2011 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

2011 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Big East Conference co-champion Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 31–24 vs. Vanderbilt
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 25
2011 record	10–3 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach	Butch Jones (2nd year)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Bajakian
Defensive coordinator	Tim Banks/John Jancek
Home stadium	Nippert Stadium (Capacity: 35,097) Paul Brown Stadium (Capacity: 65,535)

2011 Big East football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#17 West Virginia $+		5	–	2					10	–	3
#25 Cincinnati +		5	–	2					10	–	3
Louisville +		5	–	2					7	–	6
Rutgers		4	–	3					9	–	4
Pittsburgh		4	–	3					6	–	7
Connecticut		3	–	4					5	–	7
South Florida		1	–	6					5	–	7
Syracuse		1	–	6					5	–	7
$ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions As of January 11, 2012; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2011 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats were led by second year head coach Butch Jones and played their home games at Nippert Stadium and two conference games at Paul Brown Stadium. They are a member of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 5–2 in Big East play to share the conference championship with Louisville and West Virginia. Despite the conference title, which was their third in the last four years, they did not receive the conference's automatic bid into a BCS game (West Virginia received the bid based on BCS rankings). They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they defeated Vanderbilt 31–24.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 PM	Austin Peay*		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	FS Ohio	W 72–10	23,282[1]
September 10	3:30 PM	at Tennessee*		Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	ESPN2	L 23–45	94,207[2]
September 17	3:30 PM	Akron*		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN3	W 59–14	24,991[3]
September 22	8:00 PM	NC State*		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 44–14	28,431[4]
October 1	1:00 PM	at Miami (OH)*		Yager Stadium • Oxford, OH (116th Victory Bell)	ESPN3	W 27–0	16,408[5]
October 15	12:00 PM	Louisville		Paul Brown Stadium • Cincinnati, OH (Keg of Nails)	BIG EAST Network	W 25–16	40,971[6]
October 22	12:00 PM	at South Florida		Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	BIG EAST Network	W 37–34	44,248[7]
November 5	7:00 PM	at Pittsburgh	No. 24	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA (River City Rivalry)	ESPNU	W 26–23	49,362[8]
November 12	12:00 PM	West Virginia	No. 23	Paul Brown Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ABC/ESPN3	L 21–24	48,152[9]
November 19	12:00 PM	at Rutgers		High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	ESPNU	L 3–20	47,447
November 26	12:00 PM	at Syracuse		Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	BIG EAST Network	W 30–13	38,159
December 3	12:00 PM	Connecticut		Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 35–27	27,930
December 31	3:30 PM	vs. Vanderbilt*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	ABC	W 31–24	57,103[10]
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[11]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	RV	RV	RV	24	23	23	RV	RV	RV	RV	25
Coaches'	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	VR	23	22	18	RV	NR	25	24	21
Harris	Not released						RV	VR	24	23	22	RV	RV	RV	24	Not released
BCS	Not released							NR	NR	NR	23	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released

Game notes

Louisville

1 2 3 4 Total Louisville 6 10 0 0 16 • Cincinnati 0 7 7 11 25 Date: October 15 Location: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH Game start: 12:09 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:12 Game attendance: 40,971 Referee: Dennis Hennigan TV announcers (Big East Network): Mike Gleason, John Congemi

Scoring summary 1 7:47 LOU Chris Philpott 42 yard field goal LOU 3-0 1 1:41 LOU Chris Philpott 51 yard field goal LOU 6-0 2 5:01 CIN D.J. Woods 26 yard pass from Zach Collaros (Tony Miliano kick) CIN 7-6 2 2:54 LOU Chris Philpott 18 yard field goal LOU 9-7 2 0:06 LOU Mike Evans 63 yard interception return (Chris Philpott kick) LOU 16-7 3 4:41 CIN Zach Collaros 1 yard run (Tony Miliano kick) LOU 16-14 4 12:19 CIN Isaiah Pead 50 yard run (Zach Collaros to Adrien Robinson pass) CIN 22-16 4 1:21 CIN Tony Miliano 21 yard field goal CIN 25-16

^[12]

References

1. "Austin Peay Governors vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Box Score". ESPN. September 3, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
2. "Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Tennessee Volunteers Box Score". ESPN. September 10, 2011. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
3. "Akron Zips vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Box Score". ESPN. September 17, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
4. "North Carolina State Wolfpack vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Box Score". ESPN. September 22, 2011. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
5. "Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Miami RedHawks Box Score". ESPN. October 1, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
6. "Louisville Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Box Score". ESPN. October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
7. "Cincinnati Bearcats vs. South Florida Bulls Box Score". ESPN. October 22, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
8. "Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Pittsburgh Panthers Box Score". ESPN. November 5, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
9. "West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Box Score". ESPN. November 12, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
10. "Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Vanderbilt Commodores Box Score". ESPN. December 31, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
11. http://www.gobearcats.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/cinn-m-footbl-sched.html
12. "Cincinnati Scoots Past Louisville with Late Isaiah Pead TD". ESPN. October 15, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2015.