 The Bearcats opened the 2008 college football season against Eastern Kentucky, winning 40 – 7 in an offensive effort led by senior quarterback Dustin Grutza, who was named the team's starter at that position following Mauk's dismissal. For its second game of the season, Cincinnati traveled to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the Oklahoma Sooners for the first time. In a 52 – 26 loss to a team that would play for the national championship that season, Grutza broke his ankle and was replaced by junior Tony Pike.
