Cincinnati has big fan in former player in Las Vegas

If for no other reason than football fans love the underdog almost as much as they love getting 13½ points at the wagering window, a lot of people in Las Vegas will be cheering for upstart Cincinnati against Alabama in Friday’s college football playoff semifinals.

Longtime Las Vegan Nick Catanella will be pulling for the Bearcats for another reason: He was once one himself.

“It’s historic, it really is history,” said the Southern Highlands resident and former Cincinnati defensive back about the Bearcats facing the mighty Crimson Tide with a national championship game berth at stake.

“Nick Saban is one of the all-time greats and playing against Bryce Young, the Heisman Trophy winner, is another problem. But Luke Fickell also is an unbelievable coach, and to be able to get these guys (motivated) week after week … think about it. They lose a game, they’re done.”

But Fickell’s Bearcats did not lose a game, though they have yet to face an opponent the caliber of Alabama on a stage as big as the one they’ll encounter at the Cotton Bowl.

The Cincinnati teams Catanella played for during the early 1970s were similar in that regard.

“We were always kind of the small guy,” Catanella, 72, said. “In ‘72 we opened against Indiana State and our second game was against Colorado. That’s the way it was when you were an independent.”

That was Colorado during the Cliff Branch era, when the nationally-ranked Buffaloes and star running backs Charlie Davis and Jon Keyworth trampled Cincinnati 56-14.

After his playing career, Catanella got into the hotel management and hospitality business in Indiana.

It’s where he met his wife, Nancy — she makes a mean pot of Skyline chili, he said of the Cincinnati specialty — and basketball coaching legend Bob Knight. Their relationship resulted in Catanella hiring Landon Turner, the former Indiana Hoosiers star whose career was cut short by a traffic accident that left him paralyzed, as a greeter at his hotel.

Catanella said the best thing about the Bearcats’ Cinderella season is that it has brought him back together with many of his old teammates. There has been lots of reminiscing about lining up against Colorado and Texas A&M and Louisville (when Lee Corso was coach), and of crisp, autumn days at ancient Nippert Stadium when they had all of their hair.

“It’s been really something,” No. 33 on the old Bearcats said, “and I just can’t believe the excitement about this game coming up.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.