2007 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

2007 Cincinnati Bearcats football

PapaJohns.com Bowl champion
PapaJohns.com Bowl, W 31–21 vs. Southern Miss
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 17
Record	10–3 (4–3 Big East)
Head coach	Brian Kelly (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Quinn (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Tresey (1st season)
Home stadium	Nippert Stadium
Seasons ← 2006 2008 →

2007 Big East Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 West Virginia $+	5	–	2	11	–	2
Connecticut +	5	–	2	9	–	4
No. 17 Cincinnati	4	–	3	10	–	3
South Florida	4	–	3	9	–	4
Rutgers	3	–	4	8	–	5
Louisville	3	–	4	6	–	6
Pittsburgh	3	–	4	5	–	7
Syracuse	1	–	6	2	–	10

$ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2007 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by Brian Kelly, played its home games in Nippert Stadium, as it has since 1923. This was Kelly's first complete season with the Bearcats, having coached them to a 27–24 win against Western Michigan in the 2007 International Bowl.

The 2007 season was a breakthrough for Cincinnati football, as it saw the Bearcats break into the national rankings for the first time since 1976. The Bearcats' highest rank of their 2007 campaign was 15th in the AP Poll.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State*		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN360	W 59–3	20,223
September 6	7:30 p.m.	Oregon State*		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 34–3	25,020
September 15	12:00 p.m.	at Miami (OH)*		Yager Stadium Oxford, OH (Victory Bell)	ESPN+	W 47–10	22,421
September 22	7:30 p.m.	Marshall*		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN+	W 40–14	35,097
September 29	10:00 p.m.	at San Diego State*	No. 24	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	Versus	W 52–23	24,647
October 6	8:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Rutgers	No. 20	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	ESPN2	W 28–23	43,768
October 13	7:00 p.m.	Louisville	No. 15	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (The Keg of Nails)	ESPNU	L 24–28	35,097
October 20	12:00 p.m.	at Pittsburgh	No. 23	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA (River City Rivalry)	ESPN+	L 17–24	33,423
November 3	3:30 p.m.	at No. 20 South Florida		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ABC/ESPN	W 38–33	57,379
November 10	3:30 p.m.	No. 16 Connecticut		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPNU	W 27–3	30,943
November 17	7:45 p.m.	No. 5 West Virginia	No. 21	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	L 23–28	35,097
November 24	7:15 p.m.	at Syracuse	No. 24	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ESPNU	W 52–31	30,040
December 22	1:00 p.m.	vs. Southern Miss*	No. 20	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Papajohns.com Bowl)	ESPN2	W 31–21	35,258
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	RV	RV	24	20	15	23	RV	—	RV	21	24	20	20	17
Coaches Poll	—	—	RV	RV	RV	24	17	23	RV	RV	RV	25	RV	24	23	20
Harris	Not released				RV	24	17	23	RV	RV	RV	24	24	21	20	Not released
BCS	Not released							23	—	—	—	22	24	23	22	Not released

Roster

(as of October 16, 2007) Archived April 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

Wide receivers

1 Mardy Gilyard – Junior
2 David Wess – Junior
14 Earnest Jackson – Senior
16 Dominick Goodman – Junior
24 Jared Martin –

Sophomore
33 Kurt Shoemaker – Junior
38 Tomaz Hilton – Freshman
81 Antwuan Giddens – Senior
82 Joey Thomas – Freshman
84 Orion Woodard – Freshman
85 Marcus Barnett –

Freshman
86 Armon Binns – Freshman
87 Charley Howard –

Sophomore
88 Adrien Robinson – Freshman

Offensive line

56 Chris Jurek –

Sophomore
59 Alex Hoffman – Freshman
60 Jason Kelce –

Freshman
63 Blake McCroskey – Freshman
64 Chris Flores – Senior
65 T.J. Franklin – Freshman
66 Sam Griffin – Freshman
68 Craig Parmenter – Freshman
69 Frank Becker – Freshman
70 C. J. Cobb –

Freshman
71 Jeff Linkenbach –

Sophomore
72 Digger Bujnoch – Senior
73 Mario Duenas – Senior
74 Ken Rodriguez – Senior
76 Trevor Canfield – Junior
78 Taylor Porter –

