News broke this morning that Cincinnati Bearcats legend Greg Cook lost his battle with pneumonia this morning. He was admitted to the hospital last night but did not make it through the treatments the doctors were giving him. He died at the age of 65 surrounded by his closest friends and family.
This is certainly a day of mourning in UC country. His mark on the Cincinnati Bearcats football program will be one of the lasting memories most people will have of him. He broke countless records while the Bearcats signal caller including passing completions and touchdowns per season. His record for passing yards in a single game (554 vs. Ohio University in 1968) has never been broken. Remember this was long before the spread or pistol made their appearance on the football field. This was a time when veers/wing-t option offenses ruled the day and passing was still a VERY distant second to running the football. His abilities were certainly ahead of his time. Think about the damage he could have done in a modern-day passing offense. Speaking of that, most Cook’s records had not been broken for nearly 30 years at Cincinnati until Gino Guidugli took the helm for the Bearcats in the early 2000′s. However Cook’s record for passing yards in a single game still stands.
Greg Cook, while gone will never be forgotten. He lived a Bearcat, he died a Bearcat, and his spot on the Ring of Honor will take a special meaning after today.
Gates was on the cusp of winning this prestigious award last week but Sean Kilpatrick’s game-winning three against UConn sealed the deal for him. Plus, Cash could have easily won this one as he put up great numbers against West Virginia and Syracuse but what sets Gates apart is his performance on the defensive end. Not only was he a general thorn in the side of anyone going against him under the basket but he was swallowing up defensive rebounds like his life depended on it. In those games against the Mountaineers and Orange, Gates collected 18 defensive rebounds. He notched 23 total rebs over the two game span and his overall aggressiveness in the paint earned him a double-double in both games as well. He’s been one of the most consistent Bearcats since the suspensions and appears to be getting better and better as the Big East games go on. Cincinnati will certainly need him in the final month or so as they make a run for the NCAA tournament.
The happy hour recently worked so well that the athletic department decided to hold a similar event tomorrow. This should certainly boost ticket sales and getting 5/3rd rocking through the end of the season. Great job, UC Marketing.
They certainly outperformed my expectations. Despite performing very poorly in 2010 and dealing with the injuries to Hoffman and Hooey, the OL was one of the stronger units on the team. Kudos is to Don Mahoney who only a year ago I was calling to be fired. The play on the interior was especially impressive as Evan Davis, who also didn’t have a good 2010, rose to the challenge and mastered the center position this year.
What’s that you say? Rutgers has a basketball team? And this is the first you’re hearing about this? Well surprisingly they do and the fact that you didn’t know Rutgers played basketball before arriving at this post isn’t shocking in the least. Despite playing for the last 105 years, Rutgers has only made the NCAA tournament six times. Their best year came in 1976 when they made the final four but only returned to the tourney four times since. Their most recent appearance was in 1991 and haven’t made the Big Dance since joining the Big East. In the last decade, the Scarlet Knights have been hard to watch going 151 – 169 overall and 46 – 122 in conference. In these 10 years, they have only posted winning campaigns in three of those seasons, never had a winning record in the Big East, and were typically regulated to ‘bottomfeeder’ status in the conference.
But things are looking up for the Scarlet Knights as new coach Mike Rice appears to know what he’s doing in Piscataway. Despite going 5 – 13 in the Big East last season and laying an egg against freakin’ DePaul at home last night, Rutgers has played markedly better this year knocking off ranked Florida and UConn. They also have a slew of better recruits which I will talk about in a bit but first let’s get to some stats of interest in this game:
Really good look at how porous UC’s defense truly was at times on Monday night against Syracuse. Amazing how close the game ended up being considering there were so many uncharacteristic breakdowns on defense. There has a been a major problem with the guards on defense this season and they will need to step up as conference play is far from over.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Big East in this expansion process it’s that they want to get the heck out of the cold weather. Houston? San Diego? Orlando? Those are some pretty temperate locations. The Big East brass clearly wants to go vacationing year-round. Well, they already go vacationing year-round considering they do as little work as possible running this conference but I’m pretty sure adding these schools is just a convenient excuse for John Marinatto to try his new banana hammocks. I’ll give you a few minutes to clean up as you most certainly puked after picturing that.
Anyways, a less nauseating thought is that of adding Central Florida to the Big East. Here’s more about them:
The Basics
The one thing you should know about Central Florida is that it’s like the fastest growing university on the planet. Students flock here faster than a Tino Sunseri sack (bazinga). In the past decade, UCF has invested millions of dollars into their campus and athletic programs (more on that in a bit) and has thus seen enrollment grow to the tune of 40% since the early 2000′s. There are currently a whopping 58,000 students spread throughout all of their campuses. UCF isn’t a commuter school anymore and the size as well as the quality of their facilities speaks to that. The school’s administration has spared no expense in not only bringing the university up to speed but also in a position to compete with the big boys Florida, Florida State, Miami, and even South Florida.
Like Bearcats Nation on Facebook. Follow BN on Twitter. UC’s head football coach Butch Jones received a contract extension back in December after the Bearcats completed a remarkable turnaround on the gridiron. The extension and raise was well deserved but the details had not be revealed until today. The increase to Jones’ actual salary is [...]
Like Bearcats Nation on Facebook. Follow BN on Twitter. After a tremendous 2011 season, Coach Butch Jones received a nice pay raise as well as a contract extension to keep him, at least in writing, the head man of the Cincinnati Bearcats through the 2017 season. The six-year extension establishes stability for a UC football program that [...]
