As Cincinnati gets set to square off against Alabama in today's College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Cotton Bowl, one Bearcat will be seeing some familiar faces on the other side of the ball.
Running back Jerome Ford has been one of Cincinnati's top players all season long, gaining 1,242 rushing yards and 209 passing yards and scoring 20 touchdowns.
He transferred to the University of Cincinnati following the 2019 season - from Alabama, the team he will be facing today at AT&T Stadium.
Cincinnati recruited Ford after he entered the transfer portal, and that was not the first time that Cincinnati recruited him.
Ford recalls that while at Armwood High School near Tampa, Fla., assistant coach Gino Guidugli tried luring him to Cincinnati.
"Coach G (Gino Guidugli) was a great recruiter for my area," says Ford. "He came and talked to me. I was real high on Cincinnati, but I chose Alabama. When I entered the transfer portal, I knew Coach G was still a great guy, somebody -- a place that I felt that I could go when I jumped into the transfer portal. And that's how I ended up choosing Cincinnati."
After his breakout year with Cincinnati, Ford is very appreciative of his two years with the Crimson Tide.
"I'm thankful for everything Coach (Nick) Saban has done for me, the opportunity to play at Alabama," Ford says. "But I am a Bearcat. And I would kind of appreciate it if people stop calling me 'the' Alabama transfer. I'm a Cincinnati Bearcat."
Even though Ford will be seeing some familiar faces on both the other side of the ball and across the field during today's game, he will have no time for nostalgia.
"it's a business trip. We came here to play football," says Ford. "It won't be one of those things where it's like, 'Oh, my buddies are over there.' It will be just like playing another team. We came to play a game and win a game."
Cincinnati and Alabama get underway in the Cotton Bowl at 2:30 this afternoon, with a spot in the National Championship Game at stake.
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