ARLINGTON, Texas — While Cincinnati did not win, two special teams players garnered some attention in UC's loss to Alabama in the College Football Playoff.

Middletown native Cole Smith scored the Bearcats' only points, drilling his first field goal since Oct. 8 on Cincinnati's first drive of the day. He followed it up with a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Freshman punter Mason Fletcher gave UC several opportunities, putting Alabama inside their own 10-yard line twice in the second quarter. The second of those two punts was muffed by returner JoJo Earle, and an Alabama player received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for throwing Fletcher in the scrum.

Fletcher, whose father Dustin played 400 games in the Australian Football League, even hit the billionaire strut after perfectly placing a 54-yard punt. Former pro punter Pat McAfee called Fletcher "a problem" in a video posted on Twitter.

"Good luck Saban," McAfee said. "You're preparing for Desmond Ridder, prepare for Mason Fletcher — it's impossible."

Another great moment for the Bearcats? Mount Healthy High School grad Bryan Cook intercepting Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. Cook had only one scholarship offer as a high school senior during the 2016 season. Five years later, he is an American Athletic Conference first-team selection and one of five UC seniors to accept an invitation to the Senior Bowl in February.

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Jerome Ford envisioned helping Cincinnati win games and a conference title when he transferred there two years ago.

The running back never really thought about facing his former team or being part of the College Football Playoff, though he will do both when the undefeated American Athletic Conference champion Bearcats play defending national champ Alabama in a CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl on Friday.

“It didn’t really cross my mind,” Ford said about Cincinnati becoming the first non-Power Five team to reach the four-team playoff. “The only thing I thought about…is how could I contribute to help win games and win a conference championship. Anything else would have been a plus.”

After playing in only four games in each of his two seasons at Alabama, the 5-foot-11, 215-pound Ford has 1,242 yards and 19 touchdowns rushing with five 100-yard games in his second season at Cincinnati (13-0).

“I’m a Bearcat and I would kind of appreciate it if people stopped calling me 'the Alabama transfer,'” Ford said.

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CINCINNATI — University of Cincinnati fans celebrated the Bearcats' perfect regular season Friday at local restaurants and bars.

“I’ve been a superfan! I grew up in Cincinnati, I’ve had season tickets since 2006, I don’t even remember the first game I went to — that’s how big of a superfan I am,” Joseph Kelly said.

Kelly, a junior at UC, watched the team play East Carolina with his friends on Short Vine — a staple for students and alumni.

“It’s awesome. I couldn’t have been in school at a better time," Kelly said.

A few East Carolina fans did sneak into the watch party — including Byron Walton's nephew.

"Hey, it's a holiday weekend," Walton said. "We have a lot of family in from out of town. It's so great to get everyone together."

Walton said the two have a nice rivalry, though his nephew admitted he was nervous to go to bar. While they are not on the field, fans felt the pressure for the Bearcats to complete a perfect regular season — especially with the College Football Playoff on the line.

"We came out of the gate slow," Walton said. "You can feel the anxiety, you can feel that weight, but once that settles...the team does what they do."

And what they did was win. Now, Bearcats fans are hoping the team wins the AAC championship Dec. 4 in hopes of becoming the first team outside of a Power Five conference to compete in the four-team playoffs.

"The OSUs, the Alabamas, they get this every year," Kelly said. "UC fans don't get this every year, so I think it's just awesome that we finally get to experience it. Hopefully, we can keep this rolling for years and years and years."

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CINCINNATI — When University of Cincinnati head football coach Luke Fickell says he could not do it without his wife, he is telling the truth.

While the coach of the undefeated Bearcats is on the sideline Saturday, Amy Fickell is taking care of their children – getting the kids to football, volleyball and wherever else they need to go.

"It's not any different than any other mom probably. I just do most of it by myself — and there's six of them," Fickell said.

The Fickells' youngest twins, Lakyn and Lucian, are in first grade; Ashton and Aiden, their oldest twins, are in eighth grade; daughter Luca is a junior at Saint Ursula; and son Landon is a freshman at UC. All of the kids have after-school activities.

"My youngest twins just finished their football season last weekend, my oldest twins are in their football playoffs Saturday, my daughter is in her volleyball districts Saturday and then my oldest is, you know, on the football team at UC," Fickell said.

Fickell's day is filled with more than just chauffeuring her children from game to game. On Oct. 28, Fickell finished bible study, picked up her kids from school and headed to UC practice to hand out Halloween candy to the team — getting a chance to see her husband and son.

"You know she has seven kids," Luke Fickell said. "Six real ones and me she calls the seventh, so she's got a lot on her hands."

Fickell said she does not mind the heavy lifting, understanding her husband's difficult job.

"I just kind of get it done here because he's got a lot," Fickell said. "He's got a lot on his plate, so that's kind of just how we work."

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That can mean Fickell is representing both parents at most of their kids' events.

"I go to football games, and I holler at my boys," Fickell said. "You know, it bugs me just as much as it bugs him when they're not tough, and they're not going full go — I can't stand it. You kind of have to be that little bit of a dad, too, because there isn't a dad there watching."

During the football season, Fickell said, the children do not get to see their dad a lot, maybe seeing him before bed on Wednesday or Thursday nights, but their family motto is "it's about quality, not quantity" — and this family is a team.

"To have our kids be able to do all the things that they do, for her to be able to handle it the best way, knowing that I'm not going to be much of a help in a lot of things...not everybody can do that and not everyone can handle that," Luke Fickell said.

Fickell left UC practice to take her older twins to practice, pick up her daughter from volleyball and — at one point — eat dinner. She does not complain, though, saying she knew what she was getting into.

CINCINNATI — UC football is making the cash register ring in sports bars and souvenir shops all over town, but what kind of economic impact is Cincinnati getting from a college football program near the top of the national rankings?

That depends on what you mean by impact.

“I’m certain that we are having an impact on our local economy,” said UC Athletic Director John Cunningham. “We’ve sold out three of the last four games. We’re sold out again this week. Certainly, when people are coming into Nippert, they’re spending money in and around Clifton.”

Marty Angiulli can attest to that. The owner of Martino’s Sports Bar on Short Vine said 2021 is shaping up to be his best year in decades, with game-day revenue reaching $20,000 – or three to five times his normal volume.

“This football season, I don’t know what you can compare it to,” he said. “Did Moses parting the Red Sea help the Jewish people? That’s the comparison. I mean, it’s that big.”

Cunningham expects UC sports programs to eclipse last year’s $81 million in total revenue, thanks to increased ticket sales and donations. But he’s yet to see any analysis of whether the Bearcats’ on-the-field success has led to increased enrollment or off-campus spending.

“Obviously, there will be a day and time that we’ll go back and look at the economic impact of this season, but that will happen down the line,” he said. “I know people from Texas and Maryland and New Jersey that come in every week for our games. So, we certainly are driving people from all over the country to our games.”

College sports programs all over the country have quantified the impact of their programs by attaching multipliers to on-campus and off-campus spending. That led the University of Maryland to conclude last September that each Terrapins game “supports an estimated $27.3 million in economic activity in the state of Maryland,” including $6.4 million in labor income and $1.8 million in state and local taxes.

But a 2007 study concluded college football had no discernable impact on employment or personal income in the 63 cities it analyzed.

“Neither the number of home games played, the winning percentage of the local team, nor winning a national championship has a discernible impact on either employment or personal income in the cities where the teams play,” wrote the study’s authors. “While successful college football teams may bring fame to their alma mater, fortune appears to be a bit more elusive.”

On the fame front, UC is more than holding its own, with national media outlets tracking both its rise and the Heisman Trophy potential of quarterback Desmond Ridder.

More than 6.6 million people saw UC’s last three games, according to the ratings tracker ShowBuzzDaily. UC’s win against Notre Dame drew its highest regular-season TV rating since 2012.

On social media, Cunningham said UC has the nation’s fastest-growing Instagram account among college sports programs. And its TikTok account is attracting attention with well-produced videos like this Sept. 20 offering that features wide receiver Tre Tucker.

@gobearcatsfb BACK IN BLACK FOR GAME TWO. #Bearcats #collegefootball #fyp #foryou ♬ SICKO MODE - Travis Scott

“It’s really fun to hear the current students talk about the buzz on TikTok for UC football,” said Roseann Hassey, assistant marketing professor at UC. “We were just talking about it in class yesterday.”

Because of TikTok’s popularity with younger audiences, Hassey thinks UC could be in for an enrollment spike.

“I’ve actually heard that from people in the community, that their children are really interested in UC when they might have been considering going to another Ohio state school,” Hassey said.

“That brand recognition is almost impossible to quantify,” Cunningham said. “We’re on ABC this week, national television. It means we’re in every bar and restaurant in the country, from Anchorage, Alaska, to New York City to Dallas, Texas, right? That’s a big thing. And it helps not only our football program, but it helps every single one of our sports.”