2017 at TCU as an offensive analyst. Dykes holds a career record of 61-56 in 10 years as a head coach.
STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS …
- UC plays its 133rd football season in 2020. The Bearcats program dates to 1885 and is one of the 10 oldest in the NCAA FBS. UC has won a league title five times in the last 13 years and has played 11 bowl games in the past 14 years.
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UC lost games at Nebraska and vs. Miami (OH) and Western Michigan. The APSU game was moved from Sept. 3 to Sept. 19 and the Bearcats played Army West Point on Saturday, Sept. 26 in Nippert Stadium. UC's AAC game at Tulsa was moved from Saturday, Oct. 10 to Saturday, Dec. 5.
- UC has won five-straight American Athletic Conference FB Team Academic Excellence Awards from 2015-20.
- During the 2019-20 calendar year, UC was the only school in the NCAA FBS to play for a conference title in MBB (winter 2019), lacrosse (spring 2019), baseball (spring 2019), volleyball (fall 2019), football (fall 2019) and WBB (winter 2020).
- Fifteen states and four countries are represented on UC's 2020 roster, which features nearly 62 percent (77/125) Ohio natives, including 31 from Cincinnati. Eighty-three of UC's 125 players (66.4 percent) are sophomores or below.
- UC is 25-5 since 2018, ranking among the top seven teams in CFB in winning percentage during that span (.833).
- Cincinnati set a school record with its 16th straight win at home, the fifth-longest active streak among NCAA FBS schools. The Bearcats won 15 straight home games from Nov. 8, 1952 to Nov. 13, 1954. Cincinnati is one of seven teams in the FBS to go undefeated at home the last two-plus seasons, joining Ohio State, UAB, Clemson and Notre Dame.
- QB Desmond Ridder became the eighth signal caller in school history to cross the 5,000-career passing yards plateau. He has thrown for 5,206 yards in his career thus far and sits seventh on the all-time passing chart.
- UC is tied for second in the NCAA FBS with seven interceptions. The Bearcats grabbed five against USF, their most in a game since 2016 (5 @ Purdue) and most at Nippert Stadium since 2007 (6 vs. Oregon State).
- DE Ethan Tucky blocked an Army punt in the second quarter, his first of the season and fifth of his career.