The University of Cincinnati welcomed their conference rival and always a tough opponent the UCF Knights. This matchup has been highly anticipated for a while especially with Cincinnati being ranked in the Top 10. The UCF Knights have had some bad injury luck this year with one of the top players in the country in Dillion Gabriel going down with a collarbone injury. Still, even with the injury The UCF Knights and Cincinnati Bearcats rivalry has grown the last couple of years and gets stronger every year. The Knights got the news that running back Isaiah Bowser would suit up and be back for the Knights and defensive lineman Ricky Barber would also suit up. This news gave the Knights some hope and Cincinnati knew they were going to have a dog fight ahead of them. Would the Bearcats show up on the national stage and continue the second-longest home winning streak in college football?
The Bearcats would win the toss and defer for the second half. That meant everyone watching at home would get to see the dangerous UC defense first. The Bearcats got hot early and forced a 3 and out after a nasty hit by Deshawn Pace. The Bearcats would tip the punt and the Bearcats offense had prime field position at the UCF 38. The Bearcats would march down the field and score on the first possession as Jerome Ford would find the end zone from a yard out for his 9th touchdown on the year and the Bearcats led 7-0 early on. The Bearcats defense would continue where they started on the second drive as they would force another UCF punt and would start their second possession on their own 34. Desmond Ridder and company would drive the field as Ridder would connect with Michael Young and Tyler Scott on a couple of big catches to set up a Jerome Ford 2 yard scamper. This would give Cincinnati a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter. With this touchdown Jerome Ford broke double digits for touchdowns on the year which smashed his last year total of eight. The Bearcats would force another UCF punt and take a 14-0 lead into the second quarter.
A defensive second quarter took place as the teams traded punts back and forth. The Bearcats had a chance for great field position after Bryan Cook laid the boom to force UCF to punt from their own 4-yard line. But, a holding penalty stalled the field position and Cincinnati was forced to punt. Finally, the Bearcats would get the ball and make a drive in the second quarter. After a couple of big runs by Ford, Ridder dropped back and found Alec Pierce for a 19-yard score. The Bearcats took a 21-0 lead with 7:40 to go in the half and it seemed like everything was going according to plan for the Bearcats. The Bearcats defense continued to dominate in the second quarter as they only allowed UCF 32 yards total with 5 minutes to go in the half. The Bearcats would then let Ford do his thing as he was off to the races. Ford broke away for a huge 79-yard run and the Bearcats were off and running up 28-0 late in the half. Pace would intercept Mikey Keene the next drive and Ford and company would strike again as Ford found the end zone for the 4th time to give Cincinnati a 35-0 lead. The UCF Knights would drive down on their last drive of the half and find the end zone. Keene would find Brandon Johnson for the touchdown and the Bearcats would take a 35-7 lead at the half.
The Bearcats held UCF’s offense to 99 total yards in the half and Ford carried the show for the Bearcats offense as the Bearcats dominated the first half.
Ridder: 9-of-15 passing 117 yards and a touchdown, two carries for 16 yards
Ford: 16 carries for 176 yards and four touchdowns, one catch for 23 yards
Pierce: one catch for 19 yards and a touchdown
Dublanko: five tackles
Gardner: four tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss
Pace: three tackles and one interception
