2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

	2008 Big East football standings
	† – BCS representative as champion ; Rankings from AP Poll

Cincinnati Bearcats football
	2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Big East champion
Orange Bowl, L 7–20 vs Virginia Tech
Conference	Big East
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 17
2008 record	11–3 (6–1 Big East)
Head coach	Brian Kelly (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Quinn (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Tresey (2nd season)
Home stadium	Nippert Stadium; (Capacity: 35,097)
	Seasons ← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by Brian Kelly, played its homes game in Nippert Stadium. Kelly was in his second full season with the Bearcats after coaching them to a 31–21 win against Southern Miss in the 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl. On Friday, November 28, 2008, the Bearcats clinched a share of the Big East Conference title for the first time since joining the Big East in 2005. With a victory over Syracuse on November 29, 2008 the Bearcats became the outright football champions of the Big East and set a record with an average attendance of 31,964. After a disappointing loss to Virginia Tech in the 2009 Orange Bowl, the Bearcats finished 17th in the AP Top 25 for the second consecutive year.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 28	7:30 PM	Eastern Kentucky*		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH		W 40–7	26,913
September 6	3:30 PM	at No. 4 Oklahoma*		Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	L 26–52	84,476
September 20	7:30 PM	Miami (OH)*		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (Battle for the Victory Bell)	ESPN360	W 45–20	31,629
September 27	7:30 PM	at Akron*		Rubber Bowl Akron, OH	FSN Ohio	W 17–15	16,927
October 3	8:00 PM	at Marshall*		Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN	W 33–10	29,237
October 11	12:00 PM	Rutgers		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	Big East Network	W 13–10	32,370
October 25	12:00 PM	at Connecticut		Rentschler Field East Hartford, CT	Big East Network	L 16–40	40,000
October 30	7:45 PM	No. 23 South Florida		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 24–10	31,175
November 8	7:00 PM	at No. 20 West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPNU	W 26–23 ^OT	59,834
November 14	8:00 PM	at Louisville	No. 22	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY (Battle for the Keg of Nails)	ESPN2	W 28–20	37,822
November 22	7:15 PM	No. 20 Pittsburgh	No. 19	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (River City Rivalry)	ESPN2	W 28–21	35,098
November 29	12:00 PM	Syracuse	No. 16	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	Big East Network	W 30–10	34,603
December 6	11:30 PM	at Hawaiʻi*	No. 13	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	ESPN2	W 29–24	40,549
January 1	8:00 PM	No. 19 Virginia Tech*	No. 12	Dolphin Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (2009 FedEx Orange Bowl)	FOX	L 7–20	73,602
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source: 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football schedule

Game summaries[]

Eastern Kentucky[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Eastern Kentucky	0	0	7	0	7
Cincinnati	6	20	14	0	40

^[1]

Oklahoma[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Cincinnati	0	13	7	6	26
#4 Oklahoma	14	7	21	10	52

^[2]

Miami[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Miami	0	13	7	0	20
Cincinnati	10	14	14	7	45

^[3]

Akron[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Cincinnati	7	0	7	3	17
Akron	3	6	0	6	15

^[4]

Marshall[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Cincinnati	2	14	10	7	33
Marshall	0	3	7	0	10

^[5]

Rutgers[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Rutgers	0	0	10	0	10
Cincinnati	3	7	3	0	13

^[6]

Connecticut[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Cincinnati	10	3	3	0	16
Connecticut	10	0	10	20	40

^[7]

South Florida[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
#23 South Florida	7	0	3	0	10
Cincinnati	10	7	0	7	24

^[8]

West Virginia[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Cincinnati	13	7	0	0	26
#20 West Virginia	7	0	0	13	23

^[9]

Louisville[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
#22 Cincinnati	7	7	7	7	28
Louisville	7	10	3	0	20

^[10]

Pittsburgh[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
#20 Pittsburgh	7	0	0	14	21
#19 Cincinnati	0	14	7	7	28

^[11]

Syracuse[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
Syracuse	0	3	0	7	10
#16 Cincinnati	7	6	10	7	30

Hawaii[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
#13 Cincinnati	3	7	0	19	29
Hawaii	0	3	14	7	24

Virginia Tech[]

	1	2	3	4	OT
#12 Cincinnati	7	0	0	0	7
#21 Virginia Tech	0	10	3	7	20

Awards and milestones[]

All-Americans[]

Kevin Huber, P

Post-season finalists and winners[]

Ray Guy Award: Punter of the Year - Kevin Huber (finalist)

Big East Conference honors[]

Special Teams Player of the Year: Mardy Gilyard^[12]
Coach of the Year: Brian Kelly^[12]

Offensive player of the week[]

Week 1: Dustin Grutza^[12]

Defensive player of the week[]

Week 10: Aaron Webster^[12]

Special teams player of the week[]

Week 2: Mardy Gilyard^[12]
Week 6: Connor Barwin^[12]
Week 7: Kevin Huber^[12]
Week 10: Mardy Gillard^[12]
Week 13: Jacob Rogers^[12]

Big East Conference All-Conference First Team[]

Mardy Gilyard, WR
Mardy Gilyard, KR

Connor Barwin, DL
Mike Mickens, DB
Brandon Underwood, DB
Kevin Huber, P

^[12]

Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team[]

Dominick Goodman, WR
Trevor Canfield, OL
Tony Pike, QB

Terrill Byrd, DL