# 2011 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

The 2011 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati as a member of the Big East Conference during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats were led by second-year head coach Butch Jones and played their home games at Nippert Stadium and two conference games at Paul Brown Stadium. They finished the season 10–3 overall and 5–2 in Big East play to share the conference championship with Louisville and West Virginia. Despite the conference title, which was their third in the last four years, they did not receive the conference's automatic bid into a BCS game (West Virginia received the bid based on BCS rankings). They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they defeated Vanderbilt 31–24.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 7:00 pm | Austin Peay* | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | FS Ohio | W 72–10 | 23,282 |
| September 10 | 3:30 pm | at Tennessee* | | Neyland StadiumKnoxville, TN | ESPN2 | L 23–45 | 94,207 |
| September 17 | 3:30 pm | Akron* | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPN3 | W 59–14 | 24,991 |
| September 22 | 8:00 pm | NC State* | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPN | W 44–14 | 28,431 |
| October 1 | 1:00 pm | at Miami (OH)* | | Yager StadiumOxford, OH (116th Victory Bell) | ESPN3 | W 27–0 | 16,408 |
| October 15 | 12:00 pm | Louisville | | Paul Brown StadiumCincinnati, OH (Keg of Nails) | Big East Network | W 25–16 | 40,971 |
| October 22 | 12:00 pm | at South Florida | | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | Big East Network | W 37–34 | 44,248 |
| November 5 | 7:00 pm | at Pittsburgh | No. 24 | Heinz FieldPittsburgh, PA (River City Rivalry) | ESPNU | W 26–23 | 49,362 |
| November 12 | 12:00 pm | West Virginia | No. 23 | Paul Brown StadiumCincinnati, OH | ABC/ESPN3 | L 21–24 | 48,152 |
| November 19 | 12:00 pm | at Rutgers | | High Point Solutions StadiumPiscataway, NJ | ESPNU | L 3–20 | 47,447 |
| November 26 | 12:00 pm | at Syracuse | | Carrier DomeSyracuse, NY | Big East Network | W 30–13 | 38,159 |
| December 3 | 12:00 pm | Connecticut | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPN | W 35–27 | 27,930 |
| December 31 | 3:30 pm | vs. Vanderbilt* | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (Liberty Bowl) | ABC | W 31–24 | 57,103 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 23 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 |
| Coaches | — | RV | — | — | — | RV | — | RV | 23 | 22 | 18 | RV | — | 25 | 24 | 21 |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | RV | RV | 24 | 23 | 22 | RV | RV | RV | 24 | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | 23 | — | — | — | — | Not released |

## Game summaries
### Louisville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Louisville | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| • Cincinnati | 0 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 25 |

## Awards and milestones
### Big East Conference honors

* Offensive Player of the Year: Isaiah Pead
* Defensive Player of the Year: Derek Wolfe
* Coach of the Year: Butch Jones

#### Big East Conference All-Conference Third Team
## Players in the 2012 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| Derek Wolfe | DT | 2 | 36 | Denver Broncos |
| Isaiah Pead | RB | 2 | 50 | St. Louis Rams |
| John Hughes | DT | 3 | 87 | Cleveland Browns |
| Adrien Robinson | TE | 4 | 127 | New York Giants |