ARLINGTON, Texas – Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder and the breakthrough Bearcats aren’t caught up in what their unprecedented playoff appearance could eventually mean for other teams outside the ranks of the Power Five.
This is their journey.
After a season-long debate about whether the outsider deserved a spot in the College Football Playoff and being the only team to win every game along the way, the fourth-ranked Bearcats (13-0) get their shot at 3:30 p.m. Friday, when they take on top-ranked and reigning national champion Alabama in the Cotton Bowl semifinal.
“We’ve already had so much pressure on us throughout the entire season of marking off the checklist, so why add the pressure of every other non-Power Five school that we have on our back?” Ridder said. “It’s really just been about us and will always continue to be about us.”
Alabama (12-1), coming off a dominant win against fellow CFP qualifier Georgia in the Southeastern Conference title game, is the standard bearer for the playoff. This is the Crimson Tide’s seventh semifinal appearance in the eight seasons of the four-team event.
However, they most likely wouldn’t have made it back without quarterback Bryce Young leading a 97-yard touchdown drive in the regular-season finale against Auburn that tied the game late in regulation; Alabama won in four overtimes. The sophomore first-year starter then set an SEC championship game record with 421 passing yards in the 41-24 victory over Georgia (12-1), which was undefeated until then and plays Michigan (12-1) in the Orange Bowl semifinal Friday night.
Those two performances helped Young become the first Alabama quarterback to win a Heisman Trophy.
“It’s always challenging when you come off of winning a championship for players to have the same hunger, to have a sense of urgency to prove something,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who has six national titles the past 12 seasons. “But because we were young, I think it took this team a little longer to maybe respond on a consistent basis like we wanted them to.”
AP file photo by Jeff Dean / Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder said the Bearcats have kept their focus internal rather than on what their surprising run means for college football’s underdogs as they prepare to take on top-ranked and reigning national champion Alabama in the Cotton Bowl semifinal.Ridder is among more than 30 Cincinnati seniors, and many of them decided to return for an extra year with coach Luke Fickell after the Bearcats went 9-0 during the 2020 regular season only to lose 24-21 to Georgia when the Bulldogs kicked a last-second field goal in the Peach Bowl, a New Year’s Six game.
“I’ve had a great experience over my five years here, and I’m just hoping we can seal it off with one of the best experiences there is,” said Ridder, a potential NFL first-round pick whose 12,280 total yards are a career record for both the program and the American Athletic Conference.
“To be here and not take advantage of it would be a real regret,” tight end Josh Whyle said.
Before sweeping through the AAC, the Bearcats won 24-13 at Notre Dame the first Saturday of October. That was the only loss for the Fighting Irish, who wound up fifth in the final CFP rankings on Dec. 5 and the first team out while Cincinnati made history.
The Bearcats still go into the Cotton Bowl as 13 1/2-point underdogs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
“We don’t see ourselves as underdogs. We feel like we can play with whoever,” All-America cornerback Ahmad Gardner said. “We always have a chip on our shoulder. So the fact that we’re able to finally be where we always wanted to be puts more of a chip on our shoulder.”
Alabama’s only loss was 41-38 at Texas A&M on Oct. 9, a setback that got the Tide’s attention.
“It showed a lot of guys how it feels to lose and how it feels to be down. We got the experience early, so we know how it feels to be down and out, the world against you,” senior defensive end Phidarian Mathis said. “So you don’t want to feel like that no more. So we just took that as motivation and try to get better every week.”
Alabama is 8-3 in CFP games and has won its past five semifinals since a loss to Ohio State – with Fickell as the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator – in the first year of the four-team playoff.
The Tide are 5-0 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, with two of those games in the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys serving as CFP semifinals. They beat Michigan State 38-0 in the Cotton Bowl six years ago, and last New Year’s Day they won 31-14 over Notre Dame in a Rose Bowl moved from Pasadena because of COVID-19 restrictions in California.
Among the interesting in-game matchups is one involving All-Americans.
“Sauce” Gardner was a scrawny 160-pound freshman when he arrived at Cincinnati, and receiver Jameson Williams blossomed at Alabama after playing for Ohio State the past two seasons.
Gardner has never given up a touchdown in coverage at Cincinnati, and he hasn’t given up a catch inside the Bearcats’ 20-yard line this season. Williams has 68 catches and leads the SEC with his 1,445 receiving yards (21.2 per catch) and 15 touchdowns. He has 11 catches of at least 50 yards, including scores of 67 and 50 yards in the SEC title game.
Another key comparison involves players who won’t be on the field at the same time. Brian Robinson, finally Alabama’s featured running back in his fifth season, has rushed for 1,071 yards and 14 touchdowns this year.
Cincinnati’s top rusher, Jerome Ford, spent two seasons at Alabama before transferring to the Bearcats two years ago. Ford, who said this week that he would “appreciate if people stopped calling me the Alabama transfer,” has 1,242 yards and 19 touchdowns in his second season with Cincinnati and his first as the starting tailback.