TicketsCINCINNATI - The No. 8/10 University of Cincinnati football team starts the 2021 season against longtime rival Miami (OH) with the 125th Battle for the Victory Bell on tap for Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. ET inside Nippert Stadium. The matchup will be televised via ESPN+ and air on 102.7 WEBN-FM and 700 WLW AM.
8/10 CINCINNATI BEARCATS
Head Coach Luke Fickell
Record at Cincinnati 35-14 (Fifth Year)
Overall Record 41-21 (Sixth Year)
MIAMI REDHAWKS
Head Coach Chuck Martin
Record at School 32-48 (Eighth Year)
Overall Record 106-53 (14th Year)
GAME INFORMATION
Facility Nippert Stadium
Capacity 40,000
TV ESPN+
Radio 700 WLW AM / Sirius 211 / XM 202 / Internet 970
Online SiriusXM Internet Channel 970
Series Record Miami leads 59-58-7
Neutral Site Miami leads 44-42-5
Last Meeting Sept. 14, 2019 - UC won 35-13
TV: ESPN +
• Play-by-Play: Connor Onion
• Analyst: Bobby Carpenter
• Online: WatchESPN.com Mobile App: ESPN
WHAT IS ESPN+?
The game will be broadcast to a national audience on the ESPN+ platform. Access the game on any streaming device with the ESPN app and sign up for an ESPN+ subscription ($6.99 per month/$69.99 per year). Fans are encouraged to sign up for the digital platform online.
RADIO: BEARCATS SPORTS NETWORK
• Play-by-Play: Dan Hoard
• Analyst: Jim Kelly Jr.
• Host/Engineer: Mo Egger
• Local: 700 WLW AM
• Satellite: Sirius 211 / XM 202 / Internet 970
• App: The Varsity Network: "Search Cincinnati"
LIVE STATS: Cincinnati.StatBroadcast.com
THE COACHES
Luke Fickell, a two-time AAC Coach of the Year, is in his fifth season at UC. He has led the Bearcats to back-to-back 11-win seasons, the 2019 AAC East Division title and consecutive bowl 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.
Chuck Martin is in his eighth season as the head coach at Miami (OH) after four years on former UC coach Brian Kelly's staff at Notre Dame (2010-13). Martin was 74-7 in six years at Grand Valley State (2004-09) and is 32-46 at Miami (OH).
MISSED YOU
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 125th Battle for the Victory Bell game, vs. rival Miami (OH), was on hold until 2021 the first pause in the series since World War II. The 2021 opener on Sat., Sept. 4 at Nippert Stadium, the earliest game since Oct. 7, 1899. The teams are scheduled to meet annually through 2029.
STREAKS, STORYLINES, SIDEBARS ...
- UC plays its 134th football season in 2021. The Bearcats program dates to 1885 and is one of the 10 oldest in the NCAA FBS. UC has won a league title six times in the last 14 years and has played 12 bowl games in the past 15 years.
- UC has won five of the last six American Athletic Conference FB Team Academic Excellence Awards and posted a school-record GPA of 3.212 in spring 2021.
- UC has won 31 games over the last three seasons, including back-to-back 11-win campaigns in 2018 and 2019.
- UC has won 20-straight at Nippert Stadium, going undefeated at home in three-straight seasons for the first time in history.
- UC ranked in the Top-10 of all three final national polls for the first time since the end of the 2009 regular season and started a season 9-0 for the fourth time in program history, along with 1951, 1954, 2009 and 2020.
- UC has forced a turnover in 20-straight games, the longest active streak in the NCAA FBS.
- Picked to repeat as American Athletic Conference Champions, Cincinnati is coming off a 9-1 campaign in 2020, winning the AAC title and playing in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, a New Year's Six game. AP ranked UC as No. 8 in its preseason poll, the schools best-ever mark. USA TODAY had the Bearcats No. 10 in the preseason coaches poll.
- UC has won 10-straight season openers and 17 of 18 since 2005. The Bearcats are 88-36-10 (.694) all-time in lid lifters.
- The Bearcats return 16 starters from last season's squad, including Desmond Ridder, the 2020 AAC Player of the Year and Ahmad Gardner. a seven-time All-America selection. All-AAC selections Darrian Beavers, Marcus Brown, Bryant, Myjai Sanders, Tre Tucker, Whyle and Young also return.
- The 2021 roster has nearly 40 local players who grew up and played high-school football in the tri-state area.
- UC enters the season with a school-record season-ticket number of over 22,000, eclipsing the previous best of 18,836 set entering 2010. UC added nearly 5,000 new season tickets and sold 6,000 student season tickets.