The 2021 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats played their home games at Nippert Stadium and competed as members of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). They were led by fifth-year head coach Luke Fickell.
Coming off a 9–1 season and a Peach Bowl appearance in 2020, Cincinnati began the 2021 season ranked eight in the preseason AP Poll. The team secured a signature non-conference win by defeating then-No. 9 Notre Dame on the road, 24–13, in the fourth game of the year. The Bearcats capped an undefeated regular season by defeating Houston in the American Conference championship game. In the final College Football Playoff rankings of the season, in which the Bearcats were the last remaining undefeated team, Cincinnati was ranked No. 4, earning them a spot in the national semi-final game to be played at the Cotton Bowl. This marked the first time a team from one of the Group of Five conferences was selected for a playoff spot. In that game, Cincinnati lost to first-seeded Alabama, 27–6, ending Cincinnati's season with a 13–1 record, and they were ranked fourth in the final polls. These marked the most wins and highest poll finish in Cincinnati program history.
Cincinnati's offense was led by quarterback Desmond Ridder, who led the AAC in passer efficiency rating and was named the conference's Offensive Player of the Year. Ridder threw for 3,334 yards and 30 touchdowns on the season. Running back Jerome Ford led the conference in rushing with 1,319 yards and 19 touchdowns. Three Bearcat offensive lineman were named to the first team All-Conference: Lorenz Metz, Dylan O’Quinn, and Jake Renfro. On defense, the team was led by consensus All-American and AAC Defensive Player of the Year, cornerback Sauce Gardner. Cornerback Coby Bryant was also named to the first-team All-Conference and several All-America teams, and was the recipient of the Jim Thorpe Award. Linebacker Joel Dublanko led the team in tackles, and defensive lineman Curtis Brooks led the conference in sacks. Head coach Luke Fickell was the recipient of several national and the American Conference's Coach of the Year awards. Nine Cincinnati players were selected in the 2022 NFL draft, including fourth-overall pick Sauce Gardner.
Offseason
Coaching changes After the 2020 season, Marcus Freeman was announced as the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame. Mike Tressel was hired to replace Freeman as defensive coordinator, returning Tressel to Cincinnati where he had coached from 2004 to 2006.
Darren Paige was named the new running backs coach after the departure of Dan Enos.
Players 2021 Cincinnati offseason departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes James Wiggins 1 S 6’0 205 Senior Miami, FL Graduated Darrick Forrest 5 S 6’ 0" 200 Senior Columbus, OH Graduated Jarell White 8 LB 5’ 10" 205 Senior Cincinnati, OH Graduated Ethan Tucky 19 DE 6’ 2" 245 Senior Delaware, OH Graduated Gerrid Doaks 23 RB 6’ 0" 230 Senior Indianapolis, IN Graduated Cameron Young 25 RB 5’ 11" 230 Senior Columbus, OH Graduated James Smith 37 P 6’ 5" 235 Senior Wangaratta, Australia Graduated Michael Pitts 43 DE 6’ 4" 248 Senior Stone Mountain, GA Graduated James Hudson 55 OL 6’ 5" 310 Junior Toledo, OH Declared for the NFL draft Darius Harper 58 OL 6’ 7" 308 Senior Springfield, OH Graduated Bruno Labelle 87 TE 6’ 4" 248 Senior Montreal, Canada Graduated Elijah Ponder 93 DT 6’ 3" 275 Senior Atlanta, GA Graduated
Transfers
Outgoing Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown New School Jayshon Jackson WR 5' 10" 175 Senior Chicago, IL Ball State Zach Hummell OL 6' 2" 285 Sophomore Hilliard, OH Miami (OH) Jakari Robinson C 6' 2" 308 Senior Talladega, AL Memphis Ben Bryant QB 6' 3" 218 Junior La Grange, IL Eastern Michigan Michael Lindauer QB 6' 3" 218 Sophomore Evansville, IN Southern Illinois Dorian Holloway LB 6' 3" 215 Sophomore Columbus, OH Youngstown State Steven Hawthorne DE 6' 4" 227 Sophomore Chicago, IL Central State Kobe McAllister OL 6' 6" 293 Sophomore Ringgold, GA Chattanooga
Incoming Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Prev. School Jowon Briggs DT 6' 2" 295 Sophomore Cincinnati, OH Virginia Devin Hightower LB 6' 1" 225 Sophomore Akron, OH Michigan State James Tunstall OT 6' 6" 329 Junior Indian Head, MD Stony Brook
Recruits
Preseason
Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released
Walter Camp AwardSauce GardnerCBJr.Myjai SandersDESr.Lott Impact TrophyCoby BryantCBGSDodd TrophyLuke FickellMaxwell AwardDesmond RidderQBSr.Bednarik AwardSauce GardnerCBJr.Myjai SandersDESr.Davey O'Brien AwardDesmond RidderQBSr.Mackey AwardJosh WhyleTEJr.Thorpe AwardCoby BryantCBGSSauce GardnerCBJr.Nagurski TrophySauce GardnerCBJr.Myjai SandersDESr.Walter Camp AwardDesmond RidderQBSr.Manning AwardDesmond RidderQBSr.
American Athletic Conference preseason media poll The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll was released at the virtual media day held August 4, 2021. Cincinnati, who finished the 2020 season ranked No. 8 nationally, was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the 2021 preseason media poll.
Media poll 1 Cincinnati 262 (22) 2 UCF 241 (2) 3 SMU 188 4 Houston 181 5 Memphis 168 6 Tulsa 153 7 Tulane 132 т-8 East Carolina 85 т-8 Navy 85 10 Temple 46 11 South Florida 43
Schedule The Bearcats' 2021 schedule consists of six home games and six away games. Cincinnati hosted two of its four non-conference games; Miami (OH) from the Mid-American Conference for their annual Victory Bell game and Murray State from the Ohio Valley Conference. They travelled to Indiana of the Big Ten Conference, and to Notre Dame in their first meeting against former Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly, winning both contests.
With the departure of UConn before the 2020 season, the American eliminated divisions for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The Bearcats 2021 schedule included eight conference games – four home games and four road games. Cincinnati hosted Temple, UCF, Tulsa and SMU. They traveled to Navy, Tulane, South Florida, and East Carolina.
Schedule Source:
Personnel
Roster and staff
Depth chart
Game summaries
Miami (OH)
Statistics MIACIN First downs 17 27 Total yards 278 542 Rushing yards 169 247 Passing yards 109 295 Time of possession 34:15 25:45
Team Category Player StatisticsMIA Passing AJ Mayer 9/28, 109 yards Rushing Keyon Mozee 15 carries, 80 yards Receiving Mac Hippenhammer 3 receptions, 64 yardsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 20/25, 295 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT Rushing Jerome Ford 12 carries, 121 yards, 1 TD Receiving Tyler Scott 1 reception, 81 yards, 1 TD
Murray State
Statistics MURCIN First downs 15 17 Total yards 242 391 Rushing yards 93 130 Passing yards 149 261 Time of possession 34:48 25:12
Team Category Player StatisticsMUR Passing Preston Rice 17/29, 149 yards, 3 INT Rushing Damonta Witherspoon 16 carries, 52 yards Receiving Deshun Britten 5 receptions, 58 yardsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 14/22, 243 yards, 2 TD Rushing Jerome Ford 18 carries, 113 yards, 3 TD Receiving Tyler Scott 4 receptions, 74 yards, 1 TD
At Indiana
Statistics CININD First downs 20 20 Total yards 328 376 Rushing yards 118 152 Passing yards 210 224 Time of possession 29:43 29:36
Team Category Player StatisticsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 20/36, 210 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Jerome Ford 20 carries, 66 yards, 2 TD Receiving Alec Pierce 5 receptions, 86 yards, 1 TDIND Passing Michael Penix Jr. 17/40, 224 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT Rushing Stephen Carr 21 carries, 52 yards Receiving D.J. Matthews 5 receptions, 120 yards
At No. 9 Notre Dame
Statistics CINND First downs 16 19 Total yards 390 341 Rushing yards 93 84 Passing yards 297 257 Time of possession 28:10 31:50
Team Category Player StatisticsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 19/32, 297 yards, 2 TD Rushing Jerome Ford 17 carries, 71 yards Receiving Alec Pierce 6 receptions, 144 yardsND Passing Drew Pyne 9/22, 143 yards, 1 TD Rushing Kyren Williams 13 carries, 48 yards, 1 TD Receiving Michael Mayer 8 receptions, 93 yards
Temple
Statistics TEMCIN First downs 14 23 Total yards 235 542 Rushing yards 85 279 Passing yards 150 263 Time of possession 31:59 28:01
Team Category Player StatisticsTEM Passing D'Wan Mathis 16/27, 120 yards, 1 INT Rushing Justin Lynch 3 carries, 29 yards Receiving Jose Barbon 5 receptions, 45 yardsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 22/30, 259 yards, 3 TD Rushing Jerome Ford 15 carries, 149 yards, 2 TD Receiving Alec Pierce 6 receptions, 93 yards, 1 TD
UCF
Statistics UCFCIN First downs 14 23 Total yards 296 476 Rushing yards 155 336 Passing yards 141 140 Time of possession 32:48 27:12
Team Category Player StatisticsUCF Passing Mikey Keene 16/27, 141 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT Rushing Ryan O'Keefe 1 carries, 51 yards Receiving Ryan O'Keefe 7 receptions, 60 yardsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 13/23, 140 yards, 1 TD Rushing Jerome Ford 20 carries, 190 yards, 4 TD Receiving Leonard Taylor 4 receptions, 47 yards
At Navy
Statistics CINNAVY First downs 14 22 Total yards 271 308 Rushing yards 95 192 Passing yards 176 116 Time of possession 20:33 39:27
Team Category Player StatisticsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 18/30, 176 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Jerome Ford 15 carries, 90 yards, 1 TD Receiving Josh Whyle 4 receptions, 60 yards, 2 TD NAVY Passing Tai Lavatai 11/16, 116 yards, 1 INT Rushing Isaac Ruoss 19 carries, 80 yards Receiving Kai Puailoa-Rojas 2 receptions, 47 yards
At Tulane
Statistics CINTULN First downs 18 17 Total yards 351 280 Rushing yards 124 187 Passing yards 227 93 Time of possession 28:12 31:48
Team Category Player StatisticsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 17/27, 227 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT Rushing Jerome Ford 18 carries, 65 yards, 1 TD Receiving Josh Whyle 4 receptions, 79 yards, 2 TDTULN Passing Kai Horton 7/16, 79 yards, 2 INT Rushing Tyjae Spears 19 carries, 106 yards, 1 TD Receiving Jha'Quan Jackson 3 receptions, 34 yards
Tulsa
Statistics TLSACIN First downs 26 18 Total yards 446 390 Rushing yards 297 116 Passing yards 149 274 Time of possession 34:16 25:44
Team Category Player StatisticsTLSA Passing Davis Brin 17/26, 149 yards, 1 TD Rushing Shamari Brooks 25 carries, 132 yards, 1 TD Receiving Josh Johnson 7 receptions, 65 yardsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 15/23, 274 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Desmond Ridder 12 carries, 43 yards, 1 TD Receiving Alec Pierce 5 receptions, 113 yards, 1 TD
At South Florida
Statistics CINUSF First downs 30 21 Total yards 506 346 Rushing yards 202 101 Passing yards 304 245 Time of possession 32:30 27:30
Team Category Player StatisticsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 31/39, 304 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Ryan Montgomery 6 carries, 72 yards, 2 TD Receiving Josh Whyle 5 receptions, 61 yards, 1 TDUSF Passing Timmy McClain 16/30, 245 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT Rushing Jaren Mangham 16 carries, 53 yards, 2 TD Receiving Jimmy Horn Jr. 5 receptions, 108 yards, 1 TD
SMU
Statistics SMUCIN First downs 15 24 Total yards 199 544 Rushing yards 133 249 Passing yards 66 295 Time of possession 24:39 35:21
Team Category Player StatisticsSMU Passing Tanner Mordecai 15/26, 66 yards, 1 TD Rushing Ulysses Bentley IV 11 carries, 68 yards Receiving Rashee Rice 7 receptions, 21 yards, 1 TDCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 17/23, 274 yards, 3 TD Rushing Jerome Ford 19 carries, 82 yards, 1 TD Receiving Tre Tucker 7 receptions, 114 yards
At East Carolina
Statistics CINECU First downs 20 19 Total yards 444 282 Rushing yards 143 54 Passing yards 301 228 Time of possession 27:42 32:18
Team Category Player StatisticsCIN Passing Desmond Ridder 17/28, 301 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT Rushing Jerome Ford 20 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD Receiving Alec Pierce 8 receptions, 136 yards, 1 TDECU Passing Holton Ahlers 19/38, 228 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Keaton Mitchell 17 carries, 55 yards Receiving Tyler Snead 6 receptions, 91 yards
No. 21 Houston (AAC Championship game)