The Bearcats, who are looking to prove that they are in fact one of the four best teams in college football, needed to open American Athletic Conference play by showing the nation that Temple shouldn't be on the same field as them.
That's exactly what happened.
With No. 3 Iowa and No. 4 Penn State facing off on Saturday, the Bearcats (5-0), with Friday's win, will likely be one of the top-four teams in the country heading into next weekend.
Up next: Cincinnati will be at home again Oct. 16 to face UCF. Kickoff is scheduled tor noon on ABC.
What we learned from Friday's win:
"Nipp at Night" is back
Fresh off of filling the stands in South Bend and lifting the Bearcats to victory at Notre Dame Stadium , the Cincinnati fan base flooded Nippert Stadium to the tune of 37,978.
The sold-out crowd tied for the 10th largest in Nippert history.
"Shoutout to all the fans that came out tonight," senior quarterback Desmond Ridder said after throwing three touchdowns in the win.
What makes Nippert special is the fans. What makes it even more special is the environment those fans create, particularly at night. It's just different. It's loud and obnoxiously intimidating for opponents. It's a large reason why the Bearcats have won 23 straight at home.
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Cincinnati is 12-1 in its last 13 night games at Nippert. Friday marked the fourth-straight home win at night for the Bearcats.
Due to COVID-19, the UC football team didn't have that true home-field advantage last season. But for the first time in nearly two years, "Nipp at Night" was back.
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"It was my first 'Nipp at Night,'" said running back Jerome Ford, who transferred to Cincinnati from Alabama before the start of last season. "I was impressed. I loved it. ... This was nice."
The 'Blackcats' defense is entering a new level of dominance
The concern was that Cincinnati's defense, which has been among the best in the country over the past three seasons, would not be the same this season without longtime defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman .
Well, the Bearcats' "Blackcats" defense has not only not skipped a beat, it may just be better, and that's scary.
Temple's only points of the night came on a 55-yard field goal by kicker Rory Bell, a Wilmington, Ohio, native. Bell's kick fell through the uprights after bouncing off of the crossbar.
It marked the fewest points allowed by the "Blackcats" since Nov. 9, 2019 against Connecticut.
Outside of those three points, Temple's offense was quiet and stagnant against Cincinnati's defensive attack.
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The "Blackcats" entered the game leading the country in red zone defense, and stopped Temple in its only chance. Cincinnati has now held opponents to just 43% in the red zone (6-for-14).
The "Blackcats" had six sacks, forced three turnovers, collected one interception (cornerback Coby Bryant) and allowed a season-low 226 total yards,
"I felt like our pressures were getting through today," graduate linebacker Joel Dublanko said. "The boys up front are just relentless. The D-line, it's amazing to be able to play behind them. ... Those guys are beasts."
Sniper Deshawn Pace led the team with eight tackles, Dublanko added seven tackles and a sack, and linebacker Wilson Huber recorded his first sack of the year and the second of his career.
"This is an old defense and we've been together for a while," Dublanko said. "As time goes, we just become more in sync. Sometimes we do things on the field that we don't even talk about. It just kind of naturally happens. ... There's so much chemistry out there. It's awesome to continue to enhance with this defense."
Style points for UC football?
Cincinnati is set to join the Big 12 Conference in 2024 . But until then, the Bearcats, though dangerous and a serious contender for the College Football Playoff, are still a Group of Five team. Because of that, they have to do more than their Power Five counterparts in order to impress the CFP selection committee.
A part of that means piling up style points.
"I don't have a whole lot of style," Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said. "I don't know style points. My wife picks the clothes. My wife has style. I don't know what you mean by style, but we like to play complete games. We like to finish things out and we hadn't done that yet this year. I'm just happy to get the win. ... That's the style I have."
Cincinnati, which won the AAC last season, was the preseason favorite to capture the conference crown again. But if the Bearcats are going to crash the College Football Playoff, they can't just win the conference. They have to win it in style. That means dominating every single conference opponent in front of them.
So far, so good.