Sophomore
79 Khalil El-Amin – Junior

Tight ends

19 Ben Guidugli –

Freshman
34 Nick DeFilippo – Junior
35 Marcus Waugh – Sophomore
83 Kazeem Alli –

Sophomore
89 Connor Barwin – Junior

Fullbacks

86 Doug Jones – Senior

Quarterbacks

4 Dustin Grutza – Junior
7 Craig Carey – Sophomore
8 Chazz Anderson – Freshman
9 Ben Mauk – Senior
12 Zach Collaros – Freshman
15 Tony Pike –

Sophomore

Running backs

5 Mike Daniels – Senior
11 Bradley Glatthaar – Senior
20 Jacob Ramsey – Sophomore
22 John Goebel – Sophomore
23 Butler Benton – Senior
32 Montez Patterson – Freshman
48 Greg Moore – Senior

Defensive line

10 Lamonte Nelms – Junior
12 Anthony Hoke – Senior
40 John Hughes – Freshman
53 Randy Martinez – Freshman
54 Jon Newton – Senior
67 Adam Hoppel – Junior
75 Thomas Claggett – Junior
82 Angelo Craig – Senior
90 Ricardo Mathews – Sophomore
91 Tyler Clifford – Sophomore
94 Rob Trigg – Freshman
95 Terrill Byrd – Junior
98 Ralston Reeves –

Freshman
99 Chris Harrison –

Freshman

Linebackers

3 Delbert Ferguson – Junior
9 Alex Delisi –

Freshman
31 Jon Carpenter – Senior
37 Anthony Williams – Senior
42 Corey Smith – Junior
43 Robby Armstrong –

Freshman
45 Ryan Manalac – Junior
47 Collin McCafferty –

Freshman
49 Torry Cornett – Junior
27 Jeremy Matthews – Freshman
52 Ricardo Thompson – Freshman
55 Leo Morgan – Senior
57 Obadiah Cheatham –

Freshman

Defensive backs

4 Drew Frey – Freshman
6 DeAngelo Smith – Junior
13 Haruki Nakamura – Senior
17 Aaron Webster – Sophomore
17 Bryant Thomas – Freshman
18 Cedric Tolbert – Junior
21 Mike Mickens – Junior
25 Brad Jones –

Sophomore
26 Martez Williams –

Freshman
32 Justin Moore –

Sophomore
36 Jason Whitehead – Sophomore
37 Deon Reed – Freshman
39 Mike Latessa – Freshman
41 Tahree McQueen – Freshman
44 Evan Sparks – Senior
46 Scott Johnson – Freshman

Punters

47 Kevin Huber – Junior
61 Micheal Cooke – Freshman

Kickers

92 Brandon Yingling – Junior
97 Jake Rogers –

Freshman

Deep Snapper

51 Alex Apyan – Freshman
93 Mike Windt –

Freshman
96 Tom DeTemple – Freshman

† Starter at position * Injured; will not play in 2007.

Coaching staff

Brian Kelly – Head coach

Keith Gilmore – Assistant head coach/defensive line

Jeff Quinn – Offensive coordinator/offensive line

Joe Tresey – Defensive coordinator

Kerry Coombs – Defensive backs coach

Mike Elston – Recruiting/special teams/tight ends

Greg Forest – Quarterbacks coach

Tim Hinton – Linebackers coach

Ernest Jones – Running backs coach

Charley Molnar – Wide receivers coach

John Widecan – Assistant AD/football operations

Brad Bury – Student assistant

Paul Longo – Strength and conditioning

Jesse Minter – Defensive graduate assistant

Michael Painter – Offensive staff intern

Adam Shorter – Offensive graduate assistant

Marty Spieler – Defensive staff intern

Erin Clayton – Administrative assistant

Jacob Flint – Assistant strength coach

Maria Gruber – Administrative coordinator

Matt Louis – Administrative coordinator

John Sells – Video coordinator

Game summaries

Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
SE Missouri State	0	3	0	0	3
Cincinnati	6	13	20	20	59

