2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team
American college football season
The 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The team, coached by Brian Kelly , played its homes game in Nippert Stadium . Kelly was in his second full season with the Bearcats after coaching them to a 31–21 win against Southern Miss in the 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl . On Friday, November 28, 2008, the Bearcats clinched a share of the Big East Conference title for the first time since joining the Big East in 2005. With a victory over Syracuse on November 29, 2008 the Bearcats became the outright football champions of the Big East and set a record with an average attendance of 31,964. After a disappointing loss to Virginia Tech in the 2009 Orange Bowl , the Bearcats finished 17th in the AP Poll for the second consecutive year. With West Virginia falling off Cincinnati became the front runner to win the big east.
Schedule
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance August 28 7:30 pm Eastern Kentucky * W 40–726,913 September 6 3:30 pm at No. 4 Oklahoma * ABC L 26–5284,476 September 20 7:30 pm Miami (OH) * ESPN360 W 45–2031,629 September 27 7:30 pm at Akron * FSN Ohio W 17–1516,927 October 3 8:00 pm at Marshall * ESPN W 33–1029,237 October 11 12:00 pm Rutgers Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH Big East Network W 13–1032,370 October 25 12:00 pm at Connecticut Big East Network L 16–4040,000 October 30 7:45 pm No. 23 South Florida Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH ESPN W 24–1031,175 November 8 7:00 pm at No. 20 West Virginia ESPNU W 26–23 OT 59,834 November 14 8:00 pm at Louisville No. 22 ESPN2 W 28–2037,822 November 22 7:15 pm No. 20 Pittsburgh No. 19 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (River City Rivalry) ESPN2 W 28–2135,098 November 29 12:00 pm Syracuse No. 16 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH Big East Network W 30–1034,603 December 6 11:30 pm at Hawaii * No. 13 ESPN2 W 29–2440,549 January 1 8:00 pm No. 19 Virginia Tech * No. 12 FOX L 7–2073,602 *Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final AP RV RV — — — — — RV RV — RV 22 19 16 13 12 17 Coaches Poll RV RV — — RV RV RV RV RV — RV 22 20 16 12 12 17 Harris Not released RV RV RV RV — RV 23 20 16 13 12 Not released BCS Not released — — — 22 19 16 13 12 Not released
Game summaries
Eastern Kentucky
1
2
3
4
Total
Eastern Kentucky
0
0
7
0
7
Cincinnati
6
20
14
0
40
[ 1]
Oklahoma
1
2
3
4
Total
Cincinnati
0
13
7
6
26
#4 Oklahoma
14
7
21
10
52
[ 2]
Miami
1
2
3
4
Total
Miami
0
13
7
0
20
Cincinnati
10
14
14
7
45
[ 3]
Akron
1
2
3
4
Total
Cincinnati
7
0
7
3
17
Akron
3
6
0
6
15
[ 4]
Marshall
1
2
3
4
Total
Cincinnati
2
14
10
7
33
Marshall
0
3
7
0
10
[ 5]
Rutgers
1
2
3
4
Total
Rutgers
0
0
10
0
10
Cincinnati
3
7
3
0
13
[ 6]
Connecticut
1
2
3
4
Total
Cincinnati
10
3
3
0
16
Connecticut
10
0
10
20
40
[ 7]
South Florida
1
2
3
4
Total
#23 South Florida
7
0
3
0
10
Cincinnati
10
7
0
7
24
[ 8]
West Virginia
1
2
3
4 OT
Total
Cincinnati
13
7
0
0 6
26
#20 West Virginia
7
0
0
13 3
23
[ 9]
Louisville
1
2
3
4
Total
#22 Cincinnati
7
7
7
7
28
Louisville
7
10
3
0
20
[ 10]
Pittsburgh
1
2
3
4
Total
#20 Pittsburgh
7
0
0
14
21
#19 Cincinnati
0
14
7
7
28
[ 11]
Syracuse
1
2
3
4
Total
Syracuse
0
3
0
7
10
#16 Cincinnati
7
6
10
7
30
Hawaii
1
2
3
4
Total
#13 Cincinnati
3
7
0
19
29
Hawaii
0
3
14
7
24
Virginia Tech
1
2
3
4
Total
#12 Cincinnati
7
0
0
0
7
#21 Virginia Tech
0
10
3
7
20
Awards and milestones
Post-season finalists and winners
Big East Conference honors
Offensive player of the week
Week 1: Dustin Grutza[ 12]
Defensive player of the week
Week 10: Aaron Webster[ 12]
Special teams player of the week
Week 2: Mardy Gilyard[ 12]
Week 6: Connor Barwin[ 12]
Week 7: Kevin Huber[ 12]
Week 10: Mardy Gillard[ 12]
Week 13: Jacob Rogers[ 12]
Big East Conference All-Conference First Team
Mardy Gilyard, WR
Mardy Gilyard, KR
Connor Barwin, DL
Mike Mickens, DB
Brandon Underwood, DB
Kevin Huber, P
[ 12]
Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team
Dominick Goodman, WR
Trevor Canfield, OL
Tony Pike , QB
[ 12]
Players in the 2009 NFL Draft
References
^ "Eastern Kentucky vs Cincinnati (Aug 28, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "Oklahoma vs Cincinnati (Sept 6, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on October 2, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "Miami vs Cincinnati (Sept 17, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "Akron vs Cincinnati (Sept 27, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "Marshall vs Cincinnati (Oct 3, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "Cincinnati vs Rutgers (Oct 11, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "Connecticut vs Cincinnati (Oct 25, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "Cincinnati vs South Florida (Oct 30, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "West Virginia vs Cincinnati (Nov 7, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 9, 2008 .^ "Louisville vs Cincinnati (Nov 14, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 23, 2008 .^ "Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati (Nov 22, 2008)" . University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 23, 2008 .^ a b c d e f g h i j k "2011 Cincinnati Media Guide" (PDF) . University of Cincinnati Athletics. Retrieved December 22, 2018 .
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons
National championships in bold
