By Dustin Dow
Enquirer staff writer

University of Alabama-Birmingham football coach Watson Brown has a home game to coach Saturday against Baylor.

But by day's end, he will be sure to find out the result of the University of Cincinnati's season opener at No. 9 Ohio State.

Brown not only has interest in that game because UAB will play UC Oct. 2, but Brown also happens to be the last first-year UC head coach to lead a Bearcats team into a game of this magnitude and come out of it with a win.

Twenty-one years after Brown's UC team upset defending national champion and 20th-ranked Penn State 14-3 in State College, Pa., first-year Bearcats coach Mark Dantonio will attempt to turn the same trick against Ohio State Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

It's necessary for a team in UC's position not to feel too much pressure to make history, Brown said.

"The players have to be really confident, but they have to be relaxed," Brown said. "When we played Penn State, we tried to get the players to just go out there and have fun. We told them to go in there and enjoy it, because we didn't get to play in places like (Beaver Stadium) very often."

Ten days before the season started in 1983, Brown and his staff decided to end any negativity at practice and pump players full of positive reinforcement to boost their confidence. UC lost to Penn State 52-0 in 1981, and there were plenty of players left on that team who remembered the Nittany Lions' onslaught.

But there were new faces, such as quarterback Troy Bodine and running back Reggie Taylor,who, bolstered by a veteran UC defense, would lead the Bearcats to the victory.

"I was real loose before the game, just trying to make everyone relaxed," Brown said. "I didn't know if we were good enough to beat them or not, but I knew we were going to give them a game."

By the middle of the second quarter, Brown knew the Bearcats had a chance to win. They were picking up first downs and regularly forcing Penn State to punt after three plays.

"I knew unless we started turning it over, we could win," Brown said. "Then Troy threw a touchdown pass late in the game, and we were on our way to winning. ... I'm not sure I had any feelings at the time. You're still just making sure nothing happens, even as you're taking a knee. But the feeling in that locker room afterward was just fantastic. And then we were leaving on the team bus, and the Penn State fans who were tailgating gave us a standing ovation. It was unbelievable."

The next week, UC returned home to a sold-out Nippert Stadium game for its game against Oklahoma State and lost 27-17. Bodine broke his arm midway through the season and the Bearcats finished 4-6-1.

"We were a passing team, and the other quarterbacks hadn't played a down," Brown said. "It hurt us really bad."

Brown left UC to coach Rice after the season, but he's never forgotten what it felt like to beat Penn State in his first game as UC's head coach.

"To get back to the airport from Penn State, you had to ride the bus for an hour and a half," Brown said. "We were together as a team for so long after that game to enjoy it, it was fantastic. Nobody in the world thought we had a chance, and we won."

Two years ago when Ohio State won a national championship, the Buckeyes nearly lost to the Bearcats at Paul Brown Stadium, escaping with a 23-19 victory.

"Cincinnati had them beat at their place," Brown said. "That will help them (on Saturday). Some of those UC players know they've got a shot."

UC vs. Ohio State

When: Noon Saturday

Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus

TV: ESPN (regional)

Radio: WLW-AM (700)

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com