1983 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

1983 Cincinnati Bearcats football
ConferenceIndependent
Record4–6–1
Head coach
Captains
  • Gene Beck
  • Bill Booze
  • Don Goodman
  • George Jamison
  • Linwood Marshall
Home stadiumRiverfront Stadium, Nippert Stadium
1983 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Miami (FL)   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 19 Boston College   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 16 West Virginia   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 20 East Carolina   –   –   8 – 3 – 0
No. 18 Pittsburgh   –   –   8 – 3 – 1
Florida State   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Penn State   –   –   8 – 4 – 1
Southern Miss   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
Memphis State   –   –   6 – 4 – 1
Notre Dame   –   –   7 – 5 – 0
Syracuse   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
South Carolina   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
  –   4 – 6 – 1
Southwestern Louisiana   –   –   4 – 6 – 0
Temple   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Tulane   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Louisville   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Navy   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Rutgers   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Army   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1983 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Holy Cross ^   –   9 – 1 – 1
No. 17 Tennessee State   –   8 – 2 – 1
No. 7 Colgate ^   –   8 – 3 – 0
Lehigh   –   8 – 3 – 0
Lafayette   –   6 – 4 – 0
Northeastern   –   6 – 4 – 1
Southeastern Louisiana   –   6 – 5 – 0
William & Mary   –   6 – 5 – 0
Nicholls State   –   5 – 6 – 0
Bucknell   –   4 – 5 – 1
Delaware   –   4 – 7 – 0
Northwestern State   –   4 – 7 – 0
James Madison   –   3 – 8 – 0
Richmond   –   3 – 8 – 0
Western Kentucky   –   2 – 8 – 1
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

The 1983 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season.[1] The Bearcats were led by first-year head coach Watson Brown. Due to an NCAA mandate that average attendance (home and away) exceed 20,000 fans, Cincinnati was to be relegated to NCAA Division I-AA. The program sued the NCAA, managing to limit the tenure of I-AA play to just the 1983 season, and played a schedule of mostly I-A opponents. They participated as independent and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium with on-campus Nippert Stadium being used as a supplement for the second of five straight seasons.[2]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 10at No. 20 Penn StateW 14–383,683[3]
September 17Oklahoma StateL 17–2725,934[4]
September 24at LouisvilleL 23–3123,992[5]
October 1Cornell
W 48–2013,840[6]
October 8Temple
  • Riverfront Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
W 31–1618,272[7]
October 15at Florida StateL 17–4355,102[8]
October 22No. 8 Miami (FL)
  • Riverfront Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
L 7–1714,163[9]
October 29at KentuckyT 13–1357,789[10]
November 5Rutgersdagger
  • Riverfront Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH
W 18–718,484[11]
November 12Memphis State
  • Riverfront Stadium
  • Cincinnati, OH (rivalry)
L 10–4312,125[12]
November 19at Miami (OH)L 10–1425,254[13]
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[14][15][16]

References

  1. ^ "Plenty of new twists to college football '84". The Beaver County Times. August 28, 1983. p. 19. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  2. ^ Tuckerman, Spencer. "Tuckerman: On a Storybook in South Bend". University of Cincinnati. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  3. ^ "Penn State shocked by Cincinnati, 14–3". The Miami Herald. September 11, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "OSU derails Cincinnati, 27–17". Tulsa World. September 18, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Louisville runs over Cincinnati 31–23". The Opelika-Auburn News. September 25, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Flynn, Terry (October 2, 1983). "UC Lets Cornell Off with 48–20 Beating". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. p. B-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Cincinnati sends Temple reeling to fourth loss, 31–16". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 9, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Seminoles slap Cincy 43–17". Tallahassee Democrat. October 16, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Strange doings don't stop Miami, 17–7". The Orlando Sentinel. October 23, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Adams provides a spark as UK ties Cincinnati". The Courier-Journal. October 30, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Erring Rutgers falls to Cincinnati, 18–7". The Star-Ledger. November 6, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Cincinnati demolished". The Tennessean. November 13, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Miami surprises Bearcats". The Cincinnati Enquirer. November 20, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "1983 Cincinnati Bearcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  15. ^ "1983 Football Schedule". University of Cincinnati Athletics. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  16. ^ "2009 University of Cincinnati Football Media Guide" (PDF). gobearcats.com. Retrieved July 20, 2019.