College Football Old School Game of the Week: Cincy Overcomes 21-Point Deficit to Complete Undefeated Regular Season

 

Armon Binns makes what would be the game-winning touchdown catch in the Bearcats' win over Pittsburgh in 2009.

The Cincinnati Bearcats entered the final game of the 2009 regular season not only with a chance of a conference championship and BCS bowl bid but a shot to complete the first undefeated regular season in school history.

The Bearcats were led by head coach Brian Kelly, who came over from Central Michigan to take over the job in Cincinnati prior to the Bearcats in the 2006 International Bowl in Toronto.

Kelly would lead the Bearcats to a 27-24 victory that day then led the Bearcats to their first 10-win season since 1949 with a 10-3 record in 2007 which was followed by a 11-3 season as Cincinnati won the Big East conference championship to earn an appearance in the Orange Bowl.

Despite starting the season unranked, the Bearcats would win their first 11 games of the season thanks in large part to senior quarterback Tony Pike and All-American wide receiver Marty Gilyard, who doubled as the Bearcats' kickoff return specialist, to push Cincinnati to #5 in the rankings and on the cusp of a second straight Big East title.

The Bearcats' success had garnered the attention of the University of Notre Dame who seemed poised to poach Kelly from the Queen City to take over the head coaching position in South Bend.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh came into the game ranked #15 with a 9-2 record but were coming off a tough 19-16 loss to arch rival West Virginia in the "Backyard Brawl" the week before.

Despite the loss, the Panthers still had a shot at the Big East title if they could knock off the Bearcats.

Pitt was coached by Dave Wannstedt, the former coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins, who was in his fifth season as the head coach of the Panthers and led by freshman running back Dion Lewis, who had run for 1,446 yards in Panthers' first 11 games and was 241 yards away from breaking Tony Dorsett's record of most rushing yards in a season by a freshman.

So a lot was on the line as the  Bearcats and Panthers met on a cold day with snow flurries set to fall in Heinz Field in Pittsburgh in the de facto Big East Championship Game.

After the Bearcats went three-and-out to start the game, the Panthers would drive 56 yards in 12 plays almost solely on the legs of Lewis who carried the ball 11 times for 51 yards with his last carry being a four-yard touchdown to give Pitt a 7-0 lead.

The Bearcats would respond with a seven-play, 66-yard drive which featured a 40-yard run by Isaiah Pead and did not end until Jacob Ramsey punched it in for a two-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 5:17 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers would rely on Lewis to get them down the field on their ensuing possession as he would get seven carries for 27 yards on a 12-play, 68-yard drive that culminated with a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bill Stull to Jonathan Baldwin to give Pitt a 14-7 lead just 47 seconds into the second quarter.

Dion Lewis would carry the ball 47 times for 194 yards and score three touchdowns.

Cincinnati would start its next drive at its 22-yard-line and would quickly drive to the Panthers' two-yard-line thanks to passes of 31 yards from Pike to Armon Binns and 19 to Gilyard, only to have Pike throw three straight incomplete passes, forcing the Bearcats to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Jake Rogers to cut the Pitt lead to 14-10 with 11:12 remaining in the second quarter.

It would only take the Panthers two plays to get back into the end zone as Stull would complete a 23-yard pass to Mike Shanahan to put Pitt into Cincinnati territory, then found Baldwin for a 40-yard touchdown to push the Pittsburgh lead into double digits at 21-10.

The Pitt defense would then force a turnover on the Bearcats' ensuing possession as Panthers strong safety Dom Decicco intercepted a Pike pass to give Pittsburgh the ball at the Cincinnati 49-yard-line.

Lewis would touch the ball on all seven of the Panthers' offensive plays on the drive as he carried the ball six times for 21 yards and caught a 12-yard pass to help set up a 33-yard field goal by Dan Hutchins to make it 24-10 in favor of Pittsburgh with 4:53 left before halftime.

Things would go from bad to worse for the Bearcats on their next drive when Rogers, who also served as the Cincinnati punter, had his punt blocked by Pitt linebacker Nate Nix to give the Panthers a 1st & goal at the Cincinnati five-yard-line.

After two runs by Lewis gained two yards, Stull kept the ball himself and ran in for a three-yard touchdown to push the Pitt lead to 31-10 with 1:26 to go in the first half.

With their dreams of an undefeated regular season going down the drain, the Bearcats needed a spark and would get on the ensuing kickoff as Gilyard returned the kick 99 yards for a touchdown to cut the Panthers' lead to 31-17 with 70 seconds left before halftime.

The Cincinnati defense would then force a three-and-out to get their offense the ball back at the Bearcats' 35-yard-line with hopes of getting more points before the end of the half.

But Pike would be intercepted by Pitt free safety Elijah Fields, who would return the pick 26 yards to the Bearcats' 44-yard-line giving the Panthers an excellent opportunity to increase their lead.

However, Stull would be picked off by Cincinnati defensive back Aaron Webster, whose 31-yard return to the Panthers' 46-yard-line gave the Bearcats one more chance at some points before halftime.

