Even before taking the field Saturday afternoon, the Cincinnati Bearcats (10-2, 6-1) knew they were champs of the BIG EAST thanks to Pittsburgh knocking off West Virginia the day before. This is the first BIG EAST title for the Bearcats which will allow them to play in a BCS Bowl game. That bowl game will either be the Orange or Sugar Bowl.

Though their game against Syracuse (3-9, 1-6) didn't matter as far as the BIG EAST title went, the Bearcats still came out and played as though it did, winning 30-10. The defense played hard and swarmed to the ball, holding the Orange quarterback, Cam Dantley, to just five yards passing going into the fourth quarter. Dantley would finish the game goinng an abysmal 6-of-23 for 59 yards, one interception and three sacks.

The Bearcats' offense kept their foot on the gas as well as quarterback Tony Pike took advantage of a defense that left a lot of cushion. Pike hit his receivers with short passes and a lot of screens that went for big yards at times. He ended the game 28-of-44 for 272 yards.

After every score for the Bearcats, oranges were hurled onto the field. Everytime it happened the public address announcer would tell fans to not throw anything of the field because the Bearcats could get penalized. That didn't stop fans from doing it though, actually it just encouraged them to do it more, mostly coming from the student section. The Bearcats didn't need any help getting penalized, however. They were hit with 10 penalties for 107 yards, something that has become a common theme for this team.

Penalties aside, this team has played well all season. They've had to overcome an early season carousel of quarterbacks after Dustin Grutza broke his leg in the second game and then Pike broke his non-throwing arm in the fourth game. In total, the Bearcats used five different quarterbacks throughout the season with redshirt freshmen, Chazz Anderson and Zach Callaros getting playing time. Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones got in for one play in the Louisville game as well.

The passing offense has been the most prolific in the BIG EAST regardless of who was taking snaps. That speaks to the great receivers on the team, most notably Dominick Goodman and Mardy Gilyard. The defense has played well this season too, led by Conner Barwin who leads the BIG EAST in sacks.

One welcome sight from Saturday's game was kicker Jake Rogers connecting on all three of his field goal attempts. Prior to the Syracuse game, Rogers had missed five straight tries. He connected from 45, 38 and 45 again on Saturday. Earlier in the season Rogers was being considered as an All-American candidate at his position. The five straight misses may have hurt his chances at that, but seeing him hit his attempts on Saturday is a good sign going into the final game of the season and into whatever bowl game the Bearcats are invited to.

Its been an amazing season. The Bearcats, under second year head coach Brian Kelly, have now won 10 games in back-to-back season. Kelly has taken this team from obscurity and as a bottom feeder in the BIG EAST to champs of the conference. When asked if he's done all he can in Cincinnati, Kelly responded saying, "There's so much more to accomplish. We averaged around 31,000 fans; we need to see 35,000. We can show that not only do we play for BIG EAST championships, we now want to get into the conversation for the national championship." With the recruiting going on in Cincinnati, that idea is becoming more and more of a possibility.

The Bearcats have one game left on the schedule. They travel to play Hawaii Saturday night. They will learn their BCS bowl fate come Sunday evening. All indications are pointing to the Orange Bowl, but the Sugar Bowl is a possibility as well. They would end up taking on the winner of the ACC most likely, which would either be Boston College or Virginia Tech.

College Football cincinnati bearcats, syracuse orange, big east, bcs, orange bowl, sugar bowl, cam dantley, tony pike, dustin grutza, chazz anderson, zach callaros, demetrius jones, dominick goodman, mardy gilyard, jake rogers, brian kelly, boston college, virginia tech

Its been sixyears since the Keg of Nails resided in Cincinnati. Its back now and could stay here for quite some time. The Bearcats went into Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on a chilly, rainy Friday night and slipped out with a 28-20 victory. It marks just the second time they've beat the Cardinals in 11 years.

It was a tale of two halves as No. 22 Cincinnati (8-2, 4-1) had somewhat of a rough first half while Louisville (5-5, 1-4) was looking like the team that has dominated this rivalry for years. The Cardinals took a 17-14 lead going into the half, but then the second half started and two very different teams came out of the locker room.

The Cardinals made some key mistakes throughout the second half including penalties to negate big plays as well as turnovers that the Bearcats took advantage of. Louisville caused a fumble on the Bearcats opening drive of the second half at their own 9-yard line. The Cincinnati defense stepped up and held them to a field goal, and those three points would be all Louisville would get in the second half.

"I think we can say the rivalry is back," coach Brian Kelly said. "There was a lot of emotion out on the field in this game."

The Bearcats came into this game with a chip on their shoulder after having lost a heartbreaker 28-23 to the Cardinals last season at home. "It means a lot for this program to come in here and win the Keg of Nails," wide receiver Dominick Goodman said. "We'd like to keep it for a long, long time." Goodman is a big reason why the Bearcats now possess the Keg of Nails. He had yet another big game against Louisville, catching nine passes for 134 yards and one touchdown.

