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Buckeyes will be out to dismantle rebuilding Bearcats
By Jon Spencer
Telegraph-Forum staff
COLUMBUS -- Crestline native Mike Gottfried was the last football coach to leave the University of Cincinnati with a winning record. That was a quarter century ago.
After UC wen 12-10 in 1981-82, Gottfried left to turn around programs at Kansas and Pittsburgh and later became an ESPN analyst. Meanwhile, the Bearcats have gone through four more coaches, endured a stretch of 10 straight losing seasons and won as eight games or more only twice.
That track record paints a grim picture for Cincinnati entering today's game against No. 1 Ohio State in the Horseshoe. UC has been cast as a 29-point underdog even though Jim Tressel has won only six games by that margin in his more than five years as the head coach of the Buckeyes.
"It shouldn't be tough to win (at Cincinnati) now," said Gottfried, who is in Iowa City today to call the game between Iowa and Iowa State for ESPN. "When I took the job we played Penn State, Alabama, Florida State, Pittsburgh with Dan Marino and South Carolina with (Heisman Trophy winner) George Rogers -- all on the road. We went to Miami the year before Howard Schnellenberger took the Hurricanes to the national championship and had them beat at the end of the game until our quarterback took it upon himself to run a sneak from the half-yard line and didn't make it."There wasn't a lot of room for error back then. It was really difficult because we were independent and nobody wanted to play us and we had a murderous schedule."
On the surface, things don't look much peachier now. The Bearcats were 4-7 last season as a first-year member of the Big East. Including their 33-15 loss at home last week to Pittsburgh, they've given up an average of 40 points in their last eight defeats.
It obviously hasn't been easy on head coach Mark Dantonio, defensive wizard of the Buckeyes when they won the national championship in 2002 and finished No. 4 in 2003.
But Gottfried sees a brighter future. He even thought about pursuing a comeback at Cincinnati after Rick Minter got ousted in 2003.
"Joining the Big East was the best thing that could have ever happened," Gottfried said. "Now they have a chance at a BCS bowl bid, which should elevate recruiting and increase interest. Ohio State can't take 'em all. If they can recruit, they've got a chance."
To usher in the Big East era, an extensive renovation and upgrade of all of UC's athletics facilities has taken place. The project cost $105 million.
A win today over the instate Goliath would be priceless, especially in the 'Shoe with Ohio State coming off one of the greatest victories in school history.
"The key to getting over Texas is understanding the big picture," wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez said, trying to reduce the 24-7 win over the defending national championships from a painting to a postage stamp.
"What does it mean? Not much other than we beat another team. We didn't get a ring or win a national championship. There's no reason to be thinking about that game now, as big as it was."
Quarterback Troy Smith has been around for two scares from Cincinnati. He was a redshirt freshman when the Buckeyes escaped Paul Brown Stadium with a 23-19 victory en route to the 2002 national championship. He was also a mere spectator two years ago when the Bearcats debuted under Dantonio and played OSU tough for three quarters before falling 27-6.
"Supposedly, we've got our biggest test of our season out of the way, but I don't believe that," Smith said. "We have to be able to stay the course to be a complete team."
Buckeyes will be out to dismantle rebuilding Bearcats
By Jon Spencer
Telegraph-Forum staff
COLUMBUS -- Crestline native Mike Gottfried was the last football coach to leave the University of Cincinnati with a winning record. That was a quarter century ago.
After UC wen 12-10 in 1981-82, Gottfried left to turn around programs at Kansas and Pittsburgh and later became an ESPN analyst. Meanwhile, the Bearcats have gone through four more coaches, endured a stretch of 10 straight losing seasons and won as eight games or more only twice.
That track record paints a grim picture for Cincinnati entering today's game against No. 1 Ohio State in the Horseshoe. UC has been cast as a 29-point underdog even though Jim Tressel has won only six games by that margin in his more than five years as the head coach of the Buckeyes.
"It shouldn't be tough to win (at Cincinnati) now," said Gottfried, who is in Iowa City today to call the game between Iowa and Iowa State for ESPN. "When I took the job we played Penn State, Alabama, Florida State, Pittsburgh with Dan Marino and South Carolina with (Heisman Trophy winner) George Rogers -- all on the road. We went to Miami the year before Howard Schnellenberger took the Hurricanes to the national championship and had them beat at the end of the game until our quarterback took it upon himself to run a sneak from the half-yard line and didn't make it."There wasn't a lot of room for error back then. It was really difficult because we were independent and nobody wanted to play us and we had a murderous schedule."
On the surface, things don't look much peachier now. The Bearcats were 4-7 last season as a first-year member of the Big East. Including their 33-15 loss at home last week to Pittsburgh, they've given up an average of 40 points in their last eight defeats.
It obviously hasn't been easy on head coach Mark Dantonio, defensive wizard of the Buckeyes when they won the national championship in 2002 and finished No. 4 in 2003.
But Gottfried sees a brighter future. He even thought about pursuing a comeback at Cincinnati after Rick Minter got ousted in 2003.
"Joining the Big East was the best thing that could have ever happened," Gottfried said. "Now they have a chance at a BCS bowl bid, which should elevate recruiting and increase interest. Ohio State can't take 'em all. If they can recruit, they've got a chance."
To usher in the Big East era, an extensive renovation and upgrade of all of UC's athletics facilities has taken place. The project cost $105 million.
A win today over the instate Goliath would be priceless, especially in the 'Shoe with Ohio State coming off one of the greatest victories in school history.
"The key to getting over Texas is understanding the big picture," wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez said, trying to reduce the 24-7 win over the defending national championships from a painting to a postage stamp.
"What does it mean? Not much other than we beat another team. We didn't get a ring or win a national championship. There's no reason to be thinking about that game now, as big as it was."
Quarterback Troy Smith has been around for two scares from Cincinnati. He was a redshirt freshman when the Buckeyes escaped Paul Brown Stadium with a 23-19 victory en route to the 2002 national championship. He was also a mere spectator two years ago when the Bearcats debuted under Dantonio and played OSU tough for three quarters before falling 27-6.
"Supposedly, we've got our biggest test of our season out of the way, but I don't believe that," Smith said. "We have to be able to stay the course to be a complete team."
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