BearcatLair.com - Mathews Closing Career in Style

October 23, 2009

Tim Adams
BearcatLair.com Senior Writer

When then Bearcat head football coach, Mark Dantonio, took the podium in February of 2006 to talk about his new recruiting class, the now Michigan State head man was particularly excited about a late addition. Cincinnati had just inked Ricardo Mathews to a national letter of intent after he had originally committed to Georgia Tech.

Landing any player that had offers from other BCS programs like Georgia Tech, Illinois and Maryland was scarce back then, and to get one with the potential of contributing early in his college career at a physically demanding spot like defensive tackle was almost nonexistent. But Coach Dantonio explained that Mathews' mother felt more comfortable sending her son to play for UC rather than the Yellow Jackets. Ricardo remembered the rationale used in choosing his school almost four years ago, and it dealt mostly with the demeanor of the Bearcat players.

"I'm a people person," said Mathews. "When I went on my official visit to Georgia Tech, the players weren't what I expected them to be. My visit to Cincinnati changed my entire view on college. They just took me in and treated me like family."

Despite hailing from Jacksonville, none of the bigger Florida schools showed much interest in Mathews including USF, but in retrospect, the Bulls might admit to making a mistake after seeing the Floridian record two tackles for loss and a half a sack last Thursday evening in helping Cincinnati to a 34-17 win. In fact, Mathews' Bearcats have won all four meetings between these two schools during his career, although he hasn't always played a big role in the victories.

As a true freshman, Mathews played in nine games making only 2 tackles. As a sophomore, Ricardo played in all thirteen contests recording only 11 stops, and last season as a junior played in a whooping fourteen games making just a dozen tackles. Added together, the senior had only 25 career tackles in thirty-six games, only 4.5 of those stops came behind the line of scrimmage (2 sacks and 2.5 TFL).

The 2009 season has been a completely different story for the 6' 4"/295 pound starting defensive end. Mathews has started all six games making 24 tackles placing him second among defensive linemen (Dan Giordano leads with 26 tackles), second on the squad in tackles for loss with 6.5 (Alex Daniels leads with 7) and third in sacks with 3 (Daniels leads with 5.5, and Walter Stewart is second with 4).

In the past, Coach Kelly has described Mathews' size and looks as "scary," but this UC senior believes that description is best suited for one of last season's opponents, specifically the Oklahoma Sooner's offensive front.

After last year's UC/Oklahoma game, Mathews was asked about the size of their offensive linemen and responded, "Sir, they were the biggest men I have ever seen."

Ricardo remembers making the comment and hedged only slightly when asked if he still felt that way about Phil Loadholt (6' 8"/337 with the Minnesota Vikings), Duke Robinson (6' 5"/328 with the Carolina Panthers) and company.

"They are still some of the biggest people I have ever seen, but there was that big dude at Fresno State (Devan Cunningham 6' 6"/350) this year although he wasn't the same caliber of player as that big No. 79 (Phil Loadholt) from Oklahoma last season."

Mathews chuckled, "I felt like a kid amongst men."

Although meant as a joke, there's also some truth to Mathews' categorizing himself as a "kid" in his three previous seasons as a back-up defender, but he feels he's matured in 2009.

"I'm more aggressive now. That was something that had to hit me mentally more than physically because physically I've always had it. Mentally my game was off, but coming into this year as a senior, the weight was on my shoulders to get dramatically better."

Although Mathews wishes he had done some things differently at UC, he said he has no regrets. "I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason in life. If I had started earlier in my career, maybe I would have gotten injured. I'm happy with what God gave me, and I'm taking it and making the most of it."

The big man's strong faith comes from his mother. "She had a tremendous influence in my life. I came from a home where my mom didn't play anything. If she though playing the radio was against God's will, it wasn't happening." Although his parents are separated, Mathews said his father is also around and takes his role in Ricardo's life.

This week Mathews prepares for his last Homecoming as a Bearcat, and like most, he wonders where the time went. "My career has gone by fast, but everything has fallen into place."

As the Bearcats try to continue as one of the few undefeated BCS teams, there are still some pieces that could fall into place. "I feel like this is our year," said Mathews. "It's a very good feeling being on this football team right now."

UC football fans certainly wouldn't disagree as they will pack Nippert Stadium on Saturday afternoon hoping Ricardo Mathews and the group of players he thinks of as family will continue to make 2009 a season no Bearcat fan will ever forget.

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