This afternoon, the Bearcats (4-1) (1-0 AAC) welcomed in USF (1-4) (1-0 AAC) for their annual homecoming matchup as they looked to make it 30 straight victories at Nippert Stadium, as the Bearcats hold the second longest home winning streak in all of college football just behind Clemson at 37 games.
The Bearcats would get some injury news before the game that star running back Corey Kiner would be out for today’s contest due to a hand injury, so look for Charles McClelland, Ryan Montgomery and Myles Montgomery to split the load in the backfield. Kiner has scored a touchdown in the Bearcats first five games of the season to start his Bearcat career, so this was a big blow for the Bearcats on offense. The Bulls run defense on the other hand has allowed nearly 200 yards on the ground per game, so look for the