2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

Last updated

2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Cincinnati University Bearcats textlogo.svg
Big East co-champion
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Belk Bowl champion
Belk Bowl, W 48–34 vs. Duke
Conference Big East Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 22
Record10–3 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian (3rd season)
Offensive scheme Multiple
Defensive coordinator John Jancek (3rd season)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Nippert Stadium
Seasons
  2011
2013  
2012 Big East Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
No. 13 Louisville $+  5 2   11 2  
Cincinnati +  5 2   10 3  
Rutgers +  5 2   9 4  
Syracuse +  5 2   8 5  
Pittsburgh  3 4   6 7  
Connecticut  2 5   5 7  
Temple  2 5   4 7  
South Florida  1 6   3 9  
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati as a member of the Big East Conference during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats, led by third-year head coach Butch Jones, played their home games at Nippert Stadium. They finished the season 10–3 overall and 5–2 in Big East play to place in a four-way tie for the conference championship. Along with Rutgers, Louisville, and Syracuse, the Bearcats were the final football champions of the Big East Conference, as the league's original incarnation folded following the loss of the three former programs and others to different conferences. Cincinnati became a charter member of the American Athletic Conference the following season.

Contents

The 2012 Cincinnati team was invited to the Belk Bowl where they defeated Duke. At the end of the regular season, Jones resigned to take the same head coaching position at Tennessee. Defensive line coach Steve Stripling was named the interim head coach for the Belk Bowl.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 68:00 pm Pittsburgh
ESPN W 34–1033,562
September 157:00 pm Delaware State *
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPN3 W 23–727,112
September 293:30 pmvs. Virginia Tech * ESPNU W 27–2446,026
October 67:00 pm Miami (OH) *Dagger-14-plain.png
FS Ohio W 52–1435,097
October 137:00 pm Fordham *No. 21
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPN3W 49–1726,317
October 207:00 pmat Toledo *No. 21ESPN3L 23−2924,124
October 268:00 pmat No. 16 Louisville ESPNL 31–34 OT53,271
November 312:00 pm Syracuse
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
Big East Network W 35–2426,180
November 1012:00 pmat Temple Big East NetworkW 34–1020,192
November 1712:00 pmNo. 22 Rutgers
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
Big East NetworkL 3–1034,526
November 237:00 pm South Florida
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPNW 27–1021,171
December 13:30 pmat Connecticut ABC W 34–1733,112
December 276:30 pmvs. Duke *ESPNW 48–3448,128
  • *Non-conference game
  • Dagger-14-plain.pngHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Pittsburgh

1234Total
Panthers003710
Bearcats14371034

Delaware State

1234Total
Hornets00077
Bearcats1370323

Virginia Tech

1234Total
Hokies0701724
Bearcats3371427

Miami (OH)

1234Total
RedHawks680014
Bearcats141021752

Fordham

1234Total
Rams338317
Bearcats140211449

@ Toledo

1234Total
#18 Bearcats0137323
Rockets10610329

@ Louisville

1234OTTotal
Bearcats10777031
#14 Cardinals77314334

Syracuse

1234Total
Orange1077024
Bearcats7714735

@ Temple

1234Total
Bearcats14107334
Owls307010

Rutgers

1234Total
Scarlet Knights070310
Bearcats00033

South Florida

1234Total
Bulls003710
Bearcats767727

@ Connecticut

1234Total
Bearcats7771334
Huskies0107017

Duke–Belk Bowl

1234Total
Bearcats314102148
Blue Devils16081034

The Bearcats made their first ever appearance in the Belk Bowl and their first ever meeting with Duke. The Blue Devils raced out to an early 16–0 lead in the first quarter after a punt was blocked and recovered for a touchdown. The Bearcats then scored 27 unanswered points capped off by a 46-yard touchdown run by George Winn. The Blue Devils then scored back to back touchdowns to take a 31–27 lead. The Bearcats retook the lead with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Kay to Chris Moore. The Blue Devils then tied the game with a 52-yard field goal and the game seemed headed to overtime. With under a minute to play TE Travis Kelce took a short pass from Kay and broke several would be tackles in racing 83 yards for the winning score. Insult was added to injury when Nick Temple stripped the ball from Duke QB Sean Renfree and dashed 55 yards with the stolen loaf for a score as time expired. The 48 points is the most points scored by the Bearcats in a bowl game, and would be their largest margin of victory in a bowl game since 1997. This also gave the Bearcats their first consecutive bowl wins since 1946–47. The win gave the Bearcats their 4th 10-win season in the past five years.

Roster

2012 Cincinnati Bearcats

Running backs

Wide receivers

Offensive linemen

 

Quarterbacks

Tight ends

Defensive linemen

Defensive backs

  • 2 Trenier Orr – Redshirt.svg Freshman
  • 8 Adrian Witty – Redshirt.svg Sophomore
  • 9 Dominique Battle – Redshirt.svg Senior
  • 11 Deven Drane – Junior
  • 13 Pat Lambert – Redshirt.svg Senior
  • 17 Malcolm Murray – Senior
  • 20 Chris Williams – Senior
  • 21 Camerron Cheatham – Redshirt.svg Senior
  • 25 Arryn Chenault – Junior
  • 26 Drew Frey – Redshirt.svg Senior
  • 27 Drake Bruns – Freshman
  • 29 Andre Jones – Freshman
  • 30 Aaron Roberson – Senior
  • 35 Dylan Coombs – Freshman
  • 36 Marcus Foster – Freshman
  • 39 Demitri Beal – Redshirt.svg Sophomore
  • 40 Kevin Brown – Freshman
  • 48 Breon Mapp – Junior
 

Linebackers

  • 4 Maalik Bomar – Senior
  • 10 Jordan Luallen – Redshirt.svg Junior
  • 33 Solomon Tentman – Redshirt.svg Sophomore
  • 37 Joey Jones – Freshman
  • 38 Mason Antoun – Redshirt.svg Freshman
  • 41 Kevin Hyland – Redshirt.svg Freshman
  • 42 Corey Griffin – Freshman
  • 43 Nick Temple – Sophomore
  • 44 Corey Mason – Redshirt.svg Sophomore
  • 45 Ey'Shawn McClain – Freshman
  • 46 Devin Bruns – Freshman
  • 47 Colin Lozier – Senior
  • 48 Jeff LucJunior
  • 50 Innocent Macha – Sophomore
  • 51 Greg Blair – Senior
  • 53 Franklin Bruscianelli – Freshman
  • 57 Clemente Casseus – Freshman

Special teams

  • 14 Tony Miliano – Redshirt.svg Sophomore (K)
  • 61 Kirk Willis – Redshirt.svg Freshman (LS)
  • 24 John Lloyd – Redshirt.svg Sophomore (P)
  • 34 Pat O'Donnell – Junior (P)
  • 35 Eric Ernst – Redshirt.svg Freshman (P)

Head coach

Assistant coaches

[1]

Depth chart

Awards and milestones

Big East Conference honors

Big East Conference All-Conference First Team

[2]

Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team

[2]

Big East Conference All-Conference Third Team

[2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP RVRVRVRVRV2121RVRVRVRVRVRV
Coaches RVRVRVRVRV232018RVRVRVRVRVRV22
Harris Not released2018RVRVRVRVRVRVNot released
BCS Not released21Not released

Players in the 2013 NFL draft

PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL club
Travis Kelce TE 363 Kansas City Chiefs

References

  1. "2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football roster". gobearcats.com. University of Cincinnati Athletics.
  2. 1 2 3 "2012 Big East All-Conference Teams". College Sports Madness. Retrieved December 22, 2018.