UC football facing Miami University next: RedHawks last hoisted Victory Bell in 2005

On Sept. 28, 2005, the University of Cincinnati played a Wednesday night game in Oxford against Miami University. It was UC's second season under Mark Dantonio and after winning the Fort Worth Bowl in his first season with a 7-5 record, the Bearcats were incredibly young.

The previous season, Dantonio won his first Victory Bell 45-26 at Nippert Stadium. On this night on ESPN2 featuring Olympic soccer gold medalist Heather Mitts on the sidelines, Miami returned the favor, dismantling the Bearcats 44-16.

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Josh Betts threw for 359 yards and three scores and Martin Nance had eight catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns. They had 539 yards of total offense and they picked off UC's Dustin Grutza five times. The RedHawks have not won the game since.

Future NFL players on that UC team included Brent Celek, Kevin Huber, Connor Barwin, John Bowie, Jeff Linkenbach, Mike Mickens and Haruki Nakamura. They prevailed the following year 24-10 and the Victory Bell has remained in UC's possession. Last year's 38-17 victory put the Bearcats above .500 in the series 60-59-7.

It's been nearly 18 years

Most of the combatants of this weekend's gathering were toddlers when the RedHawks last rung the Victory Bell. UC's win streak is at 16 now while Miami's longest streak was five between 1971 and 1975.

Delays force long weekend for RedHawks

In his Monday press conference, Miami coach Chuck Martin said the RedHawks didn't arrive home until 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. Their game at Massachusetts was slated to start at 3:32 p.m. and didn't end until 12:28 a.m., well after UC's night game with Pitt. The teams waited through a total of five hours and 35 minutes of weather delays.

"We went out there to warm up and it's bright and sunny and we're in a weather delay," Martin said. "There's no rain for four hours. Then the storm comes and there's lightning everywhere. Then you sit there for three hours and you eat your post-game meal in the middle of the first quarter."

The teams agreed to stick around and Miami was able to even their record at 1-1.

Miami led 21-0 after a quarter and 28-7 at the half, but UMass cut it to 28-21 in the third and 31-28 in the fourth with just over 11 minutes left. The RedHawks scored the final 10 points of the game for the 41-28 final.

Miami's Chuck Martin on the Bearcats

After traveling south and losing to the Miami Hurricanes 38-3, then the long weekend in Amherst, the third straight road game for the RedHawks will be about 48 minutes from their Oxford campus. The game was last played in Oxford in 2017 in Luke Fickell's first season when the Bearcats escaped with an unlikely 21-17 win after scoring 15 unanswered points in less than three minutes.

On Emory Jones: "I think he had like 3,600 yards one year in the SEC running and throwing (3,492 in 2021 at Florida). You're doing it against the best of the best. He's completed 75% of his passes in two games and he's a big strong horse as a running threat."

On Corey Kiner: "The Kiner kid is tremendous. You talk about contact balance, power, physical, speed strength, he's every bit as good as the Miami, Florida running backs. Maybe a hair better if you ask our defensive coaches."

On UC's defensive line: "Their down three kids are just big, physical dudes. They're fun to watch. Not fun to play against, but fun to watch. They are wreaking havoc. They'll drop eight and rush three and those three guys are very immovable. Three guys take up more than three gaps in there."

Martin was alarmed when he saw UC crush Eastern Kentucky. He hoped EKU wasn't good, then saw the Colonels had a late lead on Kentucky.

"Then they (UC) went to Pitt and Pitt's been very good the last few years and it's 27-7 at half (actually after three quarters) and it's a whoopin'!" Martin said. "Coach Narduzzi's teams are always physical and nasty and Cincinnati really took it to them in the first half."

RedHawks would like a UC win on their resumé

Junior Matt Salopek had nine tackles and a sack last year in the 38-17 loss to UC. The 6-1, 230-pound middle linebacker leads the RedHawks with 17 tackles and is part of a defense returning nine starters.

"It's always different against UC," Salopek said of the rivalry. "Obviously we haven't beaten them in a long time. Rain, snow, sunny, whatever it is, we're always excited to go down to Nippert and have a chance to beat UC. It's the type of game that helps you as a team and as a player on this team leave a legacy here at Miami. If we're able to do this it's a big momentum shift for Miami football."

Miami's players to watch

Quarterback Brett Gabbert was 12-for-22 passing for 302 yards and four touchdowns at UMass with three of those going to 5-10, 165-pound Gage Larvadain, including a record-setting 99-yard score. On the ground 6-2, 234-pound Rashad Amos had 115 yards. Summit Country Day product Graham Nicholson made all four of his extra points and was 3-for-3 on field goals.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Miami RedHawks face struggle trying to gain 1st win vs. UC since 2005