The Bearcats led 17-3 at the half, and just like that the Bearcats dominated the 3rd quarter as they piled on 28 unanswered points and opened the floodgates to give the Bearcats a huge 45-3 lead. The Bearcats forcing two turnovers in the 3rd quarter and they went down and score a touchdown on every drive in the 3rd quarter and Nippert Stadium was rocking for the first full Nipp at Night since 2019. Late in the 4th quarter sophomore Ethan Wright, took a 58 yard run to the house for his first career touchdown as a Bearcat. A second half that the Bearcats came out and scored 35 points in the second half, a big time statement to show what this team is capable of doing,
The Bearcats defense just dominated the Owls, they were causing so much pressure for the Owls, as the Bearcats had totaled six sacks tonight, as well as an interception by Coby Bryant. Throw these into play with the two special teams turnovers on the muffed punts and you will see how much the Bearcats controlled the ballgame. The main takeaway from this game was the defenses performance, Myjai Sanders recorded his first sack of the season, but it felt like he was in the backfield quite a bit, which he actually was. The Bearcats held Temple to 226 yards on the night with only 76 rushing yards. The Bearcats on the other hand nearly doubled that stat as they had 542 yards of offense, 279 rushing yards and 263 passing yards.
The Bearcats had big nights from Jerome ford as the junior ryunning back had 15 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns including a big 75 yard rushing touchdown to start the second half. A big key for the Bearcats offense as Ford is looking to show why he is one of the big reasons for the Bearcats success, a one time Alabama running back behing the likes of Najee Harris, Damien Williams and Josh Jacobs, Ford was just waiting for his opportunity and he has shown that here in his time at Cincinnati.
Ridder continues to show why he should be in contention for the Heisman trophy as the senior quarterback went 22-of-30 passing for 259 yards, three touchdowns, recording a passer rating of 178.9. Ridder is continuing to have a great start to the season as he has led the Bearcats to two big wins on the road at Indiana and Notre Dame as well as a 5-0 start to the 2021 season. He has found his guy in Alec Pierce and that has been a big piece of this Bearcats offense. Coming into tonight Pierce had 11 catches for 230 yards in the two games versus Indiana and Notre Dame, and the senior wide receiver continued that pace tonight as he recorded six catches for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Ridder spoke about what is clicking with Alec Pierce after tonight’s game after another big night from Pierce,
“Yeah me and “AP” we have a great connection, ever since he has got here. He came in with Ben Bryant, and you know me and Ben Bryant are very good friends, and off the field you know we are always together. we were all out golfing, out together all the time, so you know we have had a great connection since he’s been here, he’s a guy I have trusted to just go up and get the ball, we have had a great connection over the past few years, and it has shown up in games.”
The Bearcats will be back in action after tonight’s big 52-3 victory over Temple when they welcome UCF next Saturday at 12 pm, as they look to make it 24 straight victories in Nippert Stadium after tonight’s dominant win. The Bearcats are now 5-0 (1-0 in the AAC) to start the season after a dominating performance to start off conference play.
