Primer On Cincinnati Bearcats

Posted Oct 13, 2009 by Joey Johnston

Updated Oct 13, 2009 at 07:44 AM

The No. 8-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats (5-0) roll into Raymond James Stadium for Thursday night’s game against the No. 21 University of South Florida Bulls (5-0).

Yes, the game is huge.

But what do we really know about the Bearcats?

Here’s our primer, a baker’s dozen list of fun facts about the University of Cincinnati’s football program:

* For the first time since 1951, Cincinnati (No. 8) is ranked ahead of Ohio State (No. 9) in The Associated Press poll.

* The two reigning championship head coaches in the NFL and major college football have ties to the Bearcats. Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was a Cincinnati assistant when Tony Dungy hired him for his Bucs’ staff in 2001. University of Florida coach Urban Meyer played for the Bearcats.

* Sid Gillman, who went 50-13-1 as Cincinnati’s head coach in the late 1940s and early 1950s, parlayed his success into a position with the NFL, where he became known as the father of the modern passing game.

* Other interesting former Cincinnati assistants: Leeman Bennett, John Harbaugh, Dick MacPherson, Don Nehlen and Ron Zook.

* Cincinnati senior wide receiver Mardy Gilyard, a potential first-team All-American, attended Flagler Palm Coast High School in Bunnell. He’s one of seven Florida prep players on Cincinnati’s roster.

* The Bearcats began playing football in 1885. With a victory at USF on Thursday night, Cincinnati’s all-time football record would be 541-541-51.

* The Bearcats have had just two first-round NFL draft choices in the program’s history – quarterback Greg Cook (fifth overall to Bengals in 1969) and defensive tackle Bob Bell (21st overall to Lions in 1971).

* Cook still holds the Bearcats’ single-game passing record. Cook passed for 554 yards (35 of 56, four touchdowns) in a 1968 game against Ohio University.

* Jim O’Brien set a school record (still standing) with 142 points scored in 1968. Two seasons later, he kicked the game-winning field goal for the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V.

* Only one former Bearcat – cornerback Blue Adams (2005-06) – has played in a regular-season game with the Bucs.

* Reggie Taylor (4,242 career yards from 1983-86), Cincinnati’s all-time leading rusher, was in training camp with the Bucs in 1986, but did not make the team. Taylor wound up with the Canadian Football League’s British Columbia Lions.

* In 1923, Cincinnati’s Jimmy Nippert sustained a wound in the season-ending game with Miami (Ohio). He died a month later of blood poisoning. Nippert’s grandfather, James Gamble, donated the money to finish construction on Cincinnati’s stadium. In 1924, Nippert Stadium was dedicated.

* Bobby Bowden’s Florida State Seminoles were unbeaten and ranked No. 6 nationally when they came to Cincinnati in 1979. Entering the fourth quarter, it was Cincinnati 21, FSU 6. Final score: FSU 26, Cincinnati 21. It was Bowden’s greatest fourth-quarter comeback – until 1994, when the Seminoles put up four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, forging a 31-31 tie with the Florida Gators.