The No. 7 Cincinnati Bearcats were looking to avenge from their only two losses in the American Athletic Conference last year which both were to Memphis in the regular season and the AAC Championship game as they took on the Memphis Tigers today.
The Bearcats continued with the Jake Renfro the freshman at center today who also started in place of Jakari Robinson who dressed today and Dylan O’Quinn as a starter over Jeremy Cooper at left guard. Tight End Bruno Labelle was also inactive today as we saw him get banged up against SMU.
The first score of the day came from Desmond Ridder to Alec Pierce for 43 yards where Pierce made an acrobatic catch showing his body range at the goal line. In the first quarter Ridder was settled in going 12-of-14 for 136 yards in a touchdown. Ridder was looking very confident in the pocket, taking a lot more shots down field and connecting on big gains. The second quarter was also a impressive quarter for the Bearcats. Ridder hit Michael Young, Jr. for a 6 yard touchdown. Ridder also rushed for another touchdown (from 13 yards out) in the first half as well taking the Bearcats to halftime up 21-10.
The Bearcats were rolling on offense today as Ridder was coming off what people were calling to be a statement game and performance versus nationally ranked SMU to have an even better statement game today. Ridder was very impressive today as he went 21-of-26 with 271 yards and three touchdowns in the air connecting with Pierce, Young, Jr., and Tre Tucker for touchdowns. Ridder also ran for two more touchdowns for a total of five touchdowns on the day. Sophomore running back Jerome Ford also was in on the action with a 38 yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter and broke off a 48 yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. Ford led the team in rushing with nine carries with 116 yards and two touchdowns on the day. Ridder seemed to be connecting with as many different receivers as he could connecting with nine different guys on offense.
This defensive unit continues to play well and show why they’re one of the top defenses in the country as well. Myjai Sanders had a great game leading the team in tackles with six. Sanders also registered 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss. Jarell White also continued to show why he’s capable of winning conference defensive player of the year today recording five more tackles and four of those being solo tackles. Senior cornerback Coby Bryant also had a great game recording four tackles all of them being solo tackles which is very impressive. Senior safety James Wiggins had a monster day too after an injury scare late in the second quarter with what looked to be a shoulder injury. Wiggins finished the day with four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. The “Blackcat” defense held one of the top offenses in the country to 10 points.
The Bearcats did lose two key players due to injury junior receiver Alec Pierce took a hard fall on his shoulder going up for a ball late in the 2nd quarter and was seen on the sideline with his arm in a sling no news on how serious the injury is yet. Starting cornerback Arquon Bush also left the game after a full extension to break up a deep ball and didn’t return due to a upper body injury as well. Two key players for the Bearcats to watch and keep updated on.
The No. 7 Cincinnati Bearcats host the Houston Cougars next week here at home at 3:30 on ESPN 2.
