The last time the University of Cincinnati Bearcats played football at Nippert Stadium, they found themselves participating in a game that was billed as one of the most important in the history of the program.

        They lost that game to Purdue 19-14 before a sellout crowd of 35,000, the largest home crowd in the school's history. That was five weeks ago. Since then, they've split games with Army and Miami, lost their starting quarterback for the season to a knee injury, had one game postponed and sat through an off week.

        They return to Nippert at 7p.m. today to play Tulane in a game that is not regarded as anything special. But it might be a lot more fun to watch than the Purdue game.

        Tulane is an unimpressive 1-4 overall and 0-1 in Conference USA, its lone win coming last week against Southern. The Green Wave, which has won five straight against UC, use a fast-break, no-huddle offense that has averaged 445 yards a game, tops in the league. Led by senior quarterback Patrick Ramsey, Tulane averages nearly 300 yards through the air.

        But the Tulane defense is as leaky as the offense is explosive, surrendering a startling 529 yards a game.

        “We're struggling to score points,” coach Rick Minter said of his Bearcats (1-2, 0-1 C-USA0. “They're struggling to keep people from scoring points. It should be a hang-on-to-your-hat type of night.”

        This will be freshman quarterback Gino Guidugli's first appearance in front of a home crowd eager to see if he's as good as he indicated when he led UC to a come-from-behind victory at Army on Sept.8 after Adam Hoover was hurt.

        “This is a chance to get ourselves going,” Minter said. “We feel like it's been our shortcomings, our lack of execution that have caused us to come up short. Early in the year, we were heavily penalized, hurting ourselves. We've had a lack of rhythm, not running the ball effectively, miscues in the kicking game. I still think it's us. I still don't think we've been outclassed in the three games.” NOTES: As a security measure, no coolers, backpacks or large bags will be permitted inside Nippert tonight. ... ROTC members from UC will conduct a United Way collection as fans enter the stadium, part of Public Safety Appreciation Day. All firefighters, police and emergency response personnel will be admitted free, along with one guest, by presenting their badge or other form of identification ... UC wide receiver LaDaris Vann ranks third nationally with 27 catches for 273 yards.

UC returns to Nippert, action Top JUCO player Barbour to visit UC

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