Bryant would finish the day 17-of-20, 201 yards in the air, three touchdowns, and a quarterback rating of 218.9, a very solid performance from Bryant as he started to settle in after a rough first couple drives last week versus Arkansas. Ben looked very consistent here today, as he was getting everyone involved on offense as he connected with nine different receivers in today’s contest and proved a lot of people wrong with his performance today. The Bearcats would keep the scoring coming after a great first drive by Evan Prater where he went 3 for 4 for 77 yards, before Corey Kiner scampers in from 12 yards out to give the Bearcats a 49-3 lead with 14 minutes remaining in this one.
The Owls would get some momentum late in the fourth quarter after a 10-play drive, coasting 75 yards, resulting in a Preston Daniels 4 yard touchdown run to cut the Owls deficit to 39, where the Bearcats still lead 49-10 with 9:26 remaining in the game. The Bearcats would respond right away after a few nice throws from Evan Prater, that sets up a huge 44 yard run from Prater himself that would give the Bearcats a 56-10 lead over Kennesaw State late in the 4th quarter. The Bearcats would add their 9th touchdown of the game after Myles Montgomery took one 76 yards to the house to give the Bearcats a 63-10 lead over Kennesaw State late in the fourth quarter, which would be the final score shortly after.
“We are in Game 2 the complimentary football is what you have to be able to do and continue to grow to be as good as we can be. We did it today, I am happy and excited about that, but sometimes that triple option stuff doesn’t help you for the next couple of weeks, it was a turn the page, and be able to move on. I think we answered some questions that maybe we had from last week about the maturity and how we handle things, today that is what I am most proud of after this one is our ability to be mature, handle the preparation and all we had to do in order to come out and play like we did,” said Fickell following the Bearcats 63-10 victory over Kennesaw State.
Overall the Bearcats played a complete performance today as they recorded seven touchdowns on offense, and two on defense, but also had some big time plays on special teams that includes a blocked field goal by Deshawn Pace. Ben Bryant really looked like he was settling in as the starting quarterback and it showed today as he had a dominant performance where he finished the day 17-of-20, with 201 yards, and three touchdowns. Bryant had a lot of very nice throws to the sideline and looked very consistent in terms of making the right read here today at Nippert Stadium.
“It was good, you don’t want guys to get the jitters after last week you throw one into the field side flat and they take it back, last week those sudden change situations were probably as much as anything that cost us. That is connected to both sides of the ball. I was really happy to see his confidence level, we had an idea we were going to throw the ball a little bit, but you know how those guys are at times they want to take the shots downfield and I think the best thing he did was take what was there, sometimes you get antsy and want to take a guy like Tyler Scott, the accuracy and ability to move the chains is where we got to continue to focus on,” said Coach Fickell.
The Bearcats also saw a big day from Charles McClelland who led the Bearcats with 10 carries, 66 yards, and a touchdown today and continues to show how much he means to this Bearcats offense, whether it’s in the run game, special teams or as a pass catcher and we all saw that today here at Nippert Stadium.
“It was good to see a performance like that back-to-back, I know he may have only ran the ball 10 times for 66 yards, but I thought after last week performance, and to come back out there this week and do what he did to stay on some special teams and be as valuable there as he is, it just shows the versatility that he has, and how we are going to be able to continue to use him this entire year. It is a position that you will probably see three guys for majority of the time, as we continue to move forward, we will see what kind of roles those guys figure out, but I know right now Chuck is a guy that is the leader of the pack, there’s a lot of things he can do for us,” said Coach Fickell.
The Bearcats got a dominant performance on defense that resulted in two touchdowns, one from Ja’Von Hicks, and one by Jabari Taylor, both right into the student section for their first career touchdowns of their career en route to the Bearcats 63-10 victory over Kennesaw State and it showed why this Bearcats defense is so good starting with guys like Jabari Taylor and Ja’von Hicks.
“I think we needed a performance like that, I think the preparation of this week coming off a loss to Arkansas, we came in with an edge on our shoulder. The feeling was electric I’m not going to lie, it just felt so good to finally get that pick 6,” said Hicks.
“I’m not going to lie, I almost threw the ball up to the second deck of the stands for real. I was tired as heck, it was a great rush to see everyone chase after me, it was a good time,” said Taylor on his fumble recovery that led to a 23 yard scoop and score.
Notable Injuries- Will Pauling, Malik Vann.
The Bearcats had a dominant performance all the way around today and was able to bounce back with a huge win to extend their winning streak here at Nippert Stadium to 28 games. The Bearcats had a great team performance and are looking to keep the ball rolling after a big 63-10 over Kennesaw State and will look to keep the ball moving when they take on Miami in the battle of the Victory Bell next week at Paycor Stadium as the Bearcats look to improve to 2-1 on the season, in what will be a homecoming match for Ivan Pace who played for the Redhawks the last three seasons, and currently leads the Bearcats in tackles with 24 on the season as kick off is slated for 12 pm.