The games was the first regular season game for new coach, Brian Kelly. The Bearcats' 59-3 victory was the most lopsided in school history since beating Louisiana-Monroe, then known as Northeast Louisiana, 63-0 in 1977. The Bearcats' 615 yards was the third most in school history.^[1]

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oregon State	0	3	0	0	3
Cincinnati	3	7	24	0	34

Miami University

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	16	10	7	14	47
Miami University	0	3	7	0	10

Dustin Grutza, who started in place of the injured UC quarterback Ben Mauk threw for two scores to lead the Bearcats to a 47-10 win over the Miami RedHawks. UC defense dominated the game with a fumble recovery, three interceptions, a blocked punt, and five sacks.^[2]

Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Marshall	2	6	0	6	14
Cincinnati	12	14	0	14	40

San Diego State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	7	28	7	10	52
San Diego State	3	7	0	13	23

Rutgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	7	0	21	0	28
Rutgers	7	10	3	3	23

Louisville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Louisville	7	7	7	7	28
Cincinnati	14	0	7	3	24

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	10	7	0	0	17
Pittsburgh	3	7	3	11	24

South Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	31	7	0	0	38
#20 South Florida	14	6	7	6	33

The 31 points scored in the first quarter is a Cincinnati record for most points scored in a single quarter.

Connecticut

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Connecticut	0	3	0	0	3
Cincinnati	13	0	7	7	27

West Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 West Virginia	7	14	0	7	28
Cincinnati	7	3	0	13	23

Cincinnati came into the game predicted by some to upset the mountaineers. However, for the majority of the game West Virginia used their punishing ground attack to build a 21-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter. However, after a costly fumble leading to another West Virginia touchdown, the Bearcats rallied. Their defense force two fumbles and a punt by the Mountaineers, and the offense cashed in with two touchdowns. After UC's second touchdown and a failed two-point conversion, West Virginia recovered an onside kick attempt and managed to run out the clock, handing the Bearcats their third loss.

Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	14	14	14	10	52
Syracuse	3	14	14	0	31

PapaJohns.com Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Southern Miss	7	0	7	7	21
Cincinnati	0	14	17	0	31

. The Cincinnati Bearcats led by Quarterback Ben Mauk ended Southern Mississippi coach Jeff Bower's 17-year tenure as head coach at Southern Miss in losing fashion, 31-21. Mauk went 30-52 for 334 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Mauk became the 3rd player in Cincinnati history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. His favorite target was Dominick Goodman who caught 7 passes for 95 yards and 2 touchdowns. The defense was led by DeAngelo Smith who had a whopping 3 interceptions. For Southern Miss, Jeremy Young went 18-32 for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns, but 3 interceptions. Damion Fletcher led the team in rushing and receiving, with 155 yards on 29 carries on the ground and 7 catches for 50 yards through the air. Southern Miss jumped to an early 7-0 lead on a 10-yard pass from Young to Shawn Nelson in the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, Cincinnati struck back when Mauk threw both touchdown passes to Goodman to end the half. In the 3rd quarter Mauk hooked up with Ernest Jackson for 29 yards and a touchdown to make it 21-7 in favor of the Bearcats. Young then had a 1-yard run with 6:48 to play in the 3rd to make it 21-14. Cincinnati then pulled away when Mauk hit Antwuan Giddens for his last touchdown. A field goal by Jake Rogers made it 31-14 Bearcats, and they never looked back. ^[3]

Awards and milestones

All-Americans

Mike Mickens, CB
Kevin Huber, P

Big East Conference honors

Offensive player of the week

Week 3: Dustin Grutza^[4]
Week 5: Ben Mauk^[4]
Week 13: Ben Mauk^[4]

Defensive player of the week

Week 1: Mike Mickens^[4]
Week 6: Ryan Manalac^[4]
Week 10: Haruki Nakamura^[4]

Special teams player of the week

Week 2: Jacob Rogers^[4]
Week 6: Kevin Huber^[4]

Big East Conference All-Conference First Team

Terrill Byrd, DL
Mike Mickens, DB
Haruki Nakamura, DB
Kevin Huber, P

^[4]

Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team

Marcus Barnett, WR
Trevor Canfield, OL
Anthony Hoke, DL
DeAngelo Smith, DB