Game Week: Cincy - Thursday News

It's fight week. Just kidding, but there are several articles that discuss the 2002 brawl between UH and Cincy.

Stephen Tsai talks to UH team manager Chris Brown about it. He was a player at the time.

“Remember Jared Flint, the (UH reserve) quarterback?” said Chris Brown, who was a UH linebacker at the time. “Somebody took a swing at him. The two sides surged from there. We weren’t going to let our quarterback take a hit.”
Brown admitted to being involved.
“We were in the mix,” said Brown, now a UH manager. “We had to defend our territory.”
And what induced a Bearcat to swing at Flint?
“He was the only one without a helmet on,” Brown said. “He was standing on the sideline.”

Dave Reardon writes how both programs have matured since then.

The good thing is six years is a very long time in college football. All the players and both head coaches are gone.

Events since allow us to believe both programs have grown up. Top-level college football teams certainly aren't immune to maturity problems. But widespread scraps like these occur more often among teams trying to prove something.

In 2002, the Cincinnati and Hawaii football programs were like gangly adolescents still establishing their identities. One school was more known for basketball, the other for volleyball.

What happened at the end of that game was about the maturity of the players to some degree, but also that of the overall programs.

Bill Koch of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the Cincy perspective and some quotes from Bearcats coach Brian Kelly.

UC coach Brian Kelly said he was confident there would not be a repeat of that incident on this trip.

"Both programs have moved dramatically forward from those days," Kelly said.

"I know our kids will play with poise and I know their program is coming off a BCS bid last year and that they've moved forward in their program," Kelly said.

"We're not going to have any of those antics, but having said that, it's nice to have a Big East (officiating) crew on our plane heading out there, too."

I just hope it's not the same crew that officiated last year's West Virginia-Pitt game:



Athlon Sports has a game preview.

It figures to be a low-scoring game between a Cincinnati team that has won a bunch of close games with defense (19.8 points per game allowed) and special teams and a Hawaii team that is solid on both sides of the ball, but spectacular on neither.

Stephen Tsai profiles UH senior linebackers Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian. They talk about their friendship and rivalry, and the winding down of their UH careers.

Leonard said: "We talked about it earlier this year. At the end of December, we don't know where we'll be. The last four years, we knew the first of August we'll be in Hawai'i until December, then we'll go home for a few weeks, and then we'll be back in Hawai'i. After this (season), we don't know where we'll train. We don't know if we'll get drafted. There's uncertainty. It kind of hits you. We're comfortable now, but we have to step out of our comfort zone. It's going to be challenging, but at the same time, I'm cherishing every moment we have here. I'm sad to leave, but I'm excited to start a new chapter in my life."

Jason Kaneshiro profiles long snapper Jake Ingram.

Although he averages 9.25 opportunities per contest, Ingram estimates the number of practice snaps he'll make on the sideline during the game at close to 100.

Then there's practice.

"One time Tim and I tried to do the math - it's thousands," Ingram said. "It's a lot."

Those repetitions have developed a consistency that's the measure of a long snapper and has drawn the attention of pro scouts.

"Every single guy knows about him," said Warriors associate head coach Rich Miano, UH's liaison with NFL teams. "I wouldn't be surprised if he gets drafted if someone needs a long snapper."

Kaneshiro also has an injury update and Jim Donovan's take on the Big East officials calling the game.

And Ferd Lewis writes how both teams have had successful seasons despite dueling QB carousels.

Between them they have used 10 quarterbacks — six of them starters — this season. This in a sport where we are reminded that you need to have just one starter at the position. That, like in the kitchen, where many cooks are said to spoil the broth, too many quarterbacks tend to cause too many headaches.

Tell that to Fresno State and West Virginia. Once highly ranked teams with "name" quarterbacks — singular — who fell to UH and UC, respectively.

Kind of amazing nobody ever thought of this path to success before.