CINCINNATI -- It's a good thing the Bengals are on a bye this week. There's no telling how high the tensions could get between kicker Mike Nugent and punter Kevin Huber with their alma maters playing each Saturday night.
Long snapper Clark Harris, whose locker sits in between the two, would have to be on extra alert.
Nugent, from the Dayton suburb of Centerville, was an All-America pick during his days at Ohio State, including kicking for the Buckeyes in the 2002 national championship season. Huber is a Cincinnati native who twice led the nation in net punting while playing at UC. The Bearcats and Buckeyes play Saturday night at the Horseshoe and the two specialists for the Bengals have a little wager on the game's outcome.
Just what that wager happens to be, however, remains a mystery.
"Look for his Twitter account after the game," said Nugent on Monday during an open locker room session. "There will be something interesting. He's got a lot more followers than I do. I think that will be the appropriate account to post something too."
Huber (@khuber10) has 18.7 thousand followers according to his Twitter profile page, while Nugent (@MikeNugent85) isn't as active on the social media site. His profile says he has 3,700 followers.
Bengals players had Monday off from meetings after Sunday's 33-7 win against Tennessee that left them as the lone undefeated team in the AFC at 3-0. Monday's locker room was rather empty with the few exceptions of players getting regular treatment from the training staff and others getting in workouts. Huber was not around during the hour-long media availability to give a rebuttal or provide extra drama to the matchup.
Ohio State leads the all-time series between the two schools, 12-2, and hasn't lost to UC since 1897. This will be the first time the teams have played since Ohio State beat UC 37-7 in 2006. The teams have played in Cincinnati just once since UC's last win, in 2002. The Bearcats nearly ended Ohio State's national title run before it got started that season before losing 23-19 at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bearcats' final drive stalled at the Ohio State 15-yard line with three incomplete passes and a Will Allen interception in the end zone.
Nugent scored a school-record 120 points that season, including making two extra points and a 24-yard field goal against UC.
UC freshman kicker Andrew Gantz, like Nugent, a graduate of Centerville High School. Nugent wishes Gantz well but the same can't be said for the rest of the Bearcats.
"I want to see him do great, but I want to see Ohio State do well at all costs. But yeah, always want to say good luck to him," said Nugent.
Even if the game is on the line with Gantz's foot?
"I know the feeling there," said Nugent. "I know what's going through his head and how important that is to him. That's a really tough question. I would never cheer against someone to miss a field goal like that. So I'd have to cheer him on."
