2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

American college football season February 2026 August 2023 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football Cincinnati University Bearcats textlogo.svg 250 Big East Conference Big East 17 17 11–3 6–1 Brian Kelly 2nd Jeff Quinn 2nd Multiple Joe Tresey 2nd 4–3 Nippert Stadium Big East champion Orange Bowl L 7–20 vs Virginia Tech 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 Poll for the second consecutive year. Schedule 2008 AP Eastern August 28 7:30 pm w y Eastern Kentucky Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH 40–7 26,913 September 6 3:30 pm l y y Oklahoma 4 Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK ABC 26–52 84,476 September 20 7:30 pm w y Miami (OH) Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH Victory Bell ESPN360 45–20 31,629 September 27 7:30 pm w y y Akron Rubber Bowl Akron, OH FSN Ohio 17–15 16,927 October 3 8:00 pm w y y Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV ESPN 33–10 29,237 October 11 12:00 pm w y Rutgers Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH Big East Network 13–10 32,370 October 25 12:00 pm l y Connecticut Rentschler Field East Hartford, CT Big East Network 16–40 40,000 October 30 7:45 pm w South Florida 23 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH ESPN 24–10 31,175 November 8 7:00 pm w y West Virginia 20 Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV ESPNU 26–23 OT 59,834 November 14 8:00 pm w y 22 Louisville Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY The Keg of Nails ESPN2 28–20 37,822 November 22 7:15 pm w 19 Pittsburgh 20 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH ESPN2 28–21 35,098 November 29 12:00 pm w 16 Syracuse Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH Big East Network 30–10 34,603 December 6 11:30 pm w y y 13 Hawaii Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI ESPN2 29–24 40,549 January 1 8:00 pm l y 12 Virginia Tech 19 Dolphin Stadium Miami Gardens, FL Orange Bowl FOX 7–20 73,602 Rankings 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings AP 0 16 RV RV NR NR NR NR NR RV RV NR RV 22 19 16 13 12 17 Coaches Poll 0 16 RV RV NR NR RV RV RV RV RV NR RV 22 20 16 12 12 17 Harris 5 15 RV RV RV RV NR RV 23 20 16 13 12 BCS 8 15 NR NR NR 22 19 16 13 12 Game summaries Eastern Kentucky 2008 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team Eastern Kentucky 0 0 7 0 Cincinnati 6 20 14 0http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-01.html Eastern Kentucky vs Cincinnati (Aug 28, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 Oklahoma 2008 Oklahoma Sooners football team Cincinnati 0 13 7 6 #4 Oklahoma 14 7 21 10http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-02.html Oklahoma vs Cincinnati (Sept 6, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081002192239/http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-02.html October 2, 2008 live Miami 2008 Miami RedHawks football team Miami 0 13 7 0 Cincinnati 10 14 14 7http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-03.html Miami vs Cincinnati (Sept 17, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 Akron 2008 Akron Zips football team Cincinnati 7 0 7 3 Akron 3 6 0 6http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game5.html Akron vs Cincinnati (Sept 27, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080929160635/http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game5.html September 29, 2008 live Marshall 2008 Marshall Thundering Herd football team Cincinnati 2 14 10 7 Marshall 0 3 7 0http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-05.html Marshall vs Cincinnati (Oct 3, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081207055058/http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-05.html December 7, 2008 live Rutgers 2008 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team Rutgers 0 0 10 0 Cincinnati 3 7 3 0http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-06.html Cincinnati vs Rutgers (Oct 11, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081016025704/http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-06.html October 16, 2008 live Connecticut 2008 Connecticut Huskies football team Cincinnati 10 3 3 0 Connecticut 10 0 10 20http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-07.html Connecticut vs Cincinnati (Oct 25, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081030031904/http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-07.html October 30, 2008 live South Florida 2008 South Florida Bulls football team #23 South Florida 7 0 3 0 Cincinnati 10 7 0 7http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-08.html Cincinnati vs South Florida (Oct 30, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081207025242/http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-08.html December 7, 2008 live West Virginia 2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football team Cincinnati 13 7 0 0 6 #20 West Virginia 7 0 0 13 3http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-09.html West Virginia vs Cincinnati (Nov 7, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 9, 2008 Louisville 2008 Louisville Cardinals football team #22 Cincinnati 7 7 7 7 Louisville 7 10 3 0http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-10.html Louisville vs Cincinnati (Nov 14, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 23, 2008 Pittsburgh 2008 Pittsburgh Panthers football team #20 Pittsburgh 7 0 0 14 #19 Cincinnati 0 14 7 7http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/game-11.html Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati (Nov 22, 2008) University of Cincinnati Sports Information November 23, 2008 Syracuse 2008 Syracuse Orange football team Syracuse 0 3 0 7 #16 Cincinnati 7 6 10 7 Hawaii 2008 Hawaii Warriors football team #13 Cincinnati 3 7 0 19 Hawaii 0 3 14 7 Virginia Tech 2009 Orange Bowl 2008 Virginia Tech Hokies football team #12 Cincinnati 7 0 0 0 #21 Virginia Tech 0 10 3 7 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 Coach of the Year: Brian Kelly Offensive player of the week Week 1: Dustin Grutza Defensive player of the week Week 10: Aaron Webster Special teams player of the week Week 2: Mardy Gilyard Week 6: Connor Barwin Week 7: Kevin Huber Week 10: Mardy Gillard Week 13: Jacob Rogers 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 https://gobearcats.com/documents/2011/9/2/11FB_Supplement.pdf 2011 Cincinnati Media Guide University of Cincinnati Athletics December 22, 2018 Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team Dominick Goodman, WR Trevor Canfield, OL Tony Pike, QB Terrill Byrd, DL Players in the 2009 NFL draft 2009 NFL draft 2 Cincinnati Bearcats Player Position Round Pick NFL club Connor Barwin DE 2 46 Houston Texans Kevin Huber P 5 142 Cincinnati Bengals DeAngelo Smith CB 5 143 Dallas Cowboys Brandon Underwood S 6 187 Green Bay Packers Mike Mickens CB 7 227 Dallas Cowboys Trevor Canfield G 7 254 Arizona Cardinals References Cincinnati Category:Cincinnati Bearcats football seasons Category:Big East Conference football champion seasons Cincinnati Bearcats football