CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati is energized around the UC Bearcats as they count the days to the Cotton Bowl in Texas.

It's now just about nine days away.

On Tuesday, there was an incredible show of support for the football team with a drone show and fireworks at Nippert Stadium.

The excitement is also keeping businesses around campus booming.

Fans chanted, clapped and rooted for the football Bearcats during the show.

It was a phenomenal display in the sky that seemed to send a bit of a warning to Alabama: this team and its fans mean business.

"We have just been non-stop busy. Extended store hours. Tons of online orders," DuBois Book Store Operations Manager, Ty Bonawitz, said.

Counting down the days to the Cotton Bowl and fans are getting geared up for the Bearcats at DuBois Book Store.

Bonawitz said as soon as they put out new stuff, it's gone, and they have to restock again.

"The biggest problem we're having right now is the cotton shortage that we're dealing which is kind of ironic going to the Cotton Bowl," Bonawitz said.

Even the dogs are rooting on these cats — well, the book store owner's dog — who wanders around as shoppers pick their next piece of gear.

People said they're making a mad dash to get ready for Texas.

"Roll tide cool, but no, they ain't cool for us. We've got to beat them. We've got to beat them," fan, Jason Stewart, said.

Fans have a hearty appetite to see undefeated UC conquer in this historic appearance in the College Football Playoffs.

Over at Mio's, Rich Owens knows the team does, too.

They fed them on Monday.

"We had a whiteboard that we had every player on the team sign and then we're going to laminate it. We haven't titled it yet. We're hoping to put national champs on it," Owens said.

It's a moment in Bearcat history that will stick with the kids.

As the sun went down on Tuesday, there was a bit of an incognito pep rally to "Light Up Nippert Stadium."

There were fireworks and there was also a drone show with messages to root on the team.

"The programming that went into it and the messages up in the sky. They were really neat," fan, Kerri Todd, said.

Of course, there were also the signature UC chants to let Alabama know UC means business.

"I was excited. I was actually up there and he can vouch for me, I was jumping up and down. I was like, 'Oh my God, I can't wait,'" UC employee, Alex Coleman, said.

Fans said some people are driving to Texas and booking houses a couple of hours away so that they can still get close.

Even still, businesses believe turnout locally will be good.

According to officials, more than 150 synchronized drones were used in the show.

They also said a video shot at the event will be featured at some point during the Cotton Bowl.

College is a big adjustment, even more so this year as freshmen and seniors alike navigate a pandemic that has changed nearly everything about the college experience.

Campuses around the country are quieter as many students learn from home, tuning into lectures through video conferences. Social gatherings are limited and parties are nearly non-existent.

“It’s been difficult,” said Apshara Siwakoti, a freshman at the University of Denver.

Siwakoti is a refugee from Nepal and a biomedical engineering student. Like millions of college students across the country, this year is not what she had in mind. The first in her family to graduate high school, Siwakoti received her diploma through a car window this past spring and celebrated by calling her family over Zoom.

Now in college, Siwakoti has just a handful of friends that she has met through classes that have brought their own challenges.

“Sometimes I cannot grasp concepts because it’s through a screen instead of being face-to-face,” she said.

They are challenges Mariah Wellman has seen from both sides as a Ph.D. student and instructor at the University of Utah.

“I have been shown so much grace and flexibility from my faculty, from my committee members for my dissertation, the final big project that we do as doctoral candidates, and so it’s really encouraged me to show that on the other side,” said Wellman.

Wellman says this year--more than any other in her seven years of higher education--has brought stressors. There are fewer outlets and chances to decompress, and the college experience is only a shell of what she remembers from her undergraduate years.

“It’s really, really taxing,” she said. “It’s everything we’ve heard about for the last 9 or 10 months. Being on your computer all day long is not the healthiest way to do our jobs and to be a student.”

Wellman says the challenges have brought a focus to mental health that she says she has not seen before.

“Not only are students becoming more comfortable talking about their mental health with their peers, they’re also becoming more comfortable sharing with their instructors,” said Wellman. “For some instructors, it’s forced them to really consider that mental health aspect.”

Siwakoti says that support has been helpful and during this year a little help can go a long way.

“I’m doing fairly [well],” she said. “I’ve made that handful of friends that I can depend on. I have some adults I can go to if I want to talk. Class of 2020, we went through a pandemic; we can do anything.”