Thursday, April 1, 1999
UC hopes spring is a new start
Football team wants to put dreadful 2-9 behind them
BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
1998? What 1998? The University of Cincinnati football team enters 1999 spring football drills today intent on forgetting last year's 2-9 season, which included the nation's worst scoring defense (41.5 points per game) in Division I-A.
Coach Rick Minter, entering his sixth UC season with a 24-31-1 record, hopes to steer UC back onto the path that led to a 1997 Humanitarian Bowl victory.
“We're certainly disappointed about the way last year turned out, and no one more than myself,” Minter said. “I'm determined to get this thing back on course.”
From 1995-97, Minter guided UC to three straight winning seasons for the first time since the 1970s. In 1998 the wheels came off dramatically as UC stumbled to an 0-9 start, with
Minter acknowledging the general lack of talent among his upperclassmen.
UC rallied to win its last two games, over Houston and Arkansas State. That sent the Bearcats into the winter on a positive note, but then Minter found himself replacing nearly half of his coaching staff.
“No one wants to come to a five-year reign and see you're right back where you started,” Minter said. “We went from 2-8-1 (in 1994) back to 2-9, but the sad thing is we had a lot better talent in '98 than in '94.”
Certainly the talent in '99 should be better, with a heavy influx of junior college players. A capsule look:
• Top returnees: Sophomore RB DeMarco McCleskey (861 yards rushing, 11 TDs), junior QB Deontey Kenner (2,047 yards passing, 6 TDs), senior safety Tinker Keck (knee injury in '98).
• New faces: There will be 12 junior college imports and five new assistant coaches, including offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher (former Auburn quarterbacks coach) and defensive coordinator Rick Smith, who helped oversee a 19-4 record as Tulane defensive coordinator the past two years.
• Key losses: WR-QB Chad Plummer (61 receptions), WR Cornelius Bonner (48 receptions), LT Brian Uhl, LB Hassan Champion (team-high 136 tackles).
• Strengths: The offensive backfield with with McCleskey and Kenner; solid but young offensive line; the return of NFL prospect Keck from a knee injury that led to him redshirting in '98.
• Weaknesses: Defense has no established pass rusher or run stopper. Offense must improve on last year's 37-turnover nightmare. Also, this will be the youngest team Minter has fielded at UC, with only seven starters returning.
• Big games: The highlight will be a visit to Ohio State on Sept. 25, the first football game between the schools since 1931. Wisconsin visits Sept. 18, and the annual Miami RedHawks game is Oct. 30 in Oxford.
• Don't be surprised if: UC pushes a .500 record. There is a virtual guaranteed win over Kent (0-11 last year) in the opener, winnable home games vs. Arkansas State, UAB and Memphis, and flip-a-coin games at Houston and East Carolina.
• Be surprised if: The Bearcats don't win at least four games.
In Conference USA, UC has caught a break in that the rotating schedule does not include nemesis Tulane, which has beaten UC by an average score of 39-22 the past three years.
The Bearcats have gone 5-12 in C-USA since it was formed in 1996. But nearly every C-USA school has changed defensive coordinators this year, and UC hopes to catch some teams in rebuilding modes.
“We want to bring respectability back to UC football,” Minter said. “When people play us, we want them to know they've got to bring their lunch.”
UC's intrasquad scrimmage will be April 24 at 2 p.m. in Nippert Stadium.
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