No. 19 Cincinnati Bearcats traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to face the No. 18 Memphis Tigers for a chance to host the AAC Championship game next week. If, Cincinnati loses they will play Memphis at Memphis again.
Right before the game news broke that redshirt freshman quarterback Ben Bryant would start ahead of Desmond Ridder. Ridder has been battling a shoulder injury the last few weeks so it made sense to let the redshirt sophomore rest his shoulder.
Memphis jumped out first scoring on a 94 yard kickoff return by Chris Claybrooks to put Cincinnati down 7-0. During the first drive Cincinnati was able to manage a field goal by Sam Crosa pushing the score to 7-3. Capping a seven play, 77 yard drive was Brady White hitting Kedarian Jones for a 9 yard touchdown pushing the lead to 14-3. Cincinnati didn’t score on the next drive and Memphis knocked down a 34 yard field goal by Riley Patterson, putting Memphis up 17-3.
Cincinnati had a strong drive highlighted by Gerrid Doaks good runs and the connection of Bryant to senior wide receiver Rashad Medaris. They went 12 plays for 85 yards with a 4 yard touchdown pass from Bryant to Leonard Taylor, making the score 17-10. Next drive Perry Young got a big sack on third down to stop Memphis and get the ball back to the offense. Bryant led a 14 play, 80 yard drive where he made big throws on third down to Josiah Deguara twice and it was capped by a 3 yard Michael Warren II touchdown. With the game tied at 17, Cincinnati has new life. After a 54 yard play from White to Damonte Coxie, the defense held Memphis to a 28 yard field goal by Patterson putting them up 20-17.
After two three and outs Bryant threw an interception setting Memphis up near mid-field. The defense held Memphis scoreless to nullify the turnover and keep Cincinnati within three points. Next drive Bryant fumbled on third down giving Memphis the ball in Cincinnati territory. Defense made huge stops on third down by Perry Young and on fourth by Bryan Wright and Darrick Forrest. After a few big plays by Warren II and Deguara on fourth down Warren II was stopped. Cincinnati was in field goal range with a chance to tie the game up, but Memphis made a big stand. Still up 20-17, Memphis finished the third quarter with the ball.
White hit Coxie on a reverse flea flicker for 46 yards to take a 27-17 lead early in the fourth quarter. On 3rd and 15, Bryant hit Alec Pierce for a 51 yard play and later than drive Bryant scored on a 12 yard run to put the score to 27-24. The next drive freshman cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner picked White, but the offense went three and out, followed by the defense getting a big stand highlighted by Michael Pitts deflection of White’s pass on third down, but Myjai Sanders was called for an unnecessary roughness play that gave Memphis new life and led to an Antonio Gibson 29 yard touchdown to push the lead to 34-24 late in the fourth quarter. On 4th and 16 Bryant threw an interception trying to hit Medaris up the right sideline sealing the Memphis victory.
Memphis got the victory 34-24 and will host the AAC Championship Game next Saturday on ABC at 3:30 ET against Cincinnati for a rematch.
The second half wasn’t as good for Bryant as he had three turnovers, but he finished the game 20-of-32 passing for 229 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also had one rushing touchdown. Warren II finished the game with 122 yards on 21 rushes and a touchdown. Pierce led the receivers with four catches for 77 yards. Coxie led Memphis with six catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. Gibson had six carries for 75 yards a touchdown. Wright and Forrest led the team with eight tackles and Young led the team with 2.5 tackles for loss.
Questions that will need to be answered before next week is will Ridder play or do you let Bryant spin it again? What do you change on offense? We will find out, but Cincinnati is now 10-2 overall and 7-1 in the AAC.
