2011 Liberty Bowl: Zach Collaros Returns, Leads Cincy To 31-24 Win

Smith earned 68 passing yards on this play, and Boyd gets 68 receiving yards, but this would have been about a five-yard gain if Tate hadn’t done his job so well.

Of course, this play would have meant a lot more had Cincinnati’s Ralph Abernathy not returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.

The 2011 Liberty Bowl provided most of the points and excitement on the final day of the 2011 college football season that is actually part of 2011, and it gave the Cincinnati Bearcats the penultimate college football victory of 2011, in a 31-24 triumph over Vanderbilt.

One victory for the Commodores regardless of the outcome - Officials have announced an estimated attendance of over 57,000, with the crowd a considerably stronger shade of gold than Bearcat red.

We take it back, Missouri. Maybe this is the SEC thing to do after all (via @cjzero):

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Rodgers finished the day 4-of-14 passing for 26 yards, one interception and was sacked twice. In one drive, Smith surpassed Rodgers with 34 yards on three completions.

Neither team has eclipsed 70 yards passing through three quarters, and Vanderbilt has mustered only 168 total yards.

Zach Collaros’ first game in over six weeks has been rough in the early going, as Cincinnati’s senior quarterback has been sacked twice and thrown an interception, as Vanderbilt leads 7-0 after one quarter of play. Collaros is 2 of 7 passing for 12 yards, and the Bearcats are 0 of 3 on third down conversions.

While Collaros has struggled in his return, Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers has been equally erratic at 2 of 6 for 21 yards. Vanderbilt scored on a one-yard touchdown run from Zac Stacy, set up by the Collaros interception that started the Commodore drive at the Cincy 22-yard-line after a Casey Hayward return.

Greetings from the antiquated confines of Memphis’ Liberty Bowl, where Cincinnati has just officially announced that quarterback Zach Collaros will start against Vanderbilt in today’s game. The senior quarterback missed the last three regular season games for the Bearcats, and head coach Butch Jones confirmed Thursday during a Liberty Bowl press event that Collaros would likely start.

After an impressive senior campaign - 1,854 yards and 14 touchdowns in nine games - Collaros was sidelined when he broke his ankle in a November 12 loss to West Virginia.

NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

On paper, Cincinnati does have quite a few advantages here. With Collaros, their offense is the single best unit in the game, the defense makes a ton of exciting plays, and the Bearcats were semi-steady all season before Collaros got hurt. But the possibility for glitches is high, and Vanderbilt improved by leaps and bounds as the season progressed. And with high MACtion potential (big plays, in both directions, on passing downs), but should be a fun one.

Game date, time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, December 31st

Location: Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN

Cincinnati closed the regular season with back-to-back victories to finish at 9-3 and clinch a share of the Big East Conference title. Unfortunately for second-year head coach Butch Jones and company, tie-breakers prevented the Bearcats from representing the league in a BCS bowl game. Still, Jones was named Big East Coach of the Year and has orchestrated an impressive turnaround, as the program managed only four wins in his first season at the helm. This contest marks the 13th all-time bowl appearance for Cincinnati, which has won six of its previous 12 postseason tilts.

The key to Cincinnati’s nine-win campaign has been the play of the defense, which leads the nation in sacks per game (3.6) and TFL per contest (8.9). The Bearcats rank sixth nationally against the run, yielding a mere 93.7 ypg. Widely regarded as the best player on the defensive side of the ball for UC, senior defensive tackle Derek Wolfe was recently named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and a Second-Team All-American. Wolfe leads the conference with 19.5 TFL, including 9.5 sacks. The Bearcats are yielding 20.0 ppg and have come up with 30 takeaways.

But signs point to him making a return against Vandy. From the Associated Press:

The Bearcats were in line for the Big East title and an Orange Bowl bid late in the season, but dropped two of their last four to slump into Memphis. Cincy lost just one of the eight games in which Collaros was able to stick around for four quarters.