COLLEGE FOOTBALL LOOK AHEAD

Cincinnati finally gets shot at Buckeyes

The Sports Xchange

September 24, 2014 at 1:33 am.

 

Gunner Kiel and the Bearcats take aim on the Buckeyes in a battle of Ohio. (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

It’s a game most University of Cincinnati football fans will never forget.

On Sept. 21, 2002, the Bearcats hosted then sixth-ranked Ohio State at Paul Brown Stadium and lost 23-19 to the eventual national champion Buckeyes. A pair of potential game-winning TD passes — which would’ve wrecked the Buckeyes’ 14-0 season before it really got started — were dropped in the end zone in the final minute.

The teams met again in 2006, a 37-7 romp by OSU in Columbus. But that was before coaches Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, and now Tommy Tuberville helped elevate Cincinnati’s pedigree to include Orange and Sugar Bowl appearances.

On Saturday night the Bearcats get another shot to end more than a century of futility against the 20th-ranked Buckeyes at the Horseshoe.

“It’ll be the biggest crowd most of our players will ever play in front of,” said Tuberville. “Big game for our team. It’s the fastest and biggest team we’ll play. They have excellent receivers, running backs with speed. We’ll have to have a heckuva game plan to win this game.”

Quarterback Gunner Kiel and wide receiver Mekale McKay have helped the Bearcats rank seventh in the country in team passing efficiency. Kiel, who has thrown 10 touchdown passes through two collegiate starts, has gotten the attention of the Ohio State coaching staff which has been working to improve its pass defense.

“Their strength is a weakness of ours a year ago,” OSU coach Urban Meyer told the Columbus Dispatch, “so we’re going to really get after it in practice because they’re so good throwing the ball and we are still very young.”

Conversely, the Bearcats defense needs to improve if they’ll have any chance to win on Saturday after averaging nearly 500 yards per game through two weeks. There were signs of improvement last week when they recorded eight sacks and got an 18-tackle performance by middle linebacker Jeff Luc in a 31-24 victory over Miami (OH).

“We have to get better,” Tuberville said. “We took a step back last week. We’ve played well the past two weeks, but then had some breakdowns. Ohio State had two weeks to prepare for us. This will be a measuring stick for us as a program.”

Saturday’s game was to be played at Paul Brown Stadium before a $1 million buyout by OSU shipped the contest back to Columbus. Cincinnati will face the Buckeyes again on Sept. 7, 2019, again at Ohio Stadium.