The Bearcats would only pick up nine yards to give Rogers a chance at a 55-yard field goal, which fell short and no good as time expired in the first half with the Panthers still ahead 31-17 and set to get the ball to start the second half.

Both teams would trade punts to start the second half until midway through the third quarter when Gilyard struck again as he caught a 68-yard touchdown from Pike to bring the Bearcats to within a touchdown at 31-24 with 8:12 left in the third quarter.

Cincinnati wide receiver Marty Gilyard caught five passes for 118 yards plus returned seven kickoffs for 256 yards.

After forcing the Panthers to punt on their ensuing possession, the Bearcats got the ball at their 24-yard-line and drove 18 yards to their 42-yard-line until Pike was picked off for the third time in the game, this time by Pitt free safety Jarred Holly, giving the Panthers the ball at their 17-yard-line.

The Panthers would drive to their 47-yard-line until Stull was picked off by Cincinnati cornerback Dominique Battle to give the ball back to the Bearcats at their seven-yard-line as the fourth quarter began.

However, the Bearcats would go three-and-out to give the ball back to the Panthers, who took over at the Cincinnati 32-yard-line following a 18-yard return by Aaron Smith.

From there, the Panthers would once again drive down the field on the legs of Lewis, who carried the ball four consecutive times for 32 yards, with the last carry being a 15-yard touchdown to push the Pitt lead back into double digits at 38-24 with 12:26 left in the fourth quarter.

Gilyard would give the Bearcats a short field to start their next possession as he returned the ensuing kickoff 49 yards to the Pitt 23-yard-line as it took Cincinnati four plays to get into the end zone as Pike connected D.J. Woods for an eight-yard touchdown to make it 38-30 as Rogers would miss the ensuing extra point.

Following a Pittsburgh three-and-out, the Bearcats would get the ball back at their 32-yard-line as Pike would complete all four of his passes for 44 yards on a seven-play drive which ended with an one-yard touchdown run by Pead to cut it to 38-36 as the Bearcats prepared to go for two.

Once again, Gilyard made his presence felt as he caught the two-point pass from Pike to tie the game at 38 with 5:46 left in regulation.

Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike would go 11-for-11 for 128 yards and threw two touchdown passes in the 4th quarter alone.

The Panthers would start their ensuing possession at their 33-yard-line as Lewis was dropped for a three-yard loss on the first play of the drive to set up 2nd & 13 when Stull connected with Baldwin for 13 yards and the 1st down.

Lewis would carry the ball on the next two plays, running for 12 yards and another 1st down which put Pitt at the Cincinnati 30-yard-line after a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Bearcats linebacker Walter Stewart.

Two more runs by Lewis netted only one yard to set up 3rd & 9 when Stull found Baldwin again, this time for 16 yards to give Pitt a 1st down at the Cincinnati 13-yard-line.

Lewis would get the ball again as he ran for eight yards on 1st down, then ran it in for the five-yard touchdown to break the tie and give Pitt a 44-38 lead.

But the ensuing extra point would not be attempted as holder Andrew Janocko mishandled the snap to keep the score 44-38 with 96 seconds left in the game, enough time for Cincinnati to drive down the field for a go-ahead touchdown and extra point.

The Bearcats would begin their ensuing drive at their 39-yard-line as Gilyard returned the ensuing kickoff 26 yards which he followed up with a seven-yard catch to start the Cincinnati drive.

Pike would then find Woods for 10 yards to put Cincinnati in Pitt territory, then hit Gilyard again for 15 yards to put the Bearcats at the Panthers' 29-yard-line with 39 seconds to go.

That is when Pike fired a pass for the goal line as Binns strided down the right sideline to make the catch for the 29-yard touchdown to tie the game at 44 with the all-important extra point coming up.

Rogers would calmly make the extra point to give the Bearcats their first lead of the game at 45-44 with 33 seconds to go.

Pitt would get the ball back at its 18-yard-line with one last chance to drive down for a potential game-winning field goal but it was not to be as Stull threw three straight incomplete passes to set up a do-or-die 4th down where Stull would be sacked by Bearcats defensive end Alex Daniels as time expired with Cincinnati coming away with the 45-44 win, their second straight Big East conference championship, and an undefeated regular season.

The Panthers would rebound from the heartbreaking loss to Cincinnati by defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 19-17 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte to earn Pitt its first 10-win season since 1981 and a #15 final ranking in both the final AP and coaches polls.

Lewis would run for 159 yards on 28 carries to break Dorsett's freshman record as Lewis finished with 1,799 yards, second best in school history behind Dorsett's 2,150 ran for in his Heisman trophy winning season in 1976.

As for the Bearcats, they would lose their head coach five days later as Kelly would accept the head coaching position at Notre Dame and would not coach Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl as offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn would coach the team.

The Bearcats would be destroyed by the Florida Gators 51-24 as Gators quarterback Tim Tebow would complete 31 of 35 passes for 482 yards and three touchdowns passes in his final collegiate game.

The loss dropped Cincinnati to #8 in the final AP poll and #9 in the final coaches poll as the Bearcats finished with a 12-1 record.