Among the predictions for the new millennium that no one bothered to make is this: The University of Cincinnati will not win the national championship in football. Stranger things have happened and almost certainly will, but it would require UC to make a commitment -- and it's not a commitment worth making.
That given, Rick Minter's program has grown through fits and starts into a credible operation. The teams aren't always competitive, but the proportions of the program aren't given for consistent competition. This isn't Minter's fault and, indeed, he's done about everything he can to change it.
Even by Conference USA standards, UC's football facilities are beneath scale. Lacking even a 100-yard practice field on campus, Minter will never be able to recruit the best five or 10 players in Cincinnati or Ohio. And there's nothing wrong with that, because a university strapped for resources would be unwise to expend on football when there's no palpable desire for high-quality college football in the community or among the alumni.
But, then, one ought to be quite impressed when Minter brings his team to a day like Nov. 19, the kind of a day every good football team meets, for well or ill, a day that boils into a moment of truth. Only good teams meet the truth in late November. High school teams meet the truth of the playoffs, college teams meet the truth of bowl invitations and pro teams learn the truth of playoff position.
For UC to meet the truth in November is a triumph of work over wealth. For UC to prevail in that moment of truth is the ultimate tribute to kids and coaching, for the Bearcats have little else. They don't have a World Trade Center office space, they don't have the best players in America and they don't have the love of their community.
Many teams in the same straits haven't done as well, and many living higher and better have done worse.
The Bearcats met their moment of truth late in the afternoon of Nov. 19 as they trailed No. 24-ranked Southern Mississippi, 24-7, early in the fourth quarter at Nippert Stadium. Having already won six games, the Bearcats were bowl eligible, but that, combined with the tepid state of UC's following, guaranteed virtually nothing.
To some degree because of public appeals by UC players, 21,958 attended the game against a ranked opponent with UC's bowl hopes on the line. If attendance was a bit light by the standards of major college football, it was a good November house in Clifton. Typically, UC draws best early in the season when it's expected to do well. If the Bearcats play halfway through the season with a losing record, the sporting public loses interest and misses their best football, for Minter's teams usually finish strong.
As it happens, UC lost three of its first five but won four of the next five to arouse a smattering of curiosity. About 10,000 cursed that curiosity and thought they'd seen enough by early in the fourth quarter, when UC evidently had succumbed. About half the crowd sought an exit, which only meant, once again, that a fair share of UC's fandom missed the team's best football -- an inspired comeback triggered by an opportunistic defense and finished by the country's best kicker.
In the early minutes of the fourth quarter, UC linebacker Troy Evans stripped running back Dawayne Woods and recovered the fumble at the Southern Miss 30. Subsequently, UC quarterback Deontay Kenner threw a touchdown pass to Robert Drewery.
The Bearcats took the ball right back from Southern Miss when defensive tackle Kirk Thompson throttled quarterback Jeff Kelly. UC defensive end Antwan Peek recovered the fumble on the Southern Miss 15-yard line, and Kenner proceeded to pitch a 15-yard touchdown to Tye Keith.
Southern Miss couldn't move on its next possession, and the Bearcats set up on the enemy 29 after a 14-yard punt return by Antonio Chapman. The Bearcats couldn't move, either, but Jonathon Ruffin kicked a 41-yard field goal. The fourth period was about half over and the Bearcats had tied the game, 24-24, in a matter of 4:37.
With fewer than three minutes remaining, UC's Gerry Ruff picked a Southern Miss pass at the 50. The Bearcats bogged down at the Southern Miss 15 with 45 seconds remaining. But the game was in the bag because they were close enough for Ruffin, who entered the game with 24 successes in 27 field goal attempts.
Minter sent Ruffin into the game with nothing more than a wink. The kick was true, and in that very moment the Bearcats were legitimized, for two previous disappointing seasons were suddenly bookended by bowl appearances.
But victory at UC must always be buttressed by humility. Immediately after UC's 27-24 win, Minter spoke of UC's bowl prospects with a view toward preserving face for his program. The bowl committees are primarily interested in creating tourism revenue for their communities, and tourism revenue is precisely what UC can't deliver.
Three years ago, with an identical 7-4 record, the Bearcats faced sitting at home until new Athletic Director Bob Goin played every card in his hand and secured an invitation to the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho. It was a smart, resourceful play by Goin, and it's partly responsible for the fact that UC is in position for another bowl today.
But the prospect of a December football game in Boise stoked little holiday interest in the Tristate, and fewer than 1,000 made the trip. This is a statistic that will surely factor heavily with the bowl games choosing from among Conference USA teams.
Louisville, as conference champion, is headed for the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. The galleryfurniture.com Bowl in Houston has the second selection from Conference USA, with the Mobile (Ala.) Bowl and Detroit's Motor City Bowl next in line. Though the trip to Houston would be warmer and more prestigious, proximity favors the Motor City Bowl.
Then again, fewer than 22,000 bothered to enter Nippert Stadium to see UC play for a bowl against a ranked opponent, so it's hard to imagine 10,000 will be lured by the tropical setting of the Silverdome. But the Motor City Bowl is a better deal for UC boosters in terms of time and expense because it's only a half day's drive from Cincinnati.
And even if UC were, some year, good enough to wash through Southern Miss and East Carolina to win the conference title and the Liberty Bowl berth, no one supposes UC's travelling party would be thereby enlarged. So this, right now, is as good as it gets for UC football.
Across the institution, UC aspires to little more, if anything, for its football program. To break out of the Conference USA bowl arrangements, UC would have to be worthy of a Bowl Championship Series game, and that simply isn't in the cards. That company is simply too fast for UC, which is fine where it is.
But one wonders, as he has finally come up for air, if that's fine for Minter. Recall that he entered the season under pressure to win, outrageous though it was that his contributions to the program should have been challenged. No UC football coach since Sid Gillman had won so often and so cleanly.
Gillman moved on to bigger and better things, because there were bigger and better things to which he could move. The same ought to be true for Minter. Better jobs will come open, and he'll be attractive to someone. He took a putrid program to four winning seasons in the last seven and two bowl games in the last four years. He's done about all that can be done with this program. If he wants to do more, he'll have to do it somewhere else.
Considering the rapid procession of coaches that preceded Minter, it would be nice if he could set up shop in Clifton for the long haul. Maybe Minter could live with the lack of support if the expectations of his program were reasonable. But those preseason rumblings of his demise were a bad sign.
If UC expects to win without the support, maybe Minter should find a place that expects to win and provides the support. Maybe he should get out if and while he can.
