Miami University quarterback Austin Boucher and his teammates are all warm and fuzzy these days, thanks to the indoor comfort of the new University of Cincinnati practice bubble.
Miami is headed to a bowl and UC is not, so the RedHawks asked if they could borrow the Bearcats’ facility for some workouts. Wednesday was a perfect day to be inside, with temperatures in the 30s and snow on the ground.
“It beats practicing outside, that’s for sure,” Boucher, a redshirt freshman, said. “People can focus when they’re not so cold. We can have crisper practices when everyone’s not slipping on snow and ice.”
Miami (9-4), which plays Middle Tennessee State (6-6) on Jan. 6 in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala., has practiced three times in UC’s bubble. The RedHawks depart for Mobile on Saturday.
UC athletic director Mike Thomas said Miami is paying a rental fee to use the facility.
“It’s in the range of $300 an hour,” Thomas said. “… They approached us about using it, and it just evolved from there.”
The air-supported bubble, inflated over a 100-yard field, is part of UC’s Jefferson Avenue Sports Complex. The UC website, GoBearcats.com, said the bubble maintains an interior ambient temperature of 50 to 60 degrees during the winter.
The white lettering in the red-painted end zones might say “Cincinnati,” but Miami otherwise has felt at home amid its own predominant colors of red-and-white.
RedHawks interim head coach Lance Guidry said warming temperatures Wednesday made him consider moving practice outside, but he thought better of it.
“I’d rather come in here,” Guidry said. “You don’t have any snow on the field. We really appreciate the University of Cincinnati letting us use it.”
The previous time Miami had visited UC was Oct. 9, when the Bearcats routed the RedHawks 45-3. Since then Miami has gone 6-1, and the RedHawks’ Mid-American Conference championship led to coach Mike Haywood being hired at Pittsburgh.
Boucher said Miami players are concentrating more on the bowl game than who might be the next MU coach.
“When we heard about (Haywood) it was a little disappointing, but this is a business and it’s about us as players,” Boucher said. “It’s about having each other’s backs, playing for each other.”
Senior safety Jordan Gafford, a Miami captain, said the RedHawks have further closed ranks on their trips from Oxford to UC. The players travel on three university buses and the drive takes 45 to 50 minutes, Gafford said.
“Any time you can get out of the snow and into a similar atmosphere to what we’ll see in Mobile, it makes a lot of sense,” Gafford said.
Miami athletic director Brad Bates said the school is exploring the possibility of raising funds for its own indoor facility.
“We’re very appreciative of the University of Cincinnati letting us use their facility,” Bates said.
Former UC coach Brian Kelly was among the most vocal champions of the bubble. Kelly left for Notre Dame before the project was finished, and this year’s UC team did not get much time in the facility before its season ended Dec. 4.
“I think we’d rather have our team in there, but we’re good neighbors,” Thomas said. “I think if we were in that situation, I’m sure Brad would accommodate us as well.”
