^^^^
Great game memories! That was one of those "the Football Gods smiled" on Cincinnati games. The week before Wisky the Cats lost at home to then 1-AA Troy. Talk about going from an ocean trench low to a mountain peak high. The Cats finished 3-8 that season [1999] and didn't beat anyone in CUSA. Who else did we beat? Two MAC schools - Kent St. and yep MyAMUh LOL. After upsetting #9 Wisky the Cats traveled to the horseshoe and lost a respectable one to tOSU 20-34.
On Wisky's side they beat Murray St. and Ball St. by a combined 99-20 before getting upset at Nippert. If they were looking past UC to Michigan it sure double stung to lose to Michigan the following week in Wisconsin. They did go on to beat Ohio State at the horseshoe and finished the year with eight straight wins at 10-2, winning the B1G Chip, winning the Rose Bowl, and finishing the final AP #4. Not to mention, Dayne finished his 1999 senior season as the all-time career rushing yards leader in the NCAA and won the Heisman Trophy that year.
Did anyone catch from the video the tantrum UC OC Jimbo Fisher had in the sky box after the Kenner INT near the end of the half? I actually forgot Fisher was the OC that year and Mike Tomlin was the defense secondary coach.
(06-19-2020 06:41 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote: ^^^^
Great game memories! That was one of those "the Football Gods smiled" on Cincinnati games. The week before Wisky the Cats lost at home to then 1-AA Troy. Talk about going from an ocean trench low to a mountain peak high. The Cats finished 3-8 that season [1999] and didn't beat anyone in CUSA. Who else did we beat? Two MAC schools - Kent St. and yep MyAMUh LOL. After upsetting #9 Wisky the Cats traveled to the horseshoe and lost a respectable one to tOSU 20-34.
On Wisky's side they beat Murray St. and Ball St. by a combined 99-20 before getting upset at Nippert. If they were looking past UC to Michigan it sure double stung to lose to Michigan the following week in Wisconsin. They did go on to beat Ohio State at the horseshoe and finished the year with eight straight wins at 10-2, winning the B1G Chip, winning the Rose Bowl, and finishing the final AP #4. Not to mention, Dayne finished his 1999 senior season as the all-time career rushing yards leader in the NCAA and won the Heisman Trophy that year.
Did anyone catch from the video the tantrum UC OC Jimbo Fisher had in the sky box after the Kenner INT near the end of the half? I actually forgot Fisher was the OC that year and Mike Tomlin was the defense secondary coach.
It was Rick Minter in a nutshell - play up for the good teams and sleep through the bad ones. If they had beaten the teams they should have, Minter might have coached in the Big East. Good guy, solid recruiter, hired great assistants but teams were very inconsistent. Probably don't have to relive this though.
1999 was the weirdest year in UC history (at least in my time as a UC fan). Lost at home to 1AA Troy State. Beat Big Ten and Rose Bowl Champion Wisconsin the next week. Went to Columbus the following week, up 17-3 late in the first half after running the same QB draw play they ran for a TD against Wisconsin (from much further out...the entire field parted for Kenner). Drove into field goal range late in the half to go up 20-3 and Ruffin missed it. OSU scored a TD right before half...instead of 20-3 it was 17-10. UC moved the ball all second half but couldn't score. Lost by 2 TDs. Didn't win a single conference game. Ended up 3-8.
(This post was last modified: 06-20-2020 11:10 AM by bearcatmark.)
(06-20-2020 11:09 AM)bearcatmark Wrote: 1999 was the weirdest year in UC history (at least in my time as a UC fan). Lost at home to 1AA Troy State. Beat Big Ten and Rose Bowl Champion Wisconsin the next week. Went to Columbus the following week, up 17-3 late in the first half after running the same QB draw play they ran for a TD against Wisconsin (from much further out...the entire field parted for Kenner). Drove into field goal range late in the half to go up 20-3 and Ruffin missed it. OSU scored a TD right before half...instead of 20-3 it was 17-10. UC moved the ball all second half but couldn't score. Lost by 2 TDs. Didn't win a single conference game. Ended up 3-8.
Thought we had that OSU game won. I remember sitting in the end zone watching UC outgain OSU on the scoreboard. Just shaking my head as we lost.
(06-20-2020 11:09 AM)bearcatmark Wrote: 1999 was the weirdest year in UC history (at least in my time as a UC fan). Lost at home to 1AA Troy State. Beat Big Ten and Rose Bowl Champion Wisconsin the next week. Went to Columbus the following week, up 17-3 late in the first half after running the same QB draw play they ran for a TD against Wisconsin (from much further out...the entire field parted for Kenner). Drove into field goal range late in the half to go up 20-3 and Ruffin missed it. OSU scored a TD right before half...instead of 20-3 it was 17-10. UC moved the ball all second half but couldn't score. Lost by 2 TDs. Didn't win a single conference game. Ended up 3-8.
Thought we had that OSU game won. I remember sitting in the end zone watching UC outgain OSU on the scoreboard. Just shaking my head as we lost.
My dad got the tickets for our season ticket partners, my friend and his dad. They were big osu fans from Mansfield area but moved down the street from us in Loveland and went in on uc tickets with us. They couldn't go at the last second so I went with my grandpa. UC seats were in the temporary bleachers. On the td where kenner ran the draw I saw our alignment and the defensive alignment and called the qb draw. It was incredible watching the middle of the field just open for kenner. I thought the temporary bleachers might collapse. We were going nuts. Really had every opportunity to win that game. Shame.
My friend ended up dropping OSU and becoming a full uc fan thanks to his experience going to games at nippert. He's been my travel partner for the vast majority of my uc road trips as an adult.
I received tickets for this game for my birthday and decided to purchase season tickets after that game. That was such a great atmosphere. Right up there with UC-UCF last year.
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