Desmond Ridder lifts the ball, with a touch that is so light it almost feels like a graze. His receiver receives the ball as it arcs slightly and then drops into his hands. Ridder claps for a job well done. He sports a blue wristband on his left hand. It says, "Lacks worries."
Here, the quarterback of the nation's seventh-best team looks calm and composed on the practice field. Three days prior, he had orchestrated a win against Indiana at home. To regain the lead in the fourth quarter, he made a 19-yard touchdown pass toward the back right corner. He dodged one defender and then ran 7 yards to score a touchdown that iced the game. He spent most of his time in Bloomington doing the same thing he did for the past three-plus decades in Cincinnati: scoring through the air (64 career passing scores) and on the ground (24) and more than his opponents (33-5 as starter). He's definitely feeling devil-may-care right now, but it's not clear if he has even broken a sweat.
It is late September, the last day of summer. The city of Cincinnati was alerted. Clouds have been threatening rain throughout the day. The University of Cincinnati football team doesn't have an indoor facility. A seasonal bubble will be put up around October to cover the field that they share with the women’s lacrosse team. Ridder and his team have to deal with the wet ground, drizzle and general sloppiness. Just beyond the field is visible the neon glow of a Walgreens sign. If they're motivated enough, passersby might catch a glimpse. It's not Fort Knox, Alabama, Clemson or Oklahoma -- it's here.
Ridder is still as bright as the afternoon, and this breezy quality is his reward. His Cincinnati Bearcats are now 3-0. He is slowly but surely making his way into Heisman consideration. He is making his way to the most important game of what could be the Bearcats' greatest season.
All this buoyancy and cheer is not enough. It hides Ridder's power and his team's enormous success. Ridder and his Bearcats are aiming for something that may be both institutionally and perpetually out of reach: A genuine, honest-to goodness chance to make it to the College Football Playoff.
The Bearcats are a nation's underdog, and they have won hearts and minds all over the country. They're the only team that has been crowned a top-10 team for 17 consecutive weeks, which is a longer streak than any other team in the country, except Alabama. They are favored to beat Notre Dame this weekend, but that's irrelevant. Undefeated, 9th-ranked Notre Dame. In South Bend. This could be a game that will change the face of Cincinnati's football program. Ridder can lead this "upset" and continue to manage wins all the way up to an American Athletic Conference title. This will raise serious concerns when it comes to College Football Playoff-picking season. Here's a sampling of the conversation:
Did they win in the right way, if so?
Did they win against the right opponent if they won the right way?
Did enough teams lose if they won the right way against the correct opponents?
These caveats and the caveats to these caveats are just window dressing, but they do not really address the larger point, the ethos which underpins college football's existence in the playoff age. Cincinnati, which is not an elite Group of 5, team, is welcome to come here. Six Group of 5 teams finished the regular season in unblemished form since 2014's introduction of the playoff. The playoff committee has ranked them all at No. 8. Their average final rank was 8. 13. Desmond Ridder is a unique character. He can barge in places he doesn't want.
When he is asked about those caveats, he doesn't seem disoriented. He isn't looking it, lying on his back on a leather sofa in the gym. He spreads his arms and flashes a few tattoos from his sleeves -- 502 for his hometown, a pair small footprints, and a line showing a heartbeat. Both are his daughters, Leighton and Leighton. He also sounds tired, which could be due to his unflappability and general aura. Leighton is still teething and has just started her sleep training. Ridder was sleeping on a table at physical therapy. His teammates caught him doing this and sent a text to Sarah, Ridder's mom: "New father!" (New dad!)
Ridder, who is 6'4" and weighs in at 215 pounds, has all his limbs so he must contort himself as he reclines on the couch. He says, "We were talking about it the other day in our quarterback room." "If Alabama, Clemson, or Georgia loses one of their games... Is there a dagger in their bodies of, 'We are not going to win the national championship this year?' That pressure is not on us."
Resignation is a form of freedom: He doesn’t have to shoulder that same pressure, because the system doesn’t allow it. Ridder knows that if Cincinnati fails to win one game, it will be out of playoff contention. Ridder knows that if Cincinnati wins every game, it is most likely that his team will also be out of playoff contention. Given his circumstances in life, he is very relaxed about it all. He is a Group of 5 quarterback in a Power 5 country. He is second-class college football citizen. If he seems confident when it comes to the peaks or valleys of this road it's because it's something he has walked before.
Will Wolford, a former coach at Saint Xavier High, pointed out that Ridder was not a hat-chooser. On National Signing Day, Ridder didn't sit at a desk. Instead, he was surrounded by dozens of college football's most sexy logos. He was either a two-star star or a three-star afterthought depending on which recruiting connoisseurs he chose. If he looked closely, he might be able to see the entire array of caps with college football's most sexiest logos. He is one of the most successful college football quarterbacks this century (87%). Interesting Heisman odds (+1800), behind only Ole Miss' Matt Corral, and Alabama's Bryce Young heading into Week 5. There are rumors of fringe potential first-round talent for next year's NFL draft (No. 8 of Mel Kiper Jr.'s eligible 2022 QBs; Todd McShay gives him plaudits for his extraordinary arm strength and ability both to scoot in the pocket and hold it tough.
For a time, however, he was just an individual standing in front of coaches asking them for flyers. Because he knew that the staff was interested in Ridder, he decided to go full-stalker on Miami (the Ohio edition). Ridder called the staff when the quarterback did indeed decommit and they told him to call back within a week. They gave him another week to call them back. Then nothing.
Ridder said, "We have a ramp that goes up to our locker area at St. X." Ridder says, "And I recall sitting on that ramp and making these phone calls and thinking, 'Man! What am I doing? "What do I need?
Tommy Tuberville was then the Cincinnati head coach. He won at the end of Ridder’s full-court press on Miami. The Bearcats asked him to join them for a throw on Friday. It was Derby weekend and he was taking the day off school to go to Kentucky Oaks to see the fillies race. After a morning of throwing, he went home to dress for Oaks and then received a call while he was still milling about the Churchill Downs infield. He ran to the nearest place of peace, which turned out be a porta potty. This was where he got his first and only offer to play college football at FBS level. He began his college career in a toilet.
He was accepted by the school, even though he had already committed to Cincinnati.
"[Offensive coordinator] Mike Denbrock met him and it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, this guy,’" Fickell said, with all of the sizzle and lukewarm water.
In 2017, he was not their guy. Fickell describes Ridder as a 21st-century Rudy Ruettiger Scout teamer. He is the guy who gets manhandled, bloodied, and then gets back up to do it again. He was not their guy to start the following year, but he did come off the bench to replace Hayden Moore in game one. He was a major factor in Chip Kelly's demise at UCLA and he has never been denied the starting position.
But, before all of that, Cincinnati was fresh off a 4-8 loss in Fickell’s debut season. Ridder told his players that no job was secure, and Gino Guidugli who was just appointed the quarterbacks coach, recalls Ridder moving up the stretch line, where the starters were lined up, in practice. Ridder claims he was just being a faithful foot soldier. He said that another coach had told him to go on and he did so. Regardless of his origin, Ridder was awkwardly placed at Moore, the team's incumbent starter.
"What the f ---?"?" Moore stated. Moore said.
Ridder was not looking for a fight. Moore was his friend and he respected his place on the team. He also recalls thinking that his coach had told him to join the starters and that he was now exactly where he needed to be.
Ridder believed at the time that this is where I belong. I don't need to be told twice.
Ridder was a low-profile QB at Saint Xavier High in Loiusville before he received an FBS offer to play with Tommy Tuberville's Bearcats. Courtesy Saint Xavier Athletics
Cincinnati will discover the Rosetta Stone that allows them to play in the College Football Playoff. You can hear Ridder's rejoinder. It is the truth he feels inside. This is where we belong. He won't need to hear it twice.
This is part of the reason Ridder is back in Cincinnati, his legacy business. Ridder knew that his last year in Cincinnati, his redshirt junior year, was his last. Claire Cornett was his longtime girlfriend and so certain that he was certain, he created a photo album to mark the end of his college career. The last page features a gauzy, large-format photo of Ridder stepping into a smoke cloud. She wrote, "On to the next ...".
The book is still tucked away on their glass coffee table in the living room. It contains the only evidence that the house belonged to the winningest active college quarterback. Behind the many tokens of Leighton’s arrival, a collection of plaques and trophies, including those declaring Ridder rookie of the Year, MVP, and Iron Bearcat, can be seen on the floor. Claire says their entire basement is used for diaper storage. Ridder's team threw them an event a few months ago, and now there's more.
They were prepared to leave. However, Ridder sent them a draft of his feedback. It wasn't all rosey. There were projections for the fourth through sixth rounds. He and Claire began to think that it might be nice for Leighton to have some stability on their way. They wanted to get to know the area and have their family 100 miles away to assist. Plus, he could sense something was wrong, just like when you leave your home and realize you forgot to turn the oven on. It was something that had to be done.
He says, "I felt like I could still... as a group, we could push the university to become something great."
Although he won't admit it, he has the playoff in his sights. However, a undefeated regular-season season and a conference championship led Cincinnati to that record. The Bearcats would have won the Peach Bowl over Georgia if it wasn't for the 53-yard field goal that ran out of time. There's not much left to be done.
Cincinnati did not merit playoff consideration. At least, that's what the committee responsible for dispensing it said. 8 and far from a playoff spot. Gary Barta, chair of the Committee, gave a commendation for a job well done. It was the verbal equivalent to a pat on the forehead, but nothing more. He said that he didn't know of any obstacles to their progress and told ESPN's Rece Davies at the time. "The committee has great respect and admiration for Cincinnati. The committee has great respect for Cincinnati.
They now have scar tissue. They did not play any Power 5 opponents last year, so they could not miss out on any of the games. However, they won all but one game and came very close. They were close-ish, a grim reality that is reflected in the Group of 5's poor track record. Central Florida reached No. 8 back in 2018. This was after two consecutive undefeated regular season. (They were also crowned national champions along the way -- an act that was met with widespread patronization. So now? The playoff is now being discussed in quiet tones around Cincinnati. Depending on who you ask, it may not be at all.
Ridder states, "I don't think that since I've been there, or even the past six months of the past year, year and half, whatever it may be, we have ever, ever ever, ever discussed making it to the playoff."
Guidugli, his quarterback coach, admits that it is on everyone's minds, if not on their lips. Guidugli also stays true to his message. Ridder, Fickell, and Guidugli all agree that the conference championship is what they are most concerned about. All this calm, calculating nonchalance -- how about we worry about the playoff? It can feel a little like a defense mechanism. If they don't expect any from the playoff committee, they can't be hurt.
This is a very useful modus operandi, as they figure out who and what they really are in the final days of their time outside the Power 5. This success earned them a conference invitation and a ticket to the playoff. The Big 12 will accept Cincinnati as a member no later than 2024. They are a more than an upstart with spunk, and a less than a blueblood, at least for now.
Fickell, Ridder, and their goal is to reach a goal that the sport has repeatedly told them may be impossible for them. This seems daunting, but Fickell promises it is possible.
Fickell states, "That's what the beauty is having 18- to 22-year olds." They are impressionable
Each preseason, the football team travels to Camp Higher Ground in Indiana, a small rural community on the eastern border of Indiana. They spend approximately two weeks together. While the rest of college football collapsed around them, the Bearcats were mucking in August 2020. The Big Ten and the Pac-12 cancelled their seasons, along with the MAC and MAC. They felt like they were wasting their energy on something that wouldn't happen. Fickell decided that if that was how they felt, then no one had to be there.
Guidugli recalls Guidugli telling everyone, "We'll get buses out here tomorrow. We can pack our stuff and go home." Fickell stated that they could also call it time of death for their season. Fickell said he was leaving the decision up to his team.
They met in the cafeteria, Guidugli viewed the convention from outside, and then met Ridder, defensive end Myjai Sands. Guidugli was able to figure out that these other conferences might not be playing. What a great opportunity for the spotlight to finally shine on this team, which is so rare.
Guidugli said to them, "That's an incredible opportunity for us."
They were, as it turned out, very impressionable. They liked the idea of the opportunity, even though Pac-12 and the Big Ten reentered into the fray to steal some of their shine.
They came very close. They made their announcements, which was no small feat. Because if any group of five team is going to invade a playoff with four teams, they will need outside help (perhaps in a year when Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma don’t like world-beaters). They will also need to be able to demonstrate that they are a legitimate force for disruption by winning all of their regular season games, winning a conference title, and going head-to-head with an SEC heavyweight. They might be allowed to disrupt if they continue doing the same for one more year.
Also, Ridder and Cincinnati now have to run it back in 2021.
Ridder wanted to give Cincinnati a second chance and improve his professional prospects. He says, "I felt like I could still... as a group, we could push the university to become something great." AP Photo/Jeff Dean
Ridder takes a few moments to himself back on the practice field as the team continues to try again. As practice ends, Ridder doesn't take a single snap. It's a bye-week, which allows the next Desmond Ridders to get some reps, even with Notre Dame only days away. He is an admirable cheerleader. He sprints downfield when junior Jack Perry throws a bomb to the goal zone. Bum-rushing referee to lobby him for pass interference, a few plays later, he stands by the pylon signaling for a touchdown.
He seems relaxed, as if he doesn't have any worries. Notre Dame is waiting with its unbeaten record, shining pedigree, and potential to be a jumping off point. If Ridder and Cincinnati win, will it be enough? Perhaps. Most likely not. Ridder must help Cincinnati achieve what it did last time, but with more juice.
The field suddenly hears the voice of God. It's Morgan Freeman, the narrator of 21 Savage's latest album. He is currently playing through a large amp. It's close enough. Freeman, a velvety baritone, wonders about life, timing, and second chances. It's all very nose-to-nose.
Is it better or worse this second time?
Is it possible to do more than one thing?
