No. 21 Cincinnati Bearcats traveled down to Birmingham, Alabama the home town of senior linebacker Perry Young to face the Boston College Eagles in the Ticket Smarter Birmingham Bowl. Cincinnati came into the game 10-3 with a chance to beat a Power 5 team and finish with 11 wins for the second season in a row.
Note: Offensive tackle James Hudson started at left tackle, moving Darius Harper to right tackle. Defensive end Michael Pitts was out because of shoulder injury and Ethan Tucky started in his place against his old team. Wilson Huber played at middle linebacker and wore No. 2 (besides tight end).
It was a rainy ugly day in Birmingham before the game they had a lightning delay and during the game they had 90 minute delay due to lightning and the weather. When the game was stopped 7:55 left in the first quarter it was tied at zero, but once the game started back Cincinnati exploded going on an 17-0 run. Desmond Ridder scored from 13 yards out, followed by a 32 yard field goal make by Sam Crosa and capped off by a 14 yard Ridder touchdown. The defense dominated Boston College getting two sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a blocked field goal. Tucky had a sack and a forced fumble and Bryan Wright had the fumble recovery. Elijah Ponder blocked a field goal attempt early in the first half.
In the second half Ridder spun the ball all around the field hitting Jayson Jackson, Alec Pierce and capping it off with Malick Mbodj catching an 8 yard touchdown from the sophomore. Cincinnati pushed the lead up to 24-0 and imposed their will on Boston College. It was bleak for Boston College until Cole Smith’s 43 yard field goal was blocked and scooped by Brandon Sebastian and taken 58 yards for a score. Boston College didn’t get the 2 point conversion so the lead was shrunk to 24-6. Ridder scored again on a 13 yard run to push the lead up to 31-6 after the fumble return. It was a big answer after giving up points to Boston College. Freshman running back Ryan Montgomery joined the scoring party with a 1 yard touchdown to push the lead to 38-6.
Cincinnati only allowed 164 total yards against their overmatched ACC opponent. While Cincinnati went 11-of-19 on 3rd down, Boston College went 0-of-11 on the same down and 0-of-1 on 4th down. To be honest that is an amazing display by Cincinnati. Wright led the way with four tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and pass breakup. Tucky also played well with three tackles, one sack and one forced fumble.
Ridder went 14-of-24 for 95 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 105 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns. Michael Warren II had 21 rushes for 105 yards.
Desmond Ridder wins MVP of the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. #Bearcats
— Justin Williams (@Williams_Justin) January 3, 2020
This game was total domination, Cincinnati finishes with back to back 11 win seasons and winning their last two bowls. It is good to see the 16 seniors go out on top and to be super excited for the 2020 team.
