BearcatLair.com - UC 41 Cards 10

October 24, 2009

Ryan Pence
BearcatLair.com Staff Writer

The Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0, 3-0 Big East) defeated the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday by a final score of 41-10, keeping their dreams of an undefeated season alive.

Despite being without it's starting quarterback, the Bearcat offense thrived. With Tony Pike out, Zach Collaros stepped in and produced for the Bearcats. He found his rhythm early, and never looked back, completing 15-of-17 passes for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first start of his career. Those numbers become even more impressive when you take into account that Collaros was pulled from the game early in the 3rd quarter with the Bearcats in control.

"It felt great," said Collaros describing his first career start. "I didn't realize I threw it that many times. We knew we could run versus this defense, and I didn't get touched all night. The line protected me very well. Even when I threw it behind someone, the receivers caught it."

Head coach Brian Kelly was pleased as well.

"We got into a very good rhythm with Zach early," said Kelly when asked to describe his team's performance. "We had a good mix of run pass, and that kept Louisville off balance early on. We also got that quick score and there was a lot of confidence on the sideline. No one was worrying where Tony Pike was. Not that we don't want Tony in there, but it's just nice to not have to worry about that."

When asked after the game about the quarterback situation, senior wide receiver Mardy Gilyard simply reiterated the Bearcats most famous philosophy -- next man in.

"It doesn't matter who is under center," said Gilyard. "With the offense we run, Coach Kelly could be under center. In practice we focus on so many little things, we don't worry about who is under center. We don't worry about who is under center, or who is running the show. Coach Kelly runs the show. It's just next man in."

And Gilyard, if anyone, should know. No matter who has been under center for the Bearcats, Gilyard has thrived. His 4 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown today show that, but so do his career numbers. His touchdown catch, the 22nd of his career, tied him with Dominic Goodman for the all-time Bearcat record. After the game, Gilyard talked about what that record means to him.

"It feels good," said Gilyard. "Tying the record of someone I know, and someone who put me under their wing. He put me under his wing when I moved to wide receiver in 2007 and led me to where I am now."

Despite an impressive performance from Collaros, the Bearcats running game must not be overlooked. They ran the ball often, and they ran it well. Leading the way for the Bearcats was sophomore Isaiah Pead who carried the ball 6 times for 88 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown run in the 2nd half that put the Bearcats in the driver's seat.

And, as you might expect when you see the score, the defense also played very well. Led by Senior linebacker Andre Revels who recorded 11 tackles, the Bearcat defense completely dominated the Louisville offense for the majority of the game. Outside one long drive at the end of the first half, the Louisville offense could get nothing going against the Bearcats speedy defense.

"Our emphasis was to stop the run and prevent the deep ball," said Revels after the game. "I don't know the stats, but I feel like we did a pretty good job of it today. We just got the ball back into the offense's hands and let them do their thing."

With the win, the Bearcats find themselves in position to remain near the top of the BCS polls yet again when they are released on Sunday. Andre Revels, who has witnessed the transformation of the Bearcat program in his five seasons with the team, talked about how it feels to be considered one of the nation's best, as well as how it felt to dominate a Louisville team that, until recent history, had their number.

"It feels real good that we are making the steps we need to be considered one of the teams you see on ESPN," said Revels. "It just feels good. When I first came in we weren't really competing (against Louisville), it was a landslide. And it feels good to be where we are now."

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