# 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.
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

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 6 | 8:00 pm | Pittsburgh | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH (River City Rivalry) | ESPN | W 34–10 | 33,562 |
| September 15 | 7:00 pm | Delaware State* | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPN3 | W 23–7 | 27,112 |
| September 29 | 3:30 pm | vs. Virginia Tech* | | FedExFieldLandover, MD | ESPNU | W 27–24 | 46,026 |
| October 6 | 7:00 pm | Miami (OH)* | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH (Victory Bell) | FS Ohio | W 52–14 | 35,097 |
| October 13 | 7:00 pm | Fordham* | No. 21 | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPN3 | W 49–17 | 26,317 |
| October 20 | 7:00 pm | at Toledo* | No. 21 | Glass BowlToledo, OH | ESPN3 | L 23−29 | 24,124 |
| October 26 | 8:00 pm | at No. 16 Louisville | | Papa John's Cardinal StadiumLouisville, KY (Keg of Nails) | ESPN | L 31–34 $^{OT}$ | 53,271 |
| November 3 | 12:00 pm | Syracuse | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | Big East Network | W 35–24 | 26,180 |
| November 10 | 12:00 pm | at Temple | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | Big East Network | W 34–10 | 20,192 |
| November 17 | 12:00 pm | No. 22 Rutgers | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | Big East Network | L 3–10 | 34,526 |
| November 23 | 7:00 pm | South Florida | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPN | W 27–10 | 21,171 |
| December 1 | 3:30 pm | at Connecticut | | Rentschler FieldEast Hartford, CT | ABC | W 34–17 | 33,112 |
| December 27 | 6:30 pm | vs. Duke* | | Bank of America StadiumCharlotte, NC (Belk Bowl) | ESPN | W 48–34 | 48,128 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Pittsburgh

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

### Delaware State

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

### Virginia Tech

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

### Miami (OH)

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

### Fordham

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

### @ Toledo

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

### @ Louisville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Bearcats | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 31 |
| #14 Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 34 |

### Syracuse

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

### @ Temple

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

### Rutgers

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

### South Florida

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

### @ Connecticut

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

### Duke–Belk Bowl

| | 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
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Arryn Chenault
* Dominique Battle
| WLB | MLB | SLB |
| ⋅ | Greg Blair | ⋅ |
| Solomon Tentman | Clemente Casseus | ⋅ |
* SS
* Drew Frey
* Malcolm Murray
* CB
* Camerron Cheatham
* Leviticus Payne
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Brandon Mills | Camaron Beard | Jordan Stepp | Dan Giordano |
| Josh Posley | Adam Dempsey | John Williams | Silverberry Mouhon |
| Elijah Shuler | ⋅ | Mitch Meador | ⋅ |
* CB
* Deven Drane
* Trenier Orr
Offense :
* WR
* Kenbrell Thompkins
* Chris Moore
* Jeremy Graves
* WR
* Damon Julian
* Alex Chisum
* Nate Cole
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Eric Lefeld | Austen Bujnoch | Dan Sprague | Sam Longo | Parker Ehinger |
| Cory Keebler | Andre Cureton | Dominic Mainello | Parker Ehinger | Sean Hooey |
* WR
* WR
* Anthony McClung
* Danny Milligan
* Shaq Washington
* QB
* Brendon Kay
* Munchie Legaux
* Patrick Coyne
* RB
* George Winn
* Ralph David Abernathy IV
* Jameel Poteat
* Special teams
* PK Tony Miliano
* P Pat O’Donnell
* P John Lloyd
* KR Ralph David Abernathy IV/Anthony McClung
* PR Danny Milligan
* LS Kirk Willis
* H Pat O’Donnell

## 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 | RV | 21 | 21 | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 20 | 18 | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 20 | 18 | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |

## Players in the 2013 NFL draft

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