Even in the rainy conditions, coach Kelly turned to his quarterback Tony Pike to lead this team in the second half even after having a sub-par first half. Pike answered the call, finishing he game 19-for-33 for 250 yards and two scores. His touchdown pass to Goodman was a thing of beauty. Pike put the ball up for Goodman and he laid out, parallel to the ground, in the endzone for the score. That touchdown put the Bearcats ahead for good. Pike would leave the game in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury.

Enter season starting quarterback, Dustin Grutza who hadn't played in a game since breaking his leg against Oklahoma on September 6th. Grutza showed no signs of being rusty as he led the Bearcats down the field on a five play, 72-yard drive.  He hooked up with Goodman on a key play on the drive for a 24-yard gain on third-and-5 that put the ball on the Louisville 43 yard line.

Running back John Goebel would finish out the drive with a big 37-yard dash followed by a 6-yard run for the score. That put the Bearcats up comfortably 28-20 and the defense did the rest.

If there was any negative to take from this game from the Bearcats perspective, its the sudden inaccuracy of kicker Jake Rogers. He missed three field goals in the game, this coming off missing one against West Virginia last week. Before last week he had only missed one attempt. Coach Kelly has a decision to make for next week as to whether to send Rogers back out there or go in a different direction.

Louisville had their chances to take control of the game and to even get back into it when they fell behind in the second half. Questionable play-calling from their coaching staff and penalties that killed drives sent the Cardinals to their third loss in a row. That last time Louisville lost three in a row was back in 1997.

Louisville quarterback Hunter Cantwell had a decent game throwing for 204 yards and a touchdown, but he had a key interception that ended a solid drive. The offensive line for the Cardinals did a good job of giving Cantwell protection throughout the game, but the Cincinnati defense came up with key stops when it mattered.

It wasn't easy, but the Bearcats got the monkey off their backs when it comes to this rivaly with Louisville. Cincinnati has made a statement now that they're making a run at the BIG EAST title and a BCS Bowl bid. After coming off a huge win on the road last week against West Virginia and now another big road win against Louisville, the only team that really stands in their way of a conference title and the BCS is Pittsburgh. The Panthers come into Nippert Stadium next Saturday night for a primetime game on ESPN2. The River City Rivalry is the last piece of the BCS puzzle for the Bearcats.

The Cincinnati fans made their presence known last night and helped create a crazy atmosphere at a surprisingly non-sold out Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The fans had a lot to celebrate about at the end of the game, and celebrate we did. For this weekend, and at least until their game again next season, Bearcat fans, this Keg's for you!

College Football cincinnati, bearcats, louisville, keg of nails, brian kelly, dominick goodman, tony pike, dustin grutza, john goebel, jake rogers, hunter cantwell, pittsburgh, bcs, big east

Tony Pike will miss three to four weeks after breaking his non-throwing arm in Saturday afternoon's game against the Akron Zips. Prior to the injury Pike had connected with Mardy Gilyard for two scores, helping to keep the Bearcats in the game at the Rubber Bowl. The Bearcats already lost their first string starting QB when Dustin Grutza broke his leg in the second game of the season against Oklahoma. Pike finished the game with 320 yards and the two scores to Gilyard. The Bearcats went on to win the game 17-15 thanks to a 48-yard field goal by Jake Rogers with 7:45 left in the game.

With Grutza out indefinitely (there is speculation that he could be back in time for the South Florida game on October 30th) and now Pike out for at least three to four weeks, the Bearcats are in a tough spot at the most important position on offense. Red shirt freshman, Zach Collaros, stepped in when Pike went down, but he, as I was told by an eye witness that was at the game, "he looked like a deer in headlights." Collaros went 1-for-4 for only two yards in his limited action. Not a great audition to be the go-to guy come the Bearcats next game.

So the question becomes, who will be the starter this Friday night when the team travels to play Marshall? The top three candidates are likely to be Collaros, fellow red shirt freshman Chazz Anderson, or Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones. I could see why Jones didn't take over wen Grutza went down with Pike having already been in the system and getting playing time last year, but why he wasn't the guy to come in Saturday was somewhat confusing. Maybe he's not ready? Maybe I'm missing something or haven't heard something related to his playing status? If he's ready, Jones has to be the guy that Brian Kelly goes with this week.

Its a short week for the Cats. Another out of conference loss before getting into conference play in a couple weeks could really hurt their chances of winning the Big East. Head coach Brian Kelly has a tough decision ahead of him. He's done well with the decisions he's made to this point (see his move of Conner Barwin from TE to DB), so whatever he decides, I'm good with it.

UPDATE: After listening to Brian Kelly on Lance McAlister's show last night, it sounds like they're going to go with a combo of Callaros and Anderson throughout the game this week against Marshall. When asked why he's not playing Jones, Kelly said it was because if they did, they would have to limit their playbook even more than they do with either of the other two options at QB. So the answer to why Jones isn't playing yet is simply because he can't pick up the playbook. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come for the guy that we all thought would be the guy behind center for the next few years. If it is, maybe Kelly should consider moving him to WR. He's got the talent...but apprently not the ability to retain what he needs...which is odd considering he started last year for Notre Dame. I can't imagine Kelly's playbook is more complex than Charlie Weis'...but then again maybe it is.

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