Cincinnati Football: Bearcats Take to Higher Ground in Preparation for Season

The Cincinnati Bearcats left the confines of Nippert Stadium over the weekend and embarked on their annual trip to Higher Ground Conference and Retreat Center in West Harrison, Indiana.

Cincinnati makes the annual pilgrimage across the state lines to Indiana for their yearly two-week visit where they can get away and concentrate on football only. 

There is a lot to concentrate and improve on after a 4-8 season a year ago, and Cincinnati has a chance to mentally prepare for the season that lies ahead. 

While most of the starting positions are filled, there is one hard-fought battle that is taking place on special teams. 

The job up for grabs is the starting kicker position. 

Four-year starter Jake Rogers graduated last season and is now in camp with the New Orleans Saints. While Rogers had his share of inconsistencies during his time at Cincinnati, replacing him has become tougher than originally expected.

The competition has turned into a two-man battle between redshirt freshman Tony Miliano and Wake Forest transfer Shane Popham. 

Both are walk-ons with the winner of the job possibly being granted a scholarship. 

Miliano was a two-time first-team all-state selection at Elder High School in Cincinnati and chose to walk on at Cincinnati instead of taking a scholarship to a Mid American Conference school. 

Popham was a scholarship player at Wake Forest who averaged 38.2 yards on 71 punts last season while making eight of 14 field-goal attempts over his Wake Forest career. 

Both players have had their good days and their bad.

With Popham being a fifth-year senior, he has game experience that Milano is lacking. 

Milano has the potential to improve over his four-year career and could be a a little more of a risk. 

Whichever direction head coach Butch Jones goes, the decision will probably not be made until the Bearcats leave Higher Ground in Indiana in two weeks. 

With the season now less than three weeks away, this is just one of many big decisions that Jones has on his plate in the weeks to come.