Keg of Nails: Cincinnati Defeats Louisville, 35-27

The lone highlight of the third quarter was a 14-yard touchdown catch by Cincinnati’s D.J. Woods -- followed immediately by a helmet-removing, head-bouncing hit on Woods, after which he somehow managed to hold onto the ball. Woods was examined on the field by trainers and walked off under his own power.

At the end of the third quarter, Cincy leads, 28-24.

SB Nation’s Cincinnati bloggers, relegated to the Friday-night wasteland of a Joe Tessitore-Rod Gilmore broadcast, are coping with the imminent pain and indignity the best way they know how: Tessitore drinking game!

For entertainment purposes only. Please enjoy Joe Tessitore responsibly.

In our locker room there were different corners based on the layout of the room. There was “the neighborhood,” which consisted of locker #‘s 1-12, and “the corner,” which consisted of locker #‘s 13-24. I don’t know who came up with the names.

On Wednesday morning it started with “the neighborhood” tossing little pieces of rolled up tape over the lockers trying to hit someone in “the corner.” You would never know who threw what because everyone would deny it. It was like a game of Battleship. As the day went on, it went from pieces of tape, to cups, to towels, to Gatorade bottles, to whatever. It was all in good fun and we cleaned up everything so the whole team wouldn’t get in trouble. Since it was during the holidays, by NCAA rules the team has to provide every player with a meal for each day there is no class. Naturally, we had Papa John’s pizza. Well now the neighborhood now had the ammunition they needed. I had just finished taking a shower and was getting ready to get dressed when all of the sudden out of nowhere three pieces of pizza stuck together crushed me in the face. It was a direct hit. I had cheese and pizza sauce all in my hair and face. I now had to go take another shower. I had no proof of who threw it but I am pretty sure it was Antoine Sharp. Antoine, with a slight smile on his face, still denies it to this day.

The Bearcats are coming off their most impressive performance of the campaign, a 45-3 trouncing of rival Miami-Ohio this past weekend. It marked the first win over a FBS program this season for Cincinnati, which took down Indiana State for its only other victory. At just 2-3, the Bearcats obviously had a rough non-conference campaign, but they hope to turn things around in the Big East, where they are the defending champions.

The Cardinals meanwhile, showed they are a much improved team during their non-league schedule, winning three games and losing two by just seven points each. The team enters the tilt fresh off its most convincing win of the season, a 56-0 blanking of Memphis last weekend. It marked the first shutout for Louisville since a 62-0 triumph of Temple back in 2006.