BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Eight days ago, the Cincinnati Bearcats were one of four new teams admitted to the Big 12. Five years ago, when hopes of being admitted to the Big 12 vanished, it didn’t seem possible that the Bearcats would move to a Power Five conference. Not when a 43-year-old defensive coordinator from Ohio State took over as head coach for a Bearcats football program all but eradicated from the college football landscape.
You know what else didn’t seem possible when Luke Fickell was name head coach on December 10, 2016? Walking into the home stadium of a quality Power Five opponent, from the Big Ten, and winning. Heck, I remember thinking going into the 2018 season that a 6-6 season with a bowl berth would be great. But Fickell thought otherwise, saying in Fall Camp he thought that team could compete for a conference championship. He was right. And all he’s done since then is continue to build a football program with a culture of pride, toughness, competitive spirit, energy and ambition.
I saw a sign at the game today in Bloomington that said this: “Cincinnati makes the Big 12 still look average.” By the end of the game, they made Indiana look like an average football team. That is Indiana from the Big Ten. A conference whose two teams Cincinnati has faced in the Luke Fickell era, Michigan and Ohio State, have outscored the Bearcats 78-14.
But we talk about ambition. Having bigger goals than what being a “mid-major” school playing in a conference that doesn’t present a lot of opportunities beyond playing for its league championship offers. Luke Fickell has made the Bearcats the class of the league in the American Athletic Conference, as exemplified by their 2020 conference title. But the Bearcats didn’t stop there. They showed they’re capable of competing with Power Five teams. Teams that in previous years would have, more than likely, overpowered the Bearcats. But that wasn’t the case today against Indiana.
Down 14-0 late in the first half. A first half where the Bearcats were getting bullied by Indiana on both fronts. Cincinnati could get nothing going offensively, with just one first down prior to the 2:34 mark of the second quarter. A season with so many high hopes and expectations appeared to be ending in ugly fashion.
But give this Bearcats team an opportunity, they’ll take advantage of it. And they did. A targeting penalty on Indiana senior linebacker Micah McFadden led to his ejection from the game, and his absence created less chaos for the Bearcats offense trying to create momentum.
And momentum they would create. A whole lot of it. The Bearcats took advantage of McFadden’s ejection and capped that drive off with a six-yard touchdown run by junior running back Jerome Ford. They would score on five of their next seven possessions en route to a convincing 38-24 win.
Every time Indiana threw something at the Bearcats, they had an answer. After Indiana went ahead 21-17 on D.J. Matthews Jr.’s 14-yard touchdown run, it looked like the Hoosiers had taken back all of the momentum the Bearcats had obtained in scoring 17 unanswered points after falling behind 14-0.
But that’s why they call them special teams. It takes a special play to counter a punch like the one the Hoosiers threw at the Bearcats. Cue Trey Tucker, who took the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.
Even after Indiana went back ahead on a 49-yard field goal by kicker Charles Campbell, you could sense the Bearcats were in control of the game. And once they went back ahead 30-24 on senior wide receiver Alec Pierce’s 19-yard touchdown reception, they were completely in control.
Winning programs make plays when the game is hanging in the balance, especially in the fourth quarter. That’s what the Bearcats did today when they forced two turnovers, one of which came with Indiana inside the Bearcats 10-yard line poised to retake the lead.
Last year the Bearcats held the lead on Georgia for most of the Peach Bowl, but Georgia was in control for most of the game. Even when the Bearcats got exciting touchdowns from Josh Whyle and Jerome Ford, they were playing the whole game desperately trying to hold off the Bulldogs. And it showed with an offense unable to get anything going after Ford’s touchdown and not being able to allow a tired defense to get some much-needed rest. They didn’t play that complementary football they had talked about. They went toe-to-toe against an SEC powerhouse, but they didn’t make enough plays to win the football game.
But for those players back with the team this season, that game only fueled them. They knew they were good enough to compete with anybody, but this potential special season would require the Bearcats to win two road games against Indiana, a Power Five opponent and fellow program on the rise, and Notre Dame, a college football blue blood. Could they take that next step and beat a Power Five opponent? And not a mediocre Power Five opponent in a bowl game that those outside of Cincinnati couldn’t give two hoots about?
Saturday proved they could. After getting overpowered for nearly 27 1/2 minutes, the Bearcats manned up and stomped their C-Paws on Indiana’s throats. What’s culture? Being a program driven by your offensive and defensive lines. Against Indiana, the Bearcats offensive line allowed only one sack. And they also paved the way for a running game, that struggled to impose itself on the Hoosiers, but still accrued 118 yards on 36 rushing plays. While the Bearcats only recorded one sack on the afternoon, they still got relentless pressure Indiana junior quarterback Michael Penix Jr., flushing him out of the pocket and forcing him to throw three interceptions.
After watching Cincinnati’s offensive line get manhandled by Georgia’s D-line in the second half of the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Day, the way the Bearcats offensive line responded in the final 32 1/2 minutes is another building block in the growth of this program and its culture. Cincinnati’s defense made plays when they had to in the fourth quarter, forcing an Indiana fumble at the Bearcats four-yard line as the Hoosiers were knocking on the door of reclaiming the lead and then all but sealing the game with their third interception of Penix Jr.
Eight days after being admitted to the Big 12, the Bearcats proved that they don’t make the conference look average. And five years after taking over a downtrodden program stuck in conference mediocrity, Luke Fickell has not only ascended the Bearcats to the class of the league. He has this Bearcats football program in position to go places it has never gone before as he continues to build the culture he has already built in Clifton.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 