Derrick Canteen and Gavin Gerhardt shared their thoughts on the situation.
CINCINNATI — UC leaders remain optimistic that their 28-27 collapse against Pittsburgh on Saturday won’t lead to a downward spiral like last season’s home loss to Miami (OH). Cincinnati is now 2-7 at home under Scott Satterfield and 2-10 against FBS opponents.
Despite the setback, Derrick Canteen, who led the team with eight tackles and three pass breakups, and center Gavin Gerhardt expressed confidence that the team can stay on track.
“I think they brought in the right guys for this team,” Gerhardt said, explaining why he believes the locker room will remain united. “Every single guy that’s come in, whether older or younger, has strong character and won’t let the team fall apart. They were either raised right or came from programs that didn’t tolerate that. The coaching staff has done a great job of instilling that mindset.”
Cincinnati had built a 27-6 lead but faltered, including a missed 25-yard field goal and a costly fourth-down-to-first-down penalty on Pitt’s final drive.
“I would say, honestly, there was a lot of positive encouragement,” Derrick Canteen said about the postgame locker room atmosphere. “Guys were stepping up, leading, telling each other that we’re good and to keep our heads up. That’s hard to do, especially after how it ended with them coming back. There was a lot of emotion, but I think our team did a great job picking each other up and having each other’s backs.”
Cincinnati suffered a similar gut-wrenching loss to Miami (OH) last season, which led to losing eight of their final nine games. A repeat of that scenario would be tough as the Bearcats work to regain momentum.
“They took the momentum and ran with it,” Canteen said of Pittsburgh’s comeback. “As a team, we need to do a better job of stopping that and flipping it. In football, momentum is huge, and they did a good job capitalizing on it.”
Cincinnati will face their rivalry matchup against Miami (OH) next week at noon ET.