Luke Fickell had an ambitious goal when he took over the University of Cincinnati football program in December 2016. Fickell wanted the Bearcats to be a top-10 program that rivals his alma mater, Ohio State.
Fickell, however, knew he had a long way to go to catch the Buckeyes, whom he helped lead to two national championships (2002 and 2014).
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In the second game of his third season as Cincinnati head coach, the former Ohio State defensive lineman and longtime Buckeyes assistant watched as his old team handed his new team a 42-0 drubbing inside Ohio Stadium in Columbus.