Well, the University of Cincinnati finally won one, and they won big.

After losing two games by razor-thin margins and another slightly less close one to Dayton, the Bearcats exploded to beat #35 Miami of Ohio.

The win might come a shade late for Cincy in terms of making the MAC playoffs - the Bearcats currently lead the MAC South but with a 1-2 record, and with Ohio and Dayton at 1-0, they have to hope for some favorable results going forward.

But the new is still good for Cincinnati. New Head Coach Nick Lauterbach, who was at the helm of the Cincinnati Wolfhounds men’s club team for many years and produced more than a few upsets there, has the UC players believing in themselves.

“There was a bit of a learning curve for both the students and me,” said Lauterbach. “They were getting used to me and some of my philosophies, and I was learning about our personnel. We started slow, and I think we weren’t able to put in a full 80 minutes until Saturday.”

The continuity of play and ability to keep phase after phase going - a hallmark of a good Lauterbach team - showed itself on Saturday against Miami.

“The phase play wasn’t clicking as well as I’d like, but it was Saturday,” said Lauterbach. “There’s a good rivalry between Miami and Cincinnati, and this was a big victory for the students. The guys have been supporting each other, and we’ve started to show a lot of improvement, especially in the set piece, and they’ve come a long way.”

Whether it’s enough to travel further remains to be seen. Cincinnati has only one more game remaining in the standings, against 0-0-1 Louisville. If they win, they can be 2-2 with 13 points in the standings. Then it’s a case of waiting.

Dayton (1-0) has games at Miami and Ohio. Ohio (1-0-1) hosts Dayton and visits Miami. Both Dayton and Miami also play Louisville. While Louisville is not favored in their games, the games between Ohio, Dayton, and Miami are all pick ‘em games. It is conceivable that Miami, Dayton, and Cincinnati all could finish 2-2, leaving it up to the bonus points to figure out who makes the top two, and the playoffs with the North. Cincinnati may have figured it all out just in time.