2005 will be tough for UC

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With seven victories last year, Mark Dantonio won more games in his first season as the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati than Tim Murphy did in his first three.

It took Dave Currey two years to win that many games. Rick Minter, Dantonio's predecessor, didn't win his seventh game until late in his second season.

Dantonio, who led the Bearcats to a victory over Marshall in the PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl, became only the second coach in UC history to take his team to a bowl game in his first year, joining Hall of Famer Sid Gillman (1949).

The former Ohio State defensive coordinator was the beneficiary last year of a 25-member senior class, a quarterback who broke nearly every school passing record and a linebacking crew among the best in school history.

"(The seniors) could have easily quit or made things difficult," Dantonio said. "But everybody pulled in the same direction. That was the positive thing."

But as UC players report today for Dantonio's second training camp, quarterback Gino Guidugli is trying to make the Tennessee Titans' roster, the linebacker corps has no one who has played the position in a Division I-A game, and the roster includes 60 first- or second-year players.

There are only 11 seniors on the roster this year, and only three return as starters. There are six returning starters overall.

And the Bearcats face a schedule that has been ranked the nation's 12th toughest by CBS Sportsline as they begin their first season in the Big East Conference.

It seems like bad timing for a school trying to heighten interest in its football program as it moves to a more exclusive address.

But the optimistic Dantonio prefers to view the glass as half-full.

"It's not a bad year, because we'll all grow together," Dantonio said.

Given the overwhelming youth of this team, the Bearcats were picked to finish last in the eight-team Big East in the preseason media poll.

Dantonio understands the reasoning but doesn't accept the prediction as the inevitable outcome of UC's 2005 season.

"We can surprise a lot of people as we move through this season," he said. "You've got to be picked somewhere. I've been on a 10-2 Michigan State team that was picked seventh in the Big Ten."

For something similar to unfold at UC this fall, the Bearcats will have to compensate for their lack of experience with youthful enthusiasm.

"I think that's what gives us a chance," Dantonio said.

On a more tangible level, he'll have to find a capable quarterback to lead his offense.

After an impressive spring, redshirt freshman Dustin Grutza enters the preseason as the favorite to win the job.

"He gives you another dimension as a quarterback," Dantonio said. "He's a little bit more of a runner. He's probably a little more like (former Louisville star Stefan) LeFors than he is like Gino, so you can expect him taking a bad play and taking off running with the ball a little more."

Grutza will be flanked by a talented group of running backs, led by sophomores Bradley Glatthaar and Butler Benton, who combined for 768 yards last season in backup roles.

Doug Jones, Mike Daniels, Greg Moore, Carl Jones and redshirt freshman Delbert Ferguson provide plenty of options for UC.

"You've got five or six guys who have been in games or are highly touted," Dantonio said. "We should be able to play them in and out and keep them fresh. We ran for 2,200 yards last year. We ran effectively. I think that's the key."