Surprising Bearcats raise Kelly’s profile

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, November 11, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

College Football
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It's hard not to root for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. And if the team continues on its current path, it will be equally difficult not to vote for Brian Kelly as Big East Coach of the Year.

Here are some of the reasons why the Bearcats should not be 7-2 at this point.

1. Last year's star quarterback, Ben Mauk, failed to convince the NCAA that he really deserved a sixth year of eligibility (most NFL quarterbacks don't last that long).

2. Which was OK, because backup Dustin Grutza was quite effective as a sophomore starter. Except that Grutza suffered a season-ending injury against Oklahoma (one of UC's two losses).

3. Tony Pike then stepped in for Grutza and played well -- until he broke his left arm (non-throwing). A couple of weeks later, he was back.

4. The Bearcat offensive line is on the small side by today's college standards, especially guard Jason Kelce and center Chris Jurek.

5. Defensive tackle Terrill Byrd, projected as an All-American this season, has been hampered by injuries and double teams and has just 28 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

6. The Bearcats are giving up 385 yards a game in total offense.

7. Running backs Jacob Ramsey and John Goebel are more like fullbacks, averaging under 5.0 yards a carry and operating mostly between the tackles.

So why is this team on the inside track to the Orange Bowl? Part of it is Kelly's spread, no-huddle offense. For a team that's a bit undersized, this is a marvelous equalizer, running the bigger linemen on the opposing team until their tongues hang out. The Bearcats have three fast and slippery receivers in Mardy Gilyard, Dominick Goodman and Marcus Barnett, and the team averages an eye-popping 12 yards per catch.

Gilyard wasn't even on the squad last year, having flunked off. Connor Barwin, who played tight end last season, is now a defensive end with seven sacks.

That's part of what makes Kelly a good coach -- the gift of looking at players with fresh eyes to see who might be better suited for another position. As for his motivational skills, the Bearcats followed a resounding 40-16 loss at Connecticut with upsets of South Florida (24-10) and West Virginia (26-23 in overtime).That says a lot about Kelly's ability to re-energize his troops.

UC has games remaining with Louisville (the Keg of Nails game), Pitt, Syracuse and Hawaii, so an 11-2 season is not out of the question.

Prior to 2008, just about everyone who followed the Big East picked the West Virginia-South Florida game to decide the conference's BCS representative. Instead, it could well be Cincinnati at Pitt.

The Bearcats have a few big-time players (DBs Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith, DT Byrd, punter Kevin Huber), but most of them were lightly regarded out of high school. Even Mickens, now just 170 pounds, was deemed too fragile for Division 1-A combat.

Gilyard was undoubtedly a difference-maker. He's scored nine touchdowns this season, two on returns, and hauled the opening kickoff back 100 yards against West Virginia.

The real difference-maker, though, was Brian Kelly, who is now being mentioned in connection with coaching vacancies at Tennessee, Clemson, Kansas State and just about everywhere else that an opening appears.

That's the price a team pays for success. Right now, Cincinnati is glad to pay it.

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