Saturday, November 06, 1999UC-Louisville could be air show
But balanced attack works best for UC
BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati EnquirerNippert Stadium may resemble an airfield more than a football field beginning at 3:30p.m. today.
Two high-powed quarterbacks — both born and raised in Kentucky — square off in a homecoming game between the University of Cincinnati and the University of Louis ville.
UofL's Chris Redman, a graduate of Louisville Male High School, and UC's Deontey Kenner of Hopkinsville have been racking up numbers like the tote board at Churchill Downs on Derby Day.
LOUISVILLE at UC • Kickoff: 3:30p.m. today at Nippert Stadium (35,000).
• Records: UofL 6-3 (3-1 Conference USA); UC 3-5 (0-3).
• Radio: WLW-AM (700).
• Series: UC leads 25-12-1 (last: 1998, UofL 62-19).
• Line: Louisville by 2.
• What to watch: UofL quarterback Chris Redman leads an offense that is nationally ranked in three categories — fourth in scoring (40.2 points), fifth in passing (330.6 yards) and seventh in total offense (473.7). In his last four games, Redman is 119-of-184 for 1,372 yards and 13 TDs.To wit:
• Last week, senior Redman broke the NCAA Division I-A career record for completions set by Ty Detmer of Brigham Young. (Redman already had the record for attempts.) His precision against Alabama-Birmingham resembled that of another UofL alum, Johnny Unitas: Redman was 23-of-24 for 224 yards with two touchdowns.
• Last week, junior Kenner completed 18 of 28 passes for 243 yards to become only the second UC quarterback to throw for more than 2,000 yards in consecutive seasons. (The other was Danny McCoin). Kenner's numbers two weeks ago against Southern Miss (35-for-59, 407 yards) evoked UC's most prolific football alum, Greg Cook, who later quarterbacked the Bengals.
It won't be easy for UC to add a victory to their gaudy homecoming record of 41-19-3, which includes wins seven of the last eight years and a 19-5-1 mark the past 25 seasons.
Adding to that gaudiness is the fact that Louisville has been homecoming fodder for the Bearcats four of the five times these two teams have met on alumni weekend in Clifton.
But Redman didn't quarterback any of those losing Louisville teams. He did, however, carve up the UC secondary last year in a 62-19 win at Cardinal Stadium as UC coach Rick Minter watched with a mixture of horror and awe.
Now, it's up to the UC defense to rise to the occasion — and pin another loss on an opponent led by a Heisman Trophy candidate. UC is 2-0 in these Heisman “matchups” this season, having beaten Wisconsin (Ron Dayne) and Miami (Travis Prentice).
UC is 3-5 overall; UofL is 6-3.
All of Louisville's losses this season were shootouts on the road: Illinois (41-36); Oklahoma (42-21) and Army (59-52).
UC has shown it can put up points on anybody. The Bearcats probably could win a high-scoring game today — as long as they don't allow Redman to go totally wild, as he did in last year's game with 431 passing yards and four TDs.
UC's offensive game plan will be the same one Minter articulated last week before UC beat Miami 52-42 in Oxford. It's the same offensive game plan UC has had all season: “Run the ball effectively” and put up 230-250 yards passing.
That's exactly what UC did against Miami — Robert Coo per ran for 209 yards; Kenner had 243 through the air.
It's that sort of balance UC needs today. The Bearcats have gone over 500 yards in total offense four times this season. Previous to this year, they had topped 500 yards in total offense only four times in this decade.
Too much passing for UC is generally not a good thing. Kenner's 407 yards came in a 28-20 loss at Southern Miss.
NOTES: Today is Minter's 65th game as head coach at UC. That breaks the longevity record of 64 games set by Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman.
• At stake today, among other things, is the “Keg of Nails” trophy signifying that the winner is “tough as nails.' The origin of the trophy is believed to have been initiated by fraternity chapters on the UC and UofL campuses.
• UC ranks second nationally in net punting (41.6 yards). The Bearcats' punter is Adam Wulfeck, former Beechwood High running star. He has punted 35 times this season, with 13 of them downed inside the 20-yard line and 10 punts of 50 yards or more.
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