The 7-1 (4-0) Cincinnati Bearcats took on the 2-7 (0-5) UConn Huskies on the Saturday of Homecoming weekend. The Bearcats had just came off a very close 46-43 win against ECU last week and needed to really prove themselves in this game. The Huskies came off a 56-10 loss last week against Navy. The Bearcats are ranked 17thin the AP poll and 20thin the CFP Rankings. Currently, the AAC has four ranked teams, with the Bearcats ranked the highest. The Bearcats were looking for their first blowout win of the season and they got what they were looking for.
The Bearcats won the toss and elected to defer to start the game. UConn was held to a 4-and-out on their first drive, making the Bearcats defense look much better than last week. The Bearcat offense looked much better too. They had three big chunk plays and ended the drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Josiah Deguara from Desmond Ridder putting the Bearcats up 7-0 early in the game. The defense got another 4-and-out stop and then Ethan Tucky blocked the punt, setting them up at the Cincinnati 35. The Bearcats finished a 7 play, 65-yard drive with a Michael Warren II rushing touchdown. The big play on that drive was the Desmond Ridder 34-yard rush, setting up the Warren II touchdown. The defense had yet another 4-and-out stop, giving the ball back to the offense on the Cincinnati 25. The first quarter ended in the middle of the drive, making the final score 14-0 Bearcats.
The second quarter started with the continuation of UC’s drive that went 13 plays for 44 yards, ending in a Cole Smith field goal, putting the Bearcats up 17-0. The Bearcat defense got another 3-and-out with a big sack coming from Bryan Wright and Myjai Sanders for a loss of 6-yards. The Bearcats got held to a 3-and-out, making it the first drive of the game they haven’t scored. The Huskies got the ball back and after 5 plays they had to punt it back to the Bearcats. On the first play of that drive Warren II ran 19 yards and UConn got a 15-yard penalty, making it a 34-yard play. Two plays later, Ridder is sacked and fumbled the ball which UConn recovered. After further review, the play was overturned due to targeting and UC got the ball at the UConn 12-yardline. Four plays later, Warren II finds himself in the endzone again with a 1-yard rushing touchdown, his second of the day, putting the Bearcats up 24-0 with 6 minutes left in the half. The Huskies were held to a 3-and-out giving the Bearcats the ball back with about 4 minutes left. On the second play of the drive Gerrid Doaks runs for 53-yards to the UConn 12, his longest run of the season so far. Three plays later Doaks finds himself in the endzone with a 1-yard rushing touchdown, putting the Bearcats up 31-0. The Huskies marched down the field and had a 30-yard rush putting them in Cincinnati territory. Curtis Brooks got a sack on third down, and UConn decided to go for it and Darrick Forrest got an interception on the 7-yardline and ran it back 38-yards to the Cincinnati 45 with less than a minute left. The Bearcats went 55-yards, in 5 plays ending in a 15-yard touchdown catch by Josiah Deguara, his second of the day and first multiple touchdown game. That put the Bearcats up 38-0 and that would be the final of the first half.
The Bearcats got the ball to start the second half. They marched 56-yards down the field and ended the drive with a field goal, making it 41-0 early in the second half. UConn got the ball back and only made it to their own 39-yardline before punting it back to the Bearcats. On the first play of the drive Gerrid Doaks rushed for 7-yards and then fumbled at the Cincinnati 28. UConn made their first trip to the RedZone on this drive. The Bearcat defense stood strong and held the Huskies on 4-and-1 making them turn the ball over on downs. At this point in the game, Ridder was replaced by Ben Bryant. They went 9 plays for 91-yards and ended the third quarter on the UConn 2-yardline. The final score of the third quarter was 41-0 Bearcats.
The fourth quarter started with the continuation of the Bearcats drive, picking up where they left off at the UConn 2-yardline. The drive ended on the 11thplay which was a 2-yard rush by Ryan Montgomery, his first touchdown of the season, making this score 48-0 Bearcats. The Huskies get the ball back and march down the field and go 15 plays for 52-yards ending with a field goal, their first points of the game. They were held to a field goal by a third down sack from Joel Dublanko. The UConn field goal made the score 48-3. The Bearcats got held to a 3-and-out and punt it right back to the Huskies. The Huskies then turn it over on downs and give it back to the Bearcats with a little under 2 minutes left and they just run the clock out, making the final score 48-3 Bearcats.
The final stats of the game; Ridder was 13-of-23 passing for 136 yards, and two touchdowns. Gerrid Doaks had 13 rushes for 123 yards, and one touchdown. Michael Warren II had 14 rushes for 60 yards, and two touchdowns. Josiah Deguara had five catches for 45 yards, and two touchdowns. The Bearcats had 507 total yards, 200 through the air, and 307 on the ground. The Bearcats improve to 8-1 and play at South Florida next week.
