Taking a lot ahead to the Bearcats 2022 football season, where the Bearcats are coming off the best year in program history where they broke the barrier as they became the first “Group of Five” team to make the College Football Playoff, where they fell to number one ranked Alabama 27-6 in the Cotton Bowl back on January 1st.
This Bearcats defense has been phenomenal over the years, especially on the back end that was led by Coby Bryant and Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, who are both gaining lots of praise ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft where Gardner, has seen his name anywhere as high as number 4 to late first round, which could be the highest Bearcat to ever be selected in the NFL Draft. Gardner never allowed a touchdown in his college career, but has three career touchdowns as a Bearcat, the one that really put him on the map was the infamous 2019 Nipp at Night where he intercepted UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel for a pick-6 to lead the Bearcats to the upset over the No. 21 ranked Knights.
Bryant, on the other hand etched his name into history at the University of Cincinnati as he was the first Bearcat to bring home the Jim Thorpe Award which is given annually to the best defensive back in all of college football. Bryant, a fifth-year senior came back to use his extra year of eligibility ahead of the 2021 season and it proved to pay off in many ways. Bryant paved the way for guys like Gardner on and off the field, they turned something very special on the field to something even bigger off the field and that was the role of leadership within the locker room. Gardner gave Bryant a lot of praise on his decision to come back and what it meant to learn from someone like Bryant during his time at Cincinnati.
“Coby he’s a leader, he leads me on and off the field, I didn’t get to play with him in the Peach Bowl, I think it was a blessing for him to come back, a real-life blessing for him being able to motivate me, and for me to motivate him,” said Gardner back in October.
