2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Big East Champions
2009 Orange Bowl vs Virginia Tech, Lost 20-7
Conference	Big East
Ranking
Coaches	#17
AP	#17
2008 record	11-3 (6-1 Big East)
Head coach	Brian Kelly
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Quinn
Defensive coordinator	Joe Tresey
Home stadium	Nippert Stadium
Seasons « 2007 2009 »

2008 Big East football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#17 Cincinnati †		6	–	1					11	–	3
Pittsburgh		5	–	2					9	–	4
#23 West Virginia		5	–	2					9	–	4
Rutgers		5	–	2					8	–	5
Connecticut		3	–	4					8	–	5
South Florida		2	–	5					8	–	5
Louisville		1	–	6					5	–	7
Syracuse		1	–	6					3	–	9
† – BCS representative as champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represents the University of Cincinnati in the college football season of 2008–2009. The team, coached by Brian Kelly, plays its homes game in Nippert Stadium. Kelly is 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 Top 25 for the second consecutive year.

Contents 1 Schedule 2 Game summaries 2.1 Eastern Kentucky 2.2 Oklahoma 2.3 Miami 2.4 Akron 2.5 Marshall 2.6 Rutgers 2.7 Connecticut 2.8 South Florida 2.9 West Virginia 2.10 Louisville 2.11 Pittsburgh 2.12 Syracuse 2.13 Hawaii 2.14 Virginia Tech 3 References

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
Aug 28	7:30 pm	Eastern Kentucky*		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH		W 40–7	26,913
Sep 6	2:35 pm	at #4 Oklahoma*		Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK	ABC	L 26–52	84,476
Sep 17	7:30 pm	Miami (OH)*		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH (Battle for the Victory Bell)	ESPN360.com	W 45–20	31,629
Sep 27	7:30 pm	at Akron*		Rubber Bowl • Akron, OH	FSN Ohio	W 17–15	16,927
Oct 3	8:00 pm	at Marshall*		Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV	ESPN	W 33–10	29,237
Oct 11	12:05 pm	Rutgers		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	Big East Network	W 13–10	32,370
Oct 25	12:00 pm	at Connecticut		Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	Big East Network	L 16–40	40,000
Oct 30	7:45 pm	#23 South Florida		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 24–10	31,175
Nov 8	7:05 pm	at #20 West Virginia		Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV	ESPNU	W 26–23 OT	59,834
Nov 14	8:00 pm	at Louisville	#22	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY (Battle for the Keg of Nails)	ESPN2	W 28–20	37,822
Nov 22	7:15 pm	#20 Pittsburgh	#19	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH (River City Rivalry)	ESPN2	W 28–21	35,098
Nov 29	12:00 pm	Syracuse	#16	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	Big East Network	W 30–10	34,603
Dec 6	11:30 pm	at Hawaiʻi*	#13	Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HI	ESPN2	W 29–24	40,549
Jan 1	1:00 pm	#19 Virginia Tech*	#12	Dolphin Stadium • Miami, FL (2009 FedEx Orange Bowl)	Fox	L 7–20	73,602
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Schedule Source: 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football schedule

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

References

Cincinnati Bearcats football Venues Nippert Stadium (1924–present) Bowls & rivalries Bowl games The Keg of Nails (Louisville) River City Rivalry (Pittsburgh) Victory Bell (Miami) Culture & lore Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" University of Cincinnati Bearcat Bands People Head coaches Seasons 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

2008 Big East Conference football season Teams Cincinnati Bearcats Connecticut Huskies Louisville Cardinals Pittsburgh Panthers Rutgers Scarlet Knights South Florida Bulls Syracuse Orange West Virginia Mountaineers 2008–09 bowl games St. Petersburg Bowl • Meineke Car Care Bowl • PapaJohns.com Bowl • Sun Bowl • International Bowl • BCS Orange Bowl