By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Josh "Ghost" Gardner, whose light pallor and white-ish hair earned him a grade-school nickname that has stuck, makes his 49th consecutive start on the University of Cincinnati's offensive line Tuesday night.

"To go out with a victory in the New Orleans Bowl would be the frosting on the cake," said the senior from Moeller who has never been anything but a starter since joining the Bearcats in 1999. "Going to three straight bowl games shows consistency, but we definitely want to go out as winners."

UC went to the Motor City Bowl in Detroit the past two seasons but lost to Marshall in 2000 and Toledo in 2001.

The Bearcats (7-6), co-champions of Conference USA, kick off the bowl season at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Louisiana Superdome against North Texas (7-5), champion of the Sun Belt Conference. ESPN2 will televise the game.

"We (UC's seniors) are going to remember our final college game a lot longer than we remember Bourbon Street, and that's one reason why winning this game is so important to us," Gardner said.

Quarterback Gino Guidugli, receivers LaDaris Vann, Tye Keith, Jon Olinger and George Murray, and running back DeMarco McCleskey are the glamour guys in the Bearcats' high-powered offense (404.3 yards per game, 29th in the country). But they won't have a chance to shine if Gardner and his linemates can't protect Guidugli and open holes for McCleskey.

North Texas' defense is ranked ninth in the country, allowing only 289.1 yards of total offense per game. One of the biggest reasons is 315-pound nose tackle Brandon Kennedy, who is second in the country in tackles for losses (24).

"We watched him on film as he shed a triple-team block and made a sack," Gardner said. "We really haven't played anybody like him. One of the first things Coach told us about him what was his coach (North Texas' Darrell Dickey) said, 'You do one of two things against Brandon Kennedy - you either double-team him or you hold him.'"

While the Mean Green's defense is highly touted, so is UC's offense. If the Bearcats can't find a weakness Tuesday and exploit it, they probably will be in trouble.

"We'd like to be able to say, 'Yeah, well, they haven't faced anybody with our weapons,'" Gardner said. "But the fact is, they have. They faced Texas, Alabama, TCU and Arizona - and they played them all tough, held all of them down. They're a defense without any weaknesses, and that makes them real tough to game-plan against."

E-mail jerardi@enquirer.com

UC vs. North Texas

What: New Orleans Bowl.

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday.

TV: ESPN2.

Line: Bearcats by 8.