2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

The 2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati as a member of the Big East Conference during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats, led by third-year head coach Butch Jones, played their home games at Nippert Stadium. They finished the season 10–3 overall and 5–2 in Big East play to place in a four-way tie for the conference championship. Along with Rutgers, Louisville, and Syracuse, the Bearcats were the final football champions of the Big East Conference, as the league's original incarnation folded following the loss of the three former programs and others to different conferences. Cincinnati became a charter member of the American Athletic Conference the following season.

2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Big East co-champion
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Belk Bowl champion
Belk Bowl, W 48–34 vs. Duke
ConferenceBig East Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 22
Record10–3 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Bajakian (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorJohn Jancek (3rd season)
Home stadiumNippert Stadium
Seasons
← 2011
2013 →
2012 Big East Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 13 Louisville $+   5 2     11 2  
Cincinnati +   5 2     10 3  
Rutgers +   5 2     9 4  
Syracuse +   5 2     8 5  
Pittsburgh   3 4     6 7  
Connecticut   2 5     5 7  
Temple   2 5     4 7  
South Florida   1 6     3 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2012 Cincinnati team was invited to the Belk Bowl where they defeated Duke. At the end of the regular season, Jones resigned to take the same head coaching position at Tennessee. Defensive line coach Steve Stripling was named the interim head coach for the Belk Bowl.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 68:00 pmPittsburgh
ESPNW 34–1033,562
September 157:00 pmDelaware State*
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPN3W 23–727,112
September 293:30 pmvs. Virginia Tech*ESPNUW 27–2446,026
October 67:00 pmMiami (OH)* 
FS OhioW 52–1435,097
October 137:00 pmFordham*No. 21
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPN3W 49–1726,317
October 207:00 pmat Toledo*No. 21ESPN3L 23−2924,124
October 268:00 pmat No. 16 LouisvilleESPNL 31–34 OT53,271
November 312:00 pmSyracuse
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
Big East NetworkW 35–2426,180
November 1012:00 pmat TempleBig East NetworkW 34–1020,192
November 1712:00 pmNo. 22 Rutgers
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
Big East NetworkL 3–1034,526
November 237:00 pmSouth Florida
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPNW 27–1021,171
December 13:30 pmat ConnecticutABCW 34–1733,112
December 276:30 pmvs. Duke*ESPNW 48–3448,128
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

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Pittsburgh

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1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 0 0 3 7 10
Bearcats 14 3 7 10 34

Delaware State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Hornets 0 0 0 7 7
Bearcats 13 7 0 3 23

Virginia Tech

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1 2 3 4 Total
Hokies 0 7 0 17 24
Bearcats 3 3 7 14 27

Miami (OH)

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1 2 3 4 Total
RedHawks 6 8 0 0 14
Bearcats 14 10 21 7 52

Fordham

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1 2 3 4 Total
Rams 3 3 8 3 17
Bearcats 14 0 21 14 49

@ Toledo

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1 2 3 4 Total
#18 Bearcats 0 13 7 3 23
Rockets 10 6 10 3 29

@ Louisville

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1 2 3 4OT Total
Bearcats 10 7 7 70 31
#14 Cardinals 7 7 3 143 34

Syracuse

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1 2 3 4 Total
Orange 10 7 7 0 24
Bearcats 7 7 14 7 35

@ Temple

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bearcats 14 10 7 3 34
Owls 3 0 7 0 10

Rutgers

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1 2 3 4 Total
Scarlet Knights 0 7 0 3 10
Bearcats 0 0 0 3 3

South Florida

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 0 0 3 7 10
Bearcats 7 6 7 7 27

@ Connecticut

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bearcats 7 7 7 13 34
Huskies 0 10 7 0 17

Duke–Belk Bowl

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bearcats 3 14 10 21 48
Blue Devils 16 0 8 10 34

The Bearcats made their first ever appearance in the Belk Bowl and their first ever meeting with Duke. The Blue Devils raced out to an early 16–0 lead in the first quarter after a punt was blocked and recovered for a touchdown. The Bearcats then scored 27 unanswered points capped off by a 46-yard touchdown run by George Winn. The Blue Devils then scored back to back touchdowns to take a 31–27 lead. The Bearcats retook the lead with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Kay to Chris Moore. The Blue Devils then tied the game with a 52-yard field goal and the game seemed headed to overtime. With under a minute to play TE Travis Kelce took a short pass from Kay and broke several would be tackles in racing 83 yards for the winning score. Insult was added to injury when Nick Temple stripped the ball from Duke QB Sean Renfree and dashed 55 yards with the stolen loaf for a score as time expired. The 48 points is the most points scored by the Bearcats in a bowl game, and would be their largest margin of victory in a bowl game since 1997. This also gave the Bearcats their first consecutive bowl wins since 1946–47. The win gave the Bearcats their 4th 10-win season in the past five years.

Roster

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2012 Cincinnati Bearcats

Running backs

Wide receivers

Offensive linemen

 

Quarterbacks

Tight ends

Defensive linemen

Defensive backs

  • 2 Trenier Orr –   Freshman
  • 8 Adrian Witty –   Sophomore
  • 9 Dominique Battle –   Senior
  • 11 Deven Drane – Junior
  • 13 Pat Lambert –   Senior
  • 17 Malcolm Murray – Senior
  • 20 Chris Williams – Senior
  • 21 Camerron Cheatham –   Senior
  • 25 Arryn Chenault – Junior
  • 26 Drew Frey –   Senior
  • 27 Drake Bruns – Freshman
  • 29 Andre Jones – Freshman
  • 30 Aaron Roberson – Senior
  • 35 Dylan Coombs – Freshman
  • 36 Marcus Foster – Freshman
  • 39 Demitri Beal –   Sophomore
  • 40 Kevin Brown – Freshman
  • 48 Breon Mapp – Junior
 

Linebackers

  • 4 Maalik Bomar – Senior
  • 10 Jordan Luallen –   Junior
  • 33 Solomon Tentman –   Sophomore
  • 37 Joey Jones – Freshman
  • 38 Mason Antoun –   Freshman
  • 41 Kevin Hyland –   Freshman
  • 42 Corey Griffin – Freshman
  • 43 Nick Temple – Sophomore
  • 44 Corey Mason –   Sophomore
  • 45 Ey'Shawn McClain – Freshman
  • 46 Devin Bruns – Freshman
  • 47 Colin Lozier – Senior
  • 48 Jeff LucJunior
  • 50 Innocent Macha – Sophomore
  • 51 Greg Blair – Senior
  • 53 Franklin Bruscianelli – Freshman
  • 57 Clemente Casseus – Freshman

Special teams

  • 14 Tony Miliano –   Sophomore (K)
  • 61 Kirk Willis –   Freshman (LS)
  • 24 John Lloyd –   Sophomore (P)
  • 34 Pat O'Donnell – Junior (P)
  • 35 Eric Ernst –   Freshman (P)

Head coach

Assistant coaches

[1]

Depth chart

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Awards and milestones

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Big East Conference honors

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Big East Conference All-Conference First Team

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[2]

Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team

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[2]

Big East Conference All-Conference Third Team

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[2]

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
APRVRVRVRVRV2121RVRVRVRVRVRV
CoachesRVRVRVRVRV232018RVRVRVRVRVRV22
HarrisNot released2018RVRVRVRVRVRVNot released
BCSNot released21Not released

Players in the 2013 NFL draft

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Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Travis Kelce TE 3 63 Kansas City Chiefs

References

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  1. ^ "2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football roster". gobearcats.com. University of Cincinnati Athletics.
  2. ^ a b c "2012 Big East All-Conference Teams". College Sports Madness. Retrieved December 22, 2018.