Before becoming the first Group of Five team to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff and before back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, the Cincinnati Bearcats had a chance to prove themselves against a top-five program in the country.
The Bearcats traveled to Ohio State for the second game of their 2019 season, one week after beating UCLA at Nippert Stadium. They were coming off an 11-win season, plus a Military Bowl victory against Virginia Tech, so they weren’t sneaking up on anybody.
No, this was a chance to show they were ready for the big stage as expectations for the program began to grow.