2008 Cincinnati Bearcats Preview

Is Cincinnati now a football school? The very thought would have been ludicrous for most of the school’s athletic history, what with the successful tradition of the basketball team and the Bearcats’ long struggle in football. But with the basketball program still in a rebuilding mode after the departure of Bob Huggins in 2005 and after the season the football team put together in 2007 under first-year coach Brian Kelly, interest in football is at an all-time high.

Two Minute Drill

A Quick Look at the Bearcats

If Cincinnati is going to improve on its 2007 breakout year and challenge for a Big East championship, the Bearcats will have to find a quarterback to replace Ben Mauk. Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones is the favorite to win the job, but he presents a huge question mark as he comes off shoulder surgery. He has no experience in Brian Kelly’s spread offense and less than one game of major college experience with the Fighting Irish. The Bearcats also lack a proven running back, although they appear to have talented prospects who could blossom at the position. Cincinnati also has uncertainties at defensive end, where a converted tight end and a converted quarterback have been enlisted to bolster the position, which has long been a position of strength for the Bearcats. Overall, the defense, anchored by first-team All-America tackle Terrill Byrd and all-conference cornerbacks Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith, should be solid. Cincinnati also needs to find a consistent kicker after a subpar last year by Jake Rogers. Assuming Kelly finds a quarterback — and he usually does — this team has the potential to have another strong season. The Bearcats will find out early in the season just how good they are when they travel to Oklahoma on Sept. 6.

The Bearcats finished with a No. 17 national ranking last year, the first time they have ever been ranked at the end of a season, and won 10 games for the first time since 1951 when Sid Gillman ran the show.

The Cincinnati administration was so enamored by the work Kelly did that it signed him to a new five-year contract that will pay him between $1.2 million and $1.35 million per season.

Now it’s up to Kelly to deliver.

The former Central Michigan coach, who won two national championships at Division II Grand Valley (Mich.) State, took the Bearcats to the Papajohns.com Bowl last year, but he considers that merely the first step on what he hopes will be a short road to a Big East championship and a BCS bowl berth.

Under Kelly, Cincinnati is no longer interested in simply gaining respectability. The goal now is to have the program take its place among the nation’s best, much the same way Louisville has done in recent years.

Quarterbacks

For the second straight year, Cincinnati will enter fall camp without knowing who its starting quarterback will be. Last year, newcomer Ben Mauk, who enrolled at Cincinnati as a graduate student after spending four years at Wake Forest, beat out incumbent starter Dustin Grutza. Mauk went on to complete 60.9 percent of his passes for 3,121 yards and 31 touchdowns. But Mauk’s appeal for an additional year of eligibility was turned down by the NCAA, leaving the quarterback situation jumbled again. Grutza is still around and has proven that he can play in the Big East, but the favorite to win the job is Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones, assuming he can come back from surgery last fall to repair a torn labrum. “I think his style fits exactly what we’re looking for,” Kelly says. “But I think I’ve proven that the best guy is going to play, whoever that is.”

Running backs

By the end of last season, junior Jacob Ramsey had pushed past three seniors to become the starting tailback. He finished the season with 362 yards and a 3.8-yard average. He’s put on about 20 pounds of muscle, girding for the challenge he’ll receive from sophomore John Goebel, who was redshirted last year, and incoming freshman Isaiah Pead, one of the prizes in Kelly’s second recruiting class. The Bearcats haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2004 and might not have one this year given Kelly’s penchant for passing, but they would like to be able to run the ball late in the game to kill the clock, something they had trouble doing last season. Improving the running game was a priority during spring practice.

Receivers

Last year’s top three receivers — Dominick Goodman (68 catches, 869 yards, eight touchdowns), Marcus Barnett (62 catches, 862 yards, 13 touchdowns) and Marty Gilyard (36 catches, 536 yards, three touchdowns) — return, although Barnett is coming off surgery after he suffered a broken leg in the PapaJohns.com Bowl last year. Kelly also loves the potential of incoming freshman D.J. Woods, who picked Cincinnati over Michigan. Tight end Connor Barwin, who caught 31 passes for 399 yards and two touchdowns a year ago, has been moved to defensive end, which opens a spot for talented junior Kazeem Alli. Redshirt freshman Adrien Robinson was moved from wide receiver to tight end to bolster the position.

Offensive linemen

Left tackle Digger Bujnoch, a team leader and fixture on the line for the past three years, has graduated, taking with him a ton of leadership. Junior right tackle Jeff Linkenbach made great strides during the offseason after a so-so sophomore year. “He’s gotten stronger,” Kelly says. “We thought at times last year he struggled with good defensive ends. I’m really excited about his progress.” Senior Khalil El-Amin will assume Bujnoch’s spot on the left side. Junior Chris Jurek returns at center after a solid season, along with left guard Trevor Canfield, a second-team All-Big East selection a year ago. Third-year sophomore Jason Kelce, who competed for the starting center position last year, will start at right guard. There could be a problem with depth here, though. The backups are inexperienced, with four redshirt freshmen and a third-year sophomore.

Defensive linemen

All discussion of Cincinnati’s defensive line begins with senior tackle Terrill Byrd, an under-recruited player out of Cincinnati’s Colerain High School who blossomed last year into a second-team All-American. He’ll be paired on the inside with returning starter Adam Hoppel. But the Bearcats lost two quality ends in Anthony Hoke and Angelo Craig. Kelly was so concerned about the lack of talent there that he moved tight end Connor Barwin and backup quarterback Craig Carey to defensive end. Both have embraced the move but have no experience at the position. “They’re going to be huge pieces in what we do,” Kelly says. To show just how thin they are at the position, Barwin, who spent two years playing on the Cincinnati basketball team, was immediately penciled in as the starter along with senior Lamonte Nelms, who served as a capable backup last year.

Linebackers

Two of the three starters return from last year. One of them, senior Corey Smith, has been moved from the weak side to the strong side and has the potential to become an All-Big East player. Smith is the team’s leading returning tackle. Senior Ryan Manalac is a solid hitter who returns as the starter in the middle. Junior Andre Revels has moved up to a starting position. He saw increased playing time as last season progressed. Senior Delbert Ferguson returns to give Cincinnati a capable backup, but otherwise, there’s not a whole lot of depth here.

Defensive backs

The Bearcats are loaded at the corner positions with seniors Mike Mickens, a first-team All-Big East selection, and DeAngelo Smith, a second-team All-Big East selection. There’s a big hole, however, at free safety, with the graduation of Haruki Nakamura, another first-team all-league selection last year. In addition to his 95 tackles and his penchant for making big hits, Nakamura was a consummate leader on defense. Junior Brad Jones has the inside track to replace Nakamura, but the Cincinnati coaching staff is also high on redshirt freshman Drew Frey, who made a strong impression before a shoulder injury during training camp sidelined him last year. Senior cornerback Brandon Underwood, a transfer from Ohio State whom Kelly calls one of the best athletes he’s ever coached, will also get on the field.

Specialists

The punting chores are in the capable hands of senior Kevin Huber, a first-team All-American in 2007 after leading the nation at 46.9 yards per kick. But the Bearcats’ placekicking was inconsistent. Jake Rogers made only 11-of-19 field goals and missed three extra points. If Rogers continues to struggle, he could be pushed by incoming freshman Danny Milligan, a wide receiver/kick returner who also served as the placekicker on Cincinnati St. Xavier High School’s state championship team last fall. Smith averaged 24.7 yards on 12 kickoff returns.

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