ATLANTA — Junior quarterback Desmond Ridder snaked his way out of the tunnel with his hood up, his mask on and his hands in his pockets. It was 9:55 on Friday morning at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and the No. 8 University of Cincinnati Bearcats football players walked onto the field for the first time before the Peach Bowl game against No. 9 Georgia.
The other players around Ridder had their phones out, taking videos and photos of the scene. It was the first NFL stadium some of them had ever played in. There was a circular scoreboard at the top of the stadium.