UC handed trophy, trouncing

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Bearcats don't look like a bowl team

Sunday, September 6, 1998

BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Tulane defense sacks Chad Plummer. (Ryan Miller photo) | ZOOM |

Humanitarian Bowl president Steve Schmader formally presented the game's 1997 championship trophy to the University of Cincinnati at halftime Saturday night. The 1998 Bearcats gave little indication of making a repeat trip.

UC lost 52-34 to Conference USA rival Tulane in the season opener at muggy Nippert Stadium, a game not nearly as close as the final margin.

UC once trailed 52-14, and the ugly defeat drove thousands of the 20,701 fans home early. It marks the third straight year that UC opens the season in the league basement.

"It was probably the worst effort I've seen by a football team since I've been here," said fifth-year UC coach Rick Minter. "It was one of the poorest defensive efforts I've ever witnessed . . . My apologies to our crowd."

They can't say they were not warned.

"This is probably the least talented team I've had in the last four years here," Minter said. "We don't have a lot of room for error. But I still love all our kids, and we'll find a way to extract something good from this."

A blocked punt for a touchdown, plus a 92-yard fumble recovery for a TD by Wyoming High product DeJuan Gossett, brought UC closer in the fourth quarter. But the affair was sealed early, with UC down 24-0 before the game was 19 minutes old.

Jeff Burrow misses a pass in the end zone. (Ryan Miller photo) | ZOOM |

The Bearcats contributed to their own doom with five turnovers, including two in the first quarter that both led to Tulane touchdowns.

"We just killed ourselves early," said UC quarterback - receiver Chad Plummer. "Who's to say we won't rebound from this and have a good season? But as far as the conference, it certainly diminishes our chances."

Tulane is picked to finish second and UC fourth in the eight-team league, and Minter had warned of how strong the Green Wave was. But despite UC losing five players to the NFL draft and 18 key seniors overall, it wasn't supposed to be this bad.

The Bearcats lost three offensive line starters from 1997 and four starters from its front seven defenders. Their absence was noticeable.

The offense didn't get untracked until the Bearcats trailed 24-0, and the defense got virtually no pass rush. It was 31-6 by halftime, and the stands started emptying.

Some troubling things, among many:

• It was the most points UC has allowed since a 56-9 loss to Virginia Tech in 1991. The most points allowed under Minter had been a 45-31 loss to Toledo in 1995.

• Some of UC's top players were injured, including Plummer (sprained left thumb, leg cramps), safety Tinker Keck (knee) and cornerback Freddy Smith (knee). Keck and Smith were are listed as questionable.

• UC trailed 17-0 after one quarter, tying the amount of points it allowed in the first quarter all season in 1997.

• UC's rushing defense, ranked No. 5 nationally last year at just 84 yards per game, allowed 290 ground yards.

• Tulane totaled 568 yards of total offense. UC had 448, but most were after Tulane built its big lead.

• Tulane quarterback Shaun King, the preseason C-USA Player of the Year, threw for four touchdowns against UC for the second straight year. He passed for 278 yards and also ran for a score.

Bright spots? Actually, there were some:

Tulane RB Jamaican Dartez eludes Don McKnight and Carlton Sykes (42). (AP photo) | ZOOM |

DeMarco McCleskey, a true freshman halfback from Claremore, Okla., was a revelation. McCleskey, the No. 3 halfback behind senior Orlando Smith and junior Robert Cooper, rushed 11 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

Another freshman, punter Adam Wulfeck (Beechwood, Ky.) averaged 45.3 yards on four punts.

The Bearcats didn't lay down after falling behind by 38 points, hitting some long gainers and forcing Tulane coach Tommy Bowden to re-insert some starters he'd pulled in the fourth period.

What went wrong? Minter virtually counted the ways.

"Numerous big plays, couldn't get lined up, lost contain, couldn't tackle, two big personal fouls," he said.

And that was just on defense.

Offensively, Minter was a little kinder. The Bearcats ran for 173 yards and passed for 275, albeit most after the game was decided. Minter's "two-headed quarterback" of Plummer and sophomore Deontey Kenner had mixed results. The two combined to complete 17 of 28 passes, with Kenner throwing for 199 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. And Plummer caught three passes for 72 yards, while completing 6-of-7 passes for 76 yards.

"We can be solid offensively," Minter said. "I have some concerns about the talent level on our defense."

The immediate outlook does not appear much brighter for UC. The Miami Hurricanes, ranked 19th by Sports Illustrated, visit Nippert next Saturday. Miami opened with a 66-17 victory over East Tennessee State.

Football story list

Tulane 17 14 14 7 - 52
Cincinnati 0 6 8 20 - 34
First Quarter
Tul - FG Palazzo 27, 11:09
Tul - Converse 41 pass from King (Palazzo kick), 4:51
Tul - Dartez 2 run (Palazzo kick), 0:24
Second Quarter
Tul - King 1 run (Palazzo kick), 11:01
Cin - McCleskey 13 run (kick failed), 8:58
Tul - Dawson 7 pass from King (Palazzo kick), 5:58
Third Quarter Cin - McCleskey 2 run (Bonner pass from Kenner), 7:04
Tul - Franklin 10 pass from King (Palazzo kick), 3:35
Tul - Cuellar fumble recovered in end zone (Palazzo kick), 3:17
Fourth Quarter
Tul - Franklin 11 pass from King (Palazzo kick), 14:55
Cin - Collins-Baker 20 pass from Kenner (Judge kick), 11:16
Cin - Brayboy blocked punt recovered in end zone (Judge kick), 9:40
Cin - Gossett 92 fumble return (pass failed), 4:33
A - 20,701.

  
                       Tul      UC 
   First downs          31      21
   Rushes-yards     54-290  34-173 
   Passing             278     275 
   Comp-Att-Int    17-29-0 17-28-2
   Return Yards         39     139 
   Punts-Avg.       3-37.3  4-45.3 
   Fumbles-Lost        3-2     4-3
   Penalties-Yards    1-15    5-62
   Possession        25:51   34:09  
   

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Tulane, Dartez 21-195, King 17-40, Converse 12-30, Joseph 1-25, Reshard 2-4, Curtis 1-(minus 4). Cincinnati, McCleskey 11-98, Wize 4-24, Smith 4-21, Beal 3-13, Plummer 3-12, Garden 1-7, Cooper 5-5, Kenner 3-(minus 7).
PASSING - Tulane, King 17-29-0-278. Cincinnati, Kenner 11-21-2-199, Plummer 6-7-0-76.
RECEIVING - Tulane, Franklin 11-172, Dawson 4-29, Converse 1-41, Dartez 1-36. Cincinnati, Smikle 5-68, Plummer 3-72, Bonner 2-32, Cooper 2-12, Coppola 1-63, Wize 1-21, Collins-Baker 1-20, Beal 1-7, McCleskey 1-(minus 20).