2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Big East co-champion
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy
Belk Bowl champion
Belk Bowl, W 48–34 vs. Duke
ConferenceBig East Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 22
Record10–3 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Bajakian (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorJohn Jancek (3rd season)
Home stadiumNippert Stadium
Seasons
← 2011
2013 →
2012 Big East Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 13 Louisville $+   5 – 2     11 – 2  
Cincinnati +   5 – 2     10 – 3  
Rutgers +   5 – 2     9 – 4  
Syracuse +   5 – 2     8 – 5  
Pittsburgh   3 – 4     6 – 7  
Connecticut   2 – 5     5 – 7  
Temple   2 – 5     4 – 7  
South Florida   1 – 6     3 – 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

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

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 68:00 pmPittsburgh
ESPNW 34–1033,562
September 157:00 pmDelaware State*
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPN3W 23–727,112
September 293:30 pmvs. Virginia Tech*
ESPNUW 27–2446,026
October 67:00 pmMiami (OH)*dagger
FS OhioW 52–1435,097
October 137:00 pmFordham*No. 21
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPN3W 49–1726,317
October 207:00 pmat Toledo*No. 21
ESPN3L 23−2924,124
October 268:00 pmat No. 16 Louisville
ESPNL 31–34 OT53,271
November 312:00 pmSyracuse
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
Big East NetworkW 35–2426,180
November 1012:00 pmat Temple
Big East NetworkW 34–1020,192
November 1712:00 pmNo. 22 Rutgers
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
Big East NetworkL 3–1034,526
November 237:00 pmSouth Florida
  • Nippert Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
ESPNW 27–1021,171
December 13:30 pmat Connecticut
ABCW 34–1733,112
December 276:30 pmvs. Duke*
ESPNW 48–3448,128
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All 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

See also: 2012 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Delaware State

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

See also: 2012 Delaware State Hornets football team

Virginia Tech

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

See also: 2012 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

Miami (OH)

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

See also: 2012 Miami RedHawks football team

Fordham

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

See also: 2012 Fordham Rams football team

@ Toledo

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

See also: 2012 Toledo Rockets football team

@ Louisville

1 2 3 4OT Total
Bearcats 10 7 7 70 31
#14 Cardinals 7 7 3 143 34

See also: 2012 Louisville Cardinals football team

Syracuse

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

See also: 2012 Syracuse Orange football team

@ Temple

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

See also: 2012 Temple Owls football team

Rutgers

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

See also: 2012 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

South Florida

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

See also: 2012 South Florida Bulls football team

@ Connecticut

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

See also: 2012 Connecticut Huskies football team

Duke–Belk Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total
Bearcats 3 14 10 21 48
Blue Devils 16 0 8 10 34

See also: 2012 Duke Blue Devils football team and 2012 Belk Bowl

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

2012 Cincinnati Bearcats

Running backs

  • 1 Ralph David Abernathy IV – Sophomore
  • 22 Jameel Poteat – Freshman
  • 23 Tion Green – Freshman
  • 25 Rob Rice – Redshirt Freshman
  • 31 Deionte Buckley – Freshman
  • 32 George Winn – Redshirt Senior
  • 38 Adam Fearing – Senior
  • 49 Anthony King – Junior

Wide receivers

  • 2 Dyjuan Lewis – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 3 Braxton Lane – Freshman
  • 6 Anthony McClung – Junior
  • 7 Kenbrell Thompkins – Senior
  • 15 Chris Moore – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 16 Damon Julian – Senior
  • 19 Shaq Washington – Redshirt Freshman
  • 20 Leviticus Payne – Freshman
  • 24 Chris Burrell – Sophomore
  • 80 Alex Chisum – Sophomore
  • 82 Max Morrison – Redshirt Freshman
  • 83 Danny Milligan – Redshirt Senior
  • 84 Nate Cole – Freshman
  • 85 Bruce Horner – Redshirt Senior
  • 87 Jacob Giltrow – Redshirt Freshman
  • 87 Jeremy Graves – Freshman
  • 88 Shakim Alonzo – Freshman

Offensive linemen

  • 59 Deyshawn Bond – Freshman
  • 60 Sam Longo – Junior
  • 62 Cory Keebler – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 63 Dan Sprague – Redshirt Junior
  • 66 Sean McClellan – Redshirt Junior
  • 68 Daniel Murray – Redshirt Freshman
  • 69 Dominic Mainello – Sophomore
  • 71 Eric Lefeld – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 73 Ryan Leahy – Freshman
  • 74 Justin Murray – Redshirt Freshman
  • 75 Kevin Schloemer – Sophomore
  • 76 Austen Bujnoch – Junior
  • 77 Sean Hooey – Senior
  • 78 Parker Ehinger – Redshirt Freshman
  • 79 Andre Cureton – Redshirt Junior
  

Quarterbacks

  • 4 Munchie Legaux – Junior
  • 9 Patick Coyne – Redshirt Freshman
  • 10 Bennie Coney – Freshman
  • 11 Brendon Kay – Redshirt Senior
  • 12 Trenton Norvell – Freshman

Tight ends

  • 18 Travis Kelce – Redshirt Senior
  • 35 Josh Russ – Sophomore
  • 46 Jared Golden – Freshman
  • 48 Matt Staubachh – Redshirt Freshman
  • 81 DJ Dowdy – Freshman
  • 86 Blake Annen – Redshirt Junior
  • 86 Demetrius Richardson – Senior

Defensive linemen

  • 46 Mitch Meador – Redshirt Junior
  • 50 Alex Pace – Freshman
  • 52 Elijah Shuler – Junior
  • 54 Walter Stewart – Junior
  • 55 Roney Lozano – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 57 Carroll Phillips – Freshman
  • 58 Brandon Mills – Redshirt Senior
  • 65 Connor Donnini – Freshman
  • 67 John Williams – Senior
  • 70 Brandon Mitchell – Redshirt Freshman
  • 90 Camaron Beard – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 91 Adam Dempsey – Sophomore
  • 92 Silverberry Mouhon – Redshirt Freshman
  • 93 Brad Harrah – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 94 Jordan Stepp – Redshirt Junior
  • 95 Jonathan Burt – Freshman
  • 96 Josh Posley – Freshman
  • 97 Chad Hannah – Redshirt Freshman
  • 98 Chad West – Redshirt Freshman
  • 99 Dan Giordano – Redshirt Senior

Defensive backs

  • 2 Trenier Orr – Redshirt Freshman
  • 8 Adrian Witty – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 9 Dominique Battle – Reshirt Senior
  • 11 Deven Drane – Junior
  • 13 Pat Lambert – Redshirt Senior
  • 17 Malcolm Murray – Senior
  • 20 Chris Williams – Senior
  • 21 Camerron Cheatham – Reshirt Senior
  • 25 Arryn Chenault – Junior
  • 26 Drew Frey – Reshirt Senior
  • 27 Drake Bruns – Freshman
  • 29 Andre Jones – Freshman
  • 30 Aaron Roberson – Senior
  • 35 Dylan Coombs – Freshman
  • 36 Marcus Foster – Freshman
  • 39 Demitri Beal – Reshirt Sophomore
  • 40 Kevin Brown – Freshman
  • 48 Breon Mapp – Junior
  

Linebackers

  • 4 Maalik Bomar – Senior
  • 10 Jordan Luallen – Redshirt Junior
  • 33 Solomon Tentman – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 37 Joey Jones – Freshman
  • 38 Mason Antoun – Redshirt Freshman
  • 41 Kevin Hyland – Redshirt Freshman
  • 42 Corey Griffin – Freshman
  • 43 Nick Temple – Sophomore
  • 44 Corey Mason – Redshirt Sophomore
  • 45 Ey'Shawn McClain – Freshman
  • 46 Devin Bruns – Freshman
  • 47 Colin Lozier – Senior
  • 48 Jeff Luc – Junior
  • 50 Innocent Macha – Sophomore
  • 51 Greg Blair – Senior
  • 53 Franklin Bruscianelli – Freshman
  • 57 Clemente Casseus – Freshman

Special teams

  • 14 Tony Miliano – Redshirt Sophomore (K)
  • 61 Kirk Willis – Redshirt Freshman (LS)
  • 24 John Lloyd – Sophomore Sophomore (P)
  • 34 Pat O'Donnell – Junior (P)
  • 35 Eric Ernst – Redshirt Freshman (P)

Head coach

Assistant coaches

  • Steve Stripling – Asst HC/co-defensive Coord/DL
  • Mike Bajakian – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
  • Mark Elder – Special teams coordinator/safeties
  • John Jancek – Defensive coordinator/linebackers
  • Don Mahoney – Offensive line Coach
  • Shannon Morrison – Cornerbacks coach
  • T. J. Weist – Wide receivers Coach/recruiting coordinator
  • Dave Johnson – Tight ends coach
  • Dave Lawson – Asst. AD/Sports Performance
  • Roy Manning – Running backs coach
  • Mike Szerszen – Director of Football Strength and Conditioning

[1]

Depth chart

Awards and milestones

Big East Conference honors

Big East Conference All-Conference First Team

[2]

Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team

[2]

Big East Conference All-Conference Third Team

[2]

Rankings

See also: 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
APRVRV—RVRVRV2121RVRV——RVRVRVRV
CoachesRVRVRVRVRV232018RVRV—RVRVRVRV22
HarrisNot released2018RVRV—RVRVRVRVNot released
BCSNot released21———————Not released

Players in the 2013 NFL draft

See also: 2013 NFL Draft
Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Travis Kelce TE 3 63 Kansas City Chiefs

References

  1. ^ "2012 Cincinnati Bearcats football roster". gobearcats.com. University of Cincinnati Athletics.
  2. ^ a b c "2012 Big East All-Conference Teams". College Sports Madness. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
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