2017 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

The 2017 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats were led by first-year head coach Luke Fickell who was hired in December 2016.[1] The Bearcats played their home games at Nippert Stadium, and were members of the East Division in the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 2–6 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place in the East Division.

2017 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Conference	American Athletic Conference
	East Division
2017 record	4–8 (2–6 The American)
Head coach	Luke Fickell (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Denbrock (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Marcus Freeman (1st season)
Home stadium	Nippert Stadium (Capacity: 40,000)

2017 American Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 6 UCF xy$		8	–	0					13	–	0
No. 21 South Florida		6	–	2					10	–	2
Temple		4	–	4					7	–	6
Cincinnati		2	–	6					4	–	8
UConn		2	–	6					3	–	9
East Carolina		2	–	6					3	–	9
West Division
No. 25 Memphis xy		7	–	1					10	–	3
Houston		5	–	3					7	–	5
Navy		4	–	4					7	–	6
SMU		4	–	4					7	–	6
Tulane		3	–	5					5	–	7
Tulsa		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: UCF 62, Memphis 55
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of January 9, 2018; Rankings from AP Poll.

Previous Season

In 2016, the Bearcats were led by fourth-year head coach Tommy Tuberville, After being predicted to finish second in the AAC East, The Bearcats finished 2016 season with a 4-8 (1-7 AAC) record with a five-game losing streak to end the year, missing a bowl game for the first time since 2010. UC suffered a number of season-ending injuries and never found any consistency offensively, dropping from the Top-5 in the NCAA FBS a year ago to No. 101 in total offense. The defense showed significant improvements during the campaign, including being among the national leaders in forced turnovers. After the season Tuberville announced he was stepping down as head coach on December 4, 2016.[2] Tuberville was 29-22 with the Bearcats, notching three bowl appearances and a share of the 2014 American Athletic Conference Championship

Schedule

The Bearcats' 2017 schedule will consist of six home games and six away games. Cincinnati will host two of its four non-conference games; against Austin Peay from the Ohio Valley Conference, and Marshall from Conference USA. They will travel to Michigan for the first ever meeting between the Bearcats and Wolverines and long time rival Miami (OH) for their annual Victory Bell game.

The Bearcats will play eight conference games; hosting UCF, UConn, Temple and SMU. They will travel to East Carolina, Navy, South Florida and Tulane. On September 14, 2017, the American Athletic Conference announced that Cincinnati will play at USF on Saturday, October 14 and will have its bye week on October 28 due to the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	Austin Peay*	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN3	W 26–14	30,831
September 9	12:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Michigan*	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ABC	L 14–36	111,384
September 16	8:00 p.m.	at Miami (OH)*	Yager Stadium Oxford, OH (Victory Bell)	FOX 19	W 21–17	21,811
September 23	3:30 p.m.	at Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	L 32–42	33,134
September 30	7:00 p.m.	Marshall*	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN3	L 21–38	35,736
October 7	8:00 p.m.	No. 25 UCF	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPNU	L 23–51	27,253
October 14	7:30 p.m.	at No. 18 South Florida	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPNU	L 3–33	43,708
October 21	4:00 p.m.	SMU	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPNU	L 28–31 ^OT	30,885
November 4	4:00 p.m.	at Tulane	Yulman Stadium New Orleans, LA	ESPN3	W 17–16	20,798
November 10	7:00 p.m.	Temple	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN2	L 24–35	22,773
November 18	12:00 p.m.	at East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	CBSSN	L 20–48	31,923
November 25	12:00 p.m.	UConn	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPNews	W 22–21	23,125
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	0	7	0	7	14
Bearcats	0	14	6	6	26

at Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearcats	7	0	7	0	14
No. 8 Wolverines	14	3	7	12	36

at Miami (OH)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearcats	3	0	0	18	21
RedHawks	7	0	7	3	17

at Navy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearcats	7	10	7	8	32
Midshipmen	14	7	14	7	42

Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	7	17	7	7	38
Bearcats	0	0	7	14	21

UCF

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Knights	20	17	14	0	51
Bearcats	7	9	7	0	23

at South Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearcats	3	0	0	0	3
No. 18 Bulls	3	20	7	3	33

SMU

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Mustangs	14	7	0	7	3	31
Bearcats	10	10	0	8	0	28

at Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearcats	3	7	7	0	17
Green Wave	7	6	0	3	16

Temple

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	3	10	15	7	35
Bearcats	0	0	14	7	21

at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearcats	0	13	7	0	20
Pirates	14	10	14	10	48

UConn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	3	3	9	6	21
Bearcats	0	7	0	15	22

Personnel

Roster and staff

2017 Cincinnati Bearcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 Kahlil Lewis Jr RB 3 Michael Warren II Fr RB 5 Mike Boone Sr WR 6 Tshumbi Johnson  Sr WR 7 Javan Hawes Fr QB 8 Hayden Moore Jr QB 9 Desmond Ridder Fr QB 10 Jake Sopko  Fr QB 12 Ross Trail  So TE 18 Tyler Cogswell  Sr WR 19 Tyrin Summers  Fr WR 21 Devin Gray Sr RB 22 Jaelen Greene Fr RB 23 Gerrid Doaks  Fr WR 25 Casey Kirk Fr WR 26 Jerron Rollins So WR 27 Hunter Gillespie  So WR 29 Cameron Naber Fr RB 30 Michael Kopaygorodsky Fr RB 34 Joshuwa Holloman  So RB 35 Taylor Boose  So WR 35 Trent Cloud Fr OL 52 Reed Armagost  So OL 53 Tyler McGarr  So OL 54 Keith Minor Jr OL 55 Alex Heil  So OL 56 Kyle Trout  Jr OL 60 Zach Bycznski  Fr OL 61 Mason Garrison So OL 64 Will Steur Sr OL 66 David Niehaus  Sr OL 68 Doug Bates  Fr OL 70 Jakari Robinson Fr OL 71 Korey Cunningham Sr OL 72 Garrett Campbell Sr OL 72 Blake Yager So OL 74 Kendall Calhoun Sr OL 76 Evan Mallory So OT 77 Vincent McConnell Fr OL 78 Morgan James Jr OL 79 Drew Hartmann Fr WR 80 Malick Mbodj  Fr WR 81 Garrett Weaver Jr TE 82 Wilson Huber Fr TE 83 Josiah Deguara So WR 85 Thomas Geddis So WR 86 Rashad Medaris  So TE 87 Bruno Labelle  Fr WR 88 Braxton Neal So TE 89 Jake Elfers Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 2 Tyrell Gilbert Jr CB 3 Christian Angulo  So LB 6 Perry Young So LB 8 Jarell White Fr CB 9 Linden Stephens Jr CB 13 Grant Coleman Sr CB 15 Rashaad Stewart Fr S 16 Darrick Forrest Fr LB 17 R.J. Potts Fr S 17 Collin Widecan So CB 18 Josiah Robey Fr S 19 Davin Pierce Sr S 20 Carter Jacobs Sr DB 20 Ethan Tucky Fr DB 21 Marquese Gray Fr S 24 Malik Clements Jr CB 24 Noah Hamlin Fr S 25 Coby Bryant Fr CB 30 Chris Murphy  Jr CB 31 Marquis Smith  Fr DB 32 James Wiggins  Fr LB 33 Jaylyin Minor Sr LB 34 Kyle Bolden Fr S 36 Sheldon Doss  So LB 40 Ty Sponseller  Fr LB 41 Joel Dublanko  Fr DE 42 Devin Williams Fr DE 43 Michael Pitts  Fr DE 44 Marquise Copeland Jr LB 45 DeMarko Baker Fr DE 47 Landon Brazile  Jr LB 48 Kevin Mouhon  Jr OLB 49 Tyquan Statham  Fr DE 51 Kimoni Fitz Jr DE 55 Caleb Ashworth  So DE 56 Mark Wilson  Sr DE 86 Angelo Howze Fr DE 89 Nick Staderman  Fr DE 92 Curtis Brooks  Fr DE 93 Elijah Ponder  Fr DE 94 Joe Schroer Fr DE 95 Bryan Wright So DT 96 Cortez Broughton Jr DT 97 Norman Oglesby So DT 98 Lyndon Johnson Sr DT 99 Marcus Brown Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 16 Andrew Gantz Sr LS 31 Kyle Curtis Sr K 34 Josh Pasley  Sr P 37 James Smith Fr LS 57 Cody Armstrong  Fr K 58 Garrett Rigby  Fr K 69 Zach Wood Fr K 97 Ryan Jones So K 98 Cole Smith Fr	Head coach Luke Fickell (Ohio State) – 1st year Coordinators/assistant coaches Mike Denbrock (Grand Valley State) – 1st year (Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends) Marcus Freeman (Ohio State) – 1st year (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Doug Phillips (Toledo) – 1st year (Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends) Ron Crook (West Liberty State) – 1st year (Offensive Line) Gino Guidugli (Cincinnati) – 1st year (Quarterbacks) Willie Martinez (Miami (FL)) – 1st year (Cornerbacks) Joker Phillips (Kentucky) – 1st year (Wide Receivers) Jon Tenuta (Virginia) – 1st year (Safeties) Al Washington (Boston College) – 1st year (Defensive Line) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Depth chart

Defense FS Carter Jacobs Chris Murphy ⋅ WLB MLB SLB Perry Young Jaylyin Minor Tyrell Gilbert ⋅ Joel Dublanko Ty Sponseller or Jarell White ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ SS Malik Clements Sheldon Doss ⋅ CB Linden Stephens Marquis Smith ⋅ DE DT DT DE Kevin Mouhon Marquise Copeland Cortez Broughton Bryan Wright or Mark Wilson Kimoni Fitz or Lyndon Johnson Curtis Brooks Norman Oglesby ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ CB Grant Coleman Davin Pierce ⋅ Offense WR Devin Gray Jerron Rollins ⋅ WR Kahlil Lewis Rashad Medaris ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Korey Cunningham Keith Minor David Niehaus or Garrett Campbell Will Steur Kendall Calhoun Kyle Trout Zach Bycznski ⋅ Morgan James Blake Yager ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Tyler Cogswell Josiah Deguara ⋅ WR Thomas Geddis JJ Pinckney ⋅ QB Hayden Moore Ross Trail Jake Sopko RB Mike Boone Gerrid Doaks Michael Warren II

Awards and milestones

Weekly Awards Player Award Date Awarded Ref. Malik Clements Co-Defensive Player of the Week September 16, 2017 [3]

All-AAC Player Position Team James Smith P 1 Korey Cunningham OT 2 Jaylyin Minor LB 2 Marquise Copeland DT HM Reference:[3]

2018 NFL Draft

	Rnd.	Pick #	NFL team	Player	Pos.	College	Conf.	Notes
	7*	254	Arizona Cardinals	Korey Cunningham	OT	Cincinnati	The American

References

1. "Luke Fickell Named Football Head Coach". GoBearcats.com. CBSi Advanced Media. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
2. "Tommy Tuberville Steps Down As Cincinnati Football Head Coach". GoBearcats.com. CBSi Advanced Media. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
3. "American Athletic Conference Media Guide" (PDF). American Athletic Conference. Retrieved September 6, 2018.