ARLINGTON, Texas – The storybook season for the University of Cincinnati’s football team, one that featured more than 30 seniors, ended in the way many predicted once they were matched up with mighty Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
The Bearcats were bullied throughout their 60-minute battle with the preeminent program in college football. Their defense gashed for a season-high 301 rushing yards (6.4 yards per attempt). Their offense contained to a pair of field goals across 58 plays. Five of their 10 offensive drives ended in three-and-out punts and they failed to convert a third down after the first quarter.
As the clock wound down in Cincinnati’s 27-6 loss in the Cotton Bowl on Thursday, the feeling of disappointment among players mixed with gratitude. Thankful for the historic season they spent together, reaching a level perhaps none of them thought was possible for the program just a couple of years ago. Thankful for the boisterous sea of Bearcats fans in the crowd of 76,313 at AT&T Stadium with pregame boos emanating when anyone in Alabama gear showed up on the Jumbotron.
Doc:Pride and disappointment for Bearcats. Disappointment and pride.
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“With the outside pressure that was put on us, we still won a conference championship, still went undefeated in our regular season,” quarterback Desmond Ridder said. “We’re extremely thrilled to where we got. We obviously wanted it to end differently, end with a national championship, but for us coming from Cincinnati, from the American Conference, this is about as good as you can ask for.”
There were moments when the Bearcats looked ready to claw back, the hints of resiliency for a team that had won 13 consecutive games. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young was intercepted midway through the third quarter when he sailed a throw under pressure, and it ended up in the arms of UC senior safety Bryan Cook.
Trailing by 11 points, it was a glimmer of hope for an offense that struggled all night. The Bearcats went backward, a negative-16-yard drive, derailed by an illegal shift penalty on first down and a sack on third down.
The Tide responded with a nine-play drive, which included a 20-yard catch by Jameson Williams on third-and-16, and a nine-yard touchdown catch by tight end Cameron Latu to put the game out of reach.
“We knew their defense line was going to be super active – and they were,” sophomore center Jake Renfro said. “They were stunting. They were blitzing. They were looping. They just caught us off guard just a little bit.”
With a little more than 10 minutes left, the Bearcats needed to convert a fourth down from the 22-yard line to keep their national championship hopes alive.
Ridder, out of a timeout, took the snap, faked a handoff to his running back, dropped back two steps and saw Alabama defensive back Brian Branch in his face. Ridder tried to sprint forward, needing three yards for a first down. He made it one step before Branch and defensive end Will Anderson Jr. wrestled him to turf.
“We knew the battle of the trenches was going to be a big deal,” Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell said. “I think that’s where the game was won. In no phase of it did we give ourselves the best opportunity.”
The Bearcats, like all underdogs, needed something to break their way. Ridder had three passes swatted down at the line of scrimmage in the first half, including one that would’ve likely resulted in a touchdown to Alec Pierce on a shifty slant route. UC’s defense, so dominant in the regular season, gave up three points on a drive where it had Alabama in a 3rd-and-14 situation after an illegal forward pass.
At the end of the first half, the opportunities were there, like a pot of gold in sight. Alabama kicker Will Reichard pushed a field goal attempt wide left from 44 yards, but … it turned into the third consecutive three-and-out offensive possession.
Then another one. Cincinnati’s Mason Fletcher boomed a punt inside Alabama’s 20-yard line and returner JoJo Earle mishandled it. A chance to even the score before the end of the half, but … Alabama recovered and took a two-touchdown lead afterward.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that they belong in the Playoff,” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said of the Bearcats. “They gave us all we can handle.”
Everyone knew Alabama’s biggest advantage over Cincinnati was its size up front. Perennially atop the recruiting rankings with four- and five-star recruits, the Tide land the cartoon character-sized linemen armed with speed and strength.
The Tide flexed its muscle on the opening drive, running for 62 yards against a defense that allowed 137.5 rushing yards per game and reaching the red zone without Young attempting a pass. Young’s first throw was an eight-yard touchdown to receiver Slade Bolden.
It always felt like the Bearcats were in bend-not-break mode. Alabama tailback Brian Robinson Jr., named the offensive MVP after rushing for an Alabama bowl-record 201 yards, averaged nearly eight yards per carry. Young extended plays with his feet and trickled passes over the middle of the field, rarely challenging star cornerbacks Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and Coby Bryant. They could slow the Heisman Trophy winner, but they were knocked down by the trucks creating paths for Robinson.
Saban’s teams are undefeated in their last six national semifinal games with a 20.3-point average margin of victory.
“In the game of life, like sports, it very rarely ends like you envision it,” Fickell said. “There is so much they’ve been through, especially the seniors. It is very difficult. It is very tough. But more than anything, I told them I don’t want to see them hang their head.”
It was a disappointing end to a special season, the first Group of Five team to gain entry into the College Football Playoff, and an end to an era for this group of senior Bearcats. The Bearcats won four games in head coach Luke Fickell’s first season in 2017, long before anyone was thinking about the Bearcats challenging Alabama for national titles.
“They have a lot of good leadership on their team,” Saban said. “That’s very evident when you watch them play together.”
Ridder, a three-star quarterback from Louisville, Kentucky, developed into the face of the program and a potential first-round NFL Draft pick. There are only two quarterbacks who won more games in FBS college football history than Ridder, who completed his career with a 44-6 record. Boise State’s Kellen Moore went 50-3 from 2008-11 and Texas’ Colt McCoy went 45-8 from 2006-09.
He purposely was one of the last players to walk off the field following the loss, thanking fans for making the trip.
“I literally stood up in front of the whole team and thanked them,” said Bryant, the senior cornerback. “It was a great season. The final score doesn't determine who we are.”
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