The excitement was palpable as Luke Fickell took the field for his debut as University of Cincinnati football coach Thursday night, but the game itself almost immediately turned into a bummer.
UC started slowly but gradually had too much for FCS team Austin Peay, as the Bearcats won 26-14 in perfect football weather (79 degrees, low humidity) at Nippert Stadium.
To start, a packed student section (aka The Ruckus) was pumped up by a surprise visit from Bearcats great Isaiah Pead. Pead, the former UC and NFL running back who lost a leg in an auto accident last November, was handed a microphone and yelled happily to the applauding students just before kickoff.