Punter Adam Wulfeck, long kicker Jason Mammarelli and kicker Jonathan Ruffin. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        It figures to be a close game between Cincinnati and Marshall in the Motor City Bowl, so that means it'll come down to you know who:

        The kickers.

        Without their kickers, the Bearcats wouldn't be in the Motor City Bowl.

        They'd be home for the holidays, possibly looking for a new head coach and definitely not making inroads in the local prep recruiting wars.

        Instead, they're 7-4 and recipients of a $750,000 bowl payout and are entertaining higher-level local recruits than ever before.

        Hats off to the opportunistic defense and the comin'-alive offense, but without the kickers, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And you know what they say about kickers ...

        “(Former UC kicker) Joe Judge said it best: Everybody wants to be a kicker — except on game day,” punter Adam Wulfeck said.

        There may not be another trio of kickers as talented as UC's:

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Jonathan Ruffin (16) is congratulated by Joe Harrison after his field goal beat Southern Miss. 600 | 800 | 1024 (AP photo)

Jason Mammarelli (center) watches his game-winning kick against Syracuse. 600 | 800 | 1024 (Brandi Stafford photo)

        • Jason Mammarelli, whose 46-yard, buzzer-beating field goal upset Syracuse and got UC's season rolling, made UC's biggest early-season kick. (Sept. 10 story)

        • Jonathan Ruffin, who went on to win the Lou Groza Award (Dec. 6 story) and become UC's first consensus All- American, made the two biggest late-season kicks: a 37-yarder to beat Memphis on the road (Nov. 12 story) and put UC into a bowl and a 31-yarder to upset Southern Miss to give the Bearcats a fourth straight victory to end the regular season. (Nov. 19 story)

        • Wulfeck, the former Beechwood High running back, made second-team all-Conference USA punter for the second straight season. (Ruffin made the first team.)

        UC coach Rick Minter said as good as sophomore Ruffin and junior Wulfeck have been, Mammarelli can out-boot both of them in their specialties, but he isn't as consistent. Minter said “Mammo” would make a terrific project for a pro team because of his leg strength.

        “With all the teams and the developmental leagues, there may be a door that opens somewhere,” Mammarelli said.

        The king of calmness in big situations this season has been Ruffin, who was called upon regularly to hit field goals when the offense sputtered. He nailed 26 of his 29 attempts.

        “For me, the biggest thing is just not thinking,” Ruffin said. “I've been kicking since I was 15 years old. I shouldn't have to think when I go into the game. I don't think about the pressure. To me, that's the mental side of it. And that's why I say: Remove the thinking — just kick it. All three field goals I missed this season, I said to myself beforehand, “What happens if I miss?” Those are the only three kicks I thought about.”

        The reason everybody wants to be a kicker the other six days of the week is because kicking isn't the teeth-jarring, head-snapping, back-breaking role associated with the other football positions. The kickers are always practicing 90 minutes before the other guys arrive. Those guys see the kickers involved in only a few actual game-condition practice kicks in the first half-hour of practice, then watch them disappear up the steps.

        Some coaches and players have ribbed the kickers good-naturedly about watching soap operas during this down time.

        “We're not soap opera guys,” Mammarelli said. “We watch (special-team) tapes, lift weights, shoot hoops or play a little one-on-one passing game.”

        They're all good athletes: Mammarelli also played basketball and volleyball in high school; Wulfeck played basketball and tennis (besides running back, he also played safety and place-kicker), and Ruffin played soccer.

        OK, so it's not all work. Sometimes they play home run derby with homemade adhesive-tape balls and stretching sticks, do some “creative decorating” in the locker room if some player “has something coming,” and occasionally raid special teams coach Amos Jones' desk for candy.

        “He thinks it's locked and we can't get in it, but we aren't as dumb as he thinks,” Wulfeck said.

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