Bearcats get a chance to exhale

CINCINNATI – Maybe the Cincinnati players didn't really know how much they needed a win Friday night. Tommy Tuberville, their coach, sensed it more than they seemed to.

Tuberville's concern wasn't as much about dropping a third game of the season and falling to 0-2 in the new American Athletic Conference. Tuberville's concern was much more personal.

"For what these kids have been through in the last month, they needed something positive," said Tuberville, speaking after the midnight hour and his Bearcats had beaten Temple 38-20.

On Sept. 7, senior quarterback Munchie Legaux suffered a horrific knee injury at Illinois. Two weeks later 19-year-old freshman Ben Flick lost his life in a car accident that also claimed the life of Flick's lifelong friend Sean Van Dyne and placed freshmen wide receivers Mark Barr and Javon Harrison in the hospital. Barr is still in the UC Medical Center Intensive Care Unit, although his condition was upgraded from critical to stable this week.

"It's been a struggle, mentally, for all of them and even though they still have one of their teammates in intensive care they're growing up," said Tuberville. "This is part of a learning process for all of us. I've never been through anything like this and I hope I never go through it again. We've got to remember what these kids have gone through. I'm proud of them. Proud for how they fought."

UC was expected to beat Temple. The Owls came into game winless in their first five games, including a 30-7 loss to Louisville last week. They were changing quarterbacks, going with freshman P.J. Walker. UC was expected to beat winless South Florida last week as well but lost 26-20 on the road.

"We looked like we were walking in mud," said Tuberville.

There was no mud Friday night. A near-capacity crowd of 32,220 showed up at Nippert Stadium, boisterous and energized. Friday night isn't your typical college football setting. It's a made-for-TV setting. But the crowd showed up for the Ring of Red game without reservation. So did UC.

The Bearcats had their best all-around offensive game, piling up 205 rushing yards while senior quarterback Brendon Kay completed 31 of 37 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns. The defense shutout Temple in the second half as UC improved to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in the AAC.

"These were a rough couple of weeks, but I'm happy people aren't bailing and jumping ship yet," said Kay. "We've got a great team here and we're going to keep this ball rolling."

There was a pre-game video memorial for Flick along with a moment of silence. Flick's family was at the game. The UC Bearcat mascot wore a jersey No. 77 in honor of Flick.

"That was emotional," said senior defensive back Arryn Chenault. "Ben was a hard worker, a quiet guy. For that to happen to him was heartbreaking. You want to do whatever it takes to honor him and finish the season out right."

Flick was going to be red-shirted. He wasn't going to see the field this season, but tragedy doesn't come in degrees based on playing time.

"It's been tough. Sudden change. Things happen but you've got to be able to respond to them," said sophomore running back Tion Green, who had career highs with 18 carries, 91 yards and two rushing touchdowns. "The truth is the only thing you can control in life is your attitude and your effort. Being faced with those tragedies that went on, the loss (at South Florida), us as team, we have to persevere. I think what is most important is that those things brought us closer as a team, the coaching staff as well.

"Life is about how you respond to it. We've persevered and we're getting through it."

Tuberville knows that football is just a game, no matter how much importance we put on it. The last five weeks have given him the chance to teach his players a little more about life. Each week they put it behind them a little more, as any of us do when tragedy hits us close.

"We normally have a little more emotion and enthusiasm in our practices," said Tuberville. "It's still there some, in the back of their minds about Ben and about Mark being in the hospital. There's just been no closure to it. There's been zero closure. It's not anything that you can say 'OK, let's get going, we know where it's at.' We're still in a holding pattern, hoping that Mark gets better each day.

"A lot of our players have been going to see him. It brings back reality. This is a game we're playing and that's life he's playing."