Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk has lost out in his bid for a sixth year in which to complete four years of eligibility. The NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee has turned him down, finally, after dragging the case out for five months.

A UC blog reported that the school was unable to come up with “contemporaneous documentation” to prove Mauk was injured during his freshman year at Wake Forest.

“It just didn’t exist,” said Maggie McKinley, assistant athletic director/compliance at UC. “Our hope as that we could get it to the committee and they would find a way to give relief from the rule, but they were unable to come up with any way to grant that relief.”

Coach Brian Kelly said he wished that Mauk had had a chance to plead his case in a teleconference hearing but McKinley said she wasn’t very surprised when the committee issued its ruling without the hearing.

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Sledgehammer Michael Bush – The Bleacher Report says some people will describe the Oakland Raiders’ running game as “Thunder and Lightning,” with Darren McFadden as the lightning and Michael Bush as the thunder.

Bush isn’t strictly a power guy, he’s an excellent runner that can make defenders miss or simply run them over. He has the type of talent to cause you to keep track of another statistic with Bush; how many defenders he has trucked.

He is an excellent receiver out of the backfield, excellent blocker with the skill to eliminate blitzing linebackers and defensive backs.

The report also includes a video with some Michael Bush highlights you don’t want to miss:

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Brandon Awareness – Nice article, too, on former UofL defensive end Brandon Johnson over on the Cincinnati Bengal site.

“Just watching him down here three years removed from Louisville, it brings a smile to my face,” says Clifton Marshall, a former Cardinals strength coach who helps Bengals strongmen Chip Morton and Ray Oliver from time to time. “He’s got an opportunity and he’s run with it.”

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Come On, Frank, It’s Football Season – Frank, over at Hell In The Hall, has excavated some great memories in an interview with Roger Burkman, everybody’s favorite U of L’s player past the age of 40. When you think of the 1980 NCAA basketball championship team, you remember the prototype of a player who drove opposing offenses crazy with his long arms and incredible hustle.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

2 thoughts on “Cincinnati Quarterback Gone”
  1. Charlie,
    It is a pretty well known fact that when a member of the NCAA Student Athlete Re-instatement Committee {as well as several other committees), that member is immediately sent to a secret Medical Clinic in Switzerland where a team of some of the finest surgeons are assembled. This team then proceeds to surgically remove that member’s head from another part of that member’s anatomy.

    Someday, some brave investigator, one who as a posse of highly trained body guards surrounding him or her, will do an investigation of the NCAA. Then once and for all, this pompous, self righteous organization will be found out for what is acutally is..unfair, higly biased, corrupt. What we have here, Charles, is the proverbial fox watching the hen house.

    MrBlunt

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