In the third quarter Cincinnati drove down the field, was held to a 30 yard Smith field goal attempt which he ended up missing. Sophomore quarterback Drew Pyne started the second half and pushed the ball into Cincinnati territory, but got stopped on 4th and 5. Cincinnati drove the ball to the Notre Dame side of the field looking to ice the game, but a huge strip sack by Isaiah Foskey and picked up by Drew White put Notre Dame in Cincinnati territory, they ended up scoring when Karen Williams scored from 3 yards out to push score to 17-7. Ridder hit Pierce for a big 44 yard pass, but after that the drive stalled so they had to settle for a 37 yard Smith field goal which he missed and it gave Notre Dame momentum. The following drive Pyne hit Branden Lenzy from 32 yards out beating Coby Bryant on a go route, the extra point was missed by Jonathan Doerer which put the score at 17-13.
Would Cincinnati be able to answer? The drive of the year was led by Ridder as he hit Taylor for a huge 34 yard completion to put Cincinnati deep in Notre Dame territory. Ridder finished the drive with a 6 yard rushing touchdown. Now with a 24-13 lead the defense stood tall and made Notre Dame turn it over on down. With the huge win on the road secured the Bearcat fans went crazy, as the players and coaches did as well.
Ridder finished 19-of-32 passing for 297 yards and two touchdowns as well as 26 yards rushing and a touchdown. Taylor finished with four catches for 70 yards and a touchdown. Pierce had six catches for 144 yards. Ford had 17 carries for 67 yards. Bryan Cook, Coby Bryant and Deshawn Pace and all had seven tackles. Ty Van Fossen led the way with eight tackles.
Now 4-0 with wins over Indiana and No. 9 Notre Dame the Bearcats will face Temple at home on Friday. If the Bearcats keep winning will the College Football Playoff take them serious? Only time will tell and today was a big measuring stick.
