By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

UC quarterback Gino Guidugli looks for an open route during the first half of Friday's CUSA matchup at Nippert Stadium. (Thomas E. Witte photo)

Regardless of what happens with coach Rick Minter's job situation in the coming days, no one can say his players quit on him.

Trailing 28-7 with 4:16 left it the first half on a cold, sometimes snowy day, with only 11,993 fans on hand, and with little to play for except the chance for a .500 season, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats stormed from behind in the second half and took two brief leads only to lose 43-40 to Louisville on Friday at Nippert Stadium in the annual battle for the Keg of Nails.

"We love Coach Minter and we play hard for him regardless of the situation," linebacker Tyjuan Hagler said.

UC finished its 10th season under Minter with a 5-7 record, its first losing season since 1999. The Bearcats, after winning a Conference USA co-championship a year ago, were 2-6 in the league.

Louisville (9-3, 5-3) now waits for a bowl invitation.

The deciding play on a day that saw the two teams produce 1,065 yards of offense, was a 54-yard touchdown pass on second-and-10 from Louisville quarterback Stefan LeFors to wide receiver J.R. Russell with 1:10 left in the game.

About a minute earlier, UC had taken a 40-35 lead on Kyle Koester's 4-yard touchdown run.

UC had one more possession, but quarterback Gino Guidugli's final pass on fourth-and-17 fell out of bounds as time expired.

"My credit goes to our kids for showing the character and the heart and soul of a champion today," Minter said.

Guidugli had 20 completions in 40 attempts for 336 yards and one touchdown.

After the game, the junior from Highlands High School talked to reporters with tears in his eyes.

"We wanted to send the seniors out on a better note than that," Guidugli said, "and we didn't accomplish the task."

Did the Bearcats stage the comeback out of support for Minter?

"We want to win for ourselves along with the coaches," Guidugli said. "I don't really have any comment on that. I don't really know what's going on and I don't really have any decision in it. That's up to somebody else. I play to win."

Minter said this has been one of his most frustrating seasons at UC. The Bearcats lost four of their C-USA games by a total of 17 points, one of which was in overtime

But he took solace from the way his players responded in the second half against Louisville.

"I'd like to think they'd play for me come hell or high water," Minter said, "that they'd jump off a cliff for me. That's how much I care about them. I hope that feeling's reciprocal. It may not always be."

Louisville	7	21	0	15-43
Cincinnati	7	7	14	12-40

First Quarter

Cin-Koester 1 run (Manfredini kick), 8:27.

Lou-K. Smith 5 run (N. Smith kick), 2:23.

Second Quarter

Lou-Owens 7 pass from LeFors (kick blocked), 9:27.

Lou-LeFors 69 run (LeFors run ), 7:00.

Lou-B. Johnson 20 fumble return (N. Smith kick), 4:16.

Cin-Daniels 4 run (Manfredini kick), 1:31.

Third Quarter

Cin-FG Manfredini 29, 11:52.

Cin-FG Manfredini 32, 6:15.

Cin-Hart 17 pass from Guidugli (Daniels run), 0:16.

Fourth Quarter

Cin-FG Manfredini 38, 14:02.

Lou-Bush 81 run (N. Smith kick), 13:47.

Cin-FG Manfredini 38, 5:21.

Cin-Koester 4 run (pass failed), 2:20.

Lou-Russell 54 pass from LeFors (LeFors run), 1:10.

A-11,993.

	Lou	Cin
First downs	21	26
Rushes-yards	35-315	42-222
Passing	211	336
Comp-Att-Int	16-27-1	20-40-0
Return Yards	104	120
Punts-Avg.	3-41	3-43
Fumbles-Lost	3-3	1-1
Penalties-Yards	8-55	4-45
Time of Possession	26:07	33:53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Louisville, Bush 11-125, Gates 14-89, LeFors 5-80, K. Smith 4-18. Cincinnati, C. Jones 15-86, Guidugli 11-68, Vann 12-41, Koester 2-5, Daniels 1-4, Eddington 1-(minus 1).

PASSING-Louisville, LeFors 16-27-1-211. Cincinnati, Guidugli 20-40-0-336.

RECEIVING-Louisville, Russell 6-111, Ghent 6-65, Gates 1-13, Bush 1-9. Cincinnati, Thomas 5-89, Lewis 4-48, Hart 3-69, Ross 3-69, Dawley 2-28, Vann 2-22, Poland 1-11.

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com