TicketsARLINGTON, Texas -- Two days are all that separate the No. 4 Cincinnati Bearcats from its College Football Playoff Semifinal at the 86th Goodyear Cotton Bowl with No. 1 Alabama.
Practice looked like the typical Thursday of Game Week: all scout and no pads. Prior to the hotel departure, four players met with the media over Zoom, including Ohio natives Josh Whyle and Tre Tucker.
It is safe to say the Bearcats have brought their state pride to the Texas Republic.
"Obviously we have guys from other states on the team, and I've found myself arguing with them that Ohio is the best," Tucker, a speedy receiver and return specialist, said. "Being from northeast Ohio, sometimes I argue with the guys down here that my area is better. As a whole, there's tremendous football here."
Whyle has caught 25 passes for 320 yards and six scores this year following his Third-Team All-American season in 2020. Five of those touchdowns came in four weeks during a stretch from Oct. 23 to Nov. 12 where he showed off his ability to finish drives as a red zone target.
The La Salle High School graduate will have the unique opportunity to line up against a former teammate in freshman Alabama defensive back DeVonta Smith.
"One memory I do have from back in high school was, we were at an early practice the day before the game. Our coach got on him, he was a freshman or sophomore at the time, and he kind of got down in the dumps. I went up to him and told him, 'he's only being hard on you because he knows you're going to play on the biggest stages of football.' And to see him take responsibility for himself and see him here now, both of us here now, it's really cool."
Indeed it is. For Tucker, whose first year was an 11-win season in 2019 that featured a trip to the AAC Championship game, it is simply a continuation of everyone buying in to a larger goal at hand.
"We were 11-3, and I was thinking, 'we've reached a high point, how much higher can we go?' Then we did it the next year and again this year," Tucker said. "Coach Fickell has done an amazing job, and I think we are on our way to becoming a top-10 program. That's the goal, and I'm happy to be a part of it."
The junior from Akron, Ohio already has his name in the UC record book and hopes to do some more damage returning kicks. He currently ranks fourth in UC history in career kickoff return yards with 1,496 of them. He's also one of only two players to have multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns.
Tucker has improved his receiving game in multiple facets (8 catches for 99 yards, 18-for-236 and 32-for-414 in succeeding years). His highlight this year was a go-ahead, 99-yard kick-return score at Indiana in the third quarter, which came on the heels of his 97-yard score against South Florida in 2020.
Whyle and Tucker have each bought in and played important roles on the No. 4 Bearcats not only this year, but since they've arrived in Clifton. As long as future players continue to do the same, Coach Fickell's goal of becoming a top-10 program may be much closer to reality than many think.
RESERVE YOUR 2022 SEASON TICKETS NOW
The Cincinnati Athletics Ticket Office is now accepting deposits for 2022 football season tickets here.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
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Practice looked like the typical Thursday of Game Week: all scout and no pads. Prior to the hotel departure, four players met with the media over Zoom, including Ohio natives Josh Whyle and Tre Tucker.
It is safe to say the Bearcats have brought their state pride to the Texas Republic.
"Obviously we have guys from other states on the team, and I've found myself arguing with them that Ohio is the best," Tucker, a speedy receiver and return specialist, said. "Being from northeast Ohio, sometimes I argue with the guys down here that my area is better. As a whole, there's tremendous football here."
Whyle has caught 25 passes for 320 yards and six scores this year following his Third-Team All-American season in 2020. Five of those touchdowns came in four weeks during a stretch from Oct. 23 to Nov. 12 where he showed off his ability to finish drives as a red zone target.
The La Salle High School graduate will have the unique opportunity to line up against a former teammate in freshman Alabama defensive back DeVonta Smith.
"One memory I do have from back in high school was, we were at an early practice the day before the game. Our coach got on him, he was a freshman or sophomore at the time, and he kind of got down in the dumps. I went up to him and told him, 'he's only being hard on you because he knows you're going to play on the biggest stages of football.' And to see him take responsibility for himself and see him here now, both of us here now, it's really cool."
Indeed it is. For Tucker, whose first year was an 11-win season in 2019 that featured a trip to the AAC Championship game, it is simply a continuation of everyone buying in to a larger goal at hand.
"We were 11-3, and I was thinking, 'we've reached a high point, how much higher can we go?' Then we did it the next year and again this year," Tucker said. "Coach Fickell has done an amazing job, and I think we are on our way to becoming a top-10 program. That's the goal, and I'm happy to be a part of it."
The junior from Akron, Ohio already has his name in the UC record book and hopes to do some more damage returning kicks. He currently ranks fourth in UC history in career kickoff return yards with 1,496 of them. He's also one of only two players to have multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns.
Tucker has improved his receiving game in multiple facets (8 catches for 99 yards, 18-for-236 and 32-for-414 in succeeding years). His highlight this year was a go-ahead, 99-yard kick-return score at Indiana in the third quarter, which came on the heels of his 97-yard score against South Florida in 2020.
Whyle and Tucker have each bought in and played important roles on the No. 4 Bearcats not only this year, but since they've arrived in Clifton. As long as future players continue to do the same, Coach Fickell's goal of becoming a top-10 program may be much closer to reality than many think.
RESERVE YOUR 2022 SEASON TICKETS NOW
The Cincinnati Athletics Ticket Office is now accepting deposits for 2022 football season tickets here.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati Athletics, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Cincinnati Athletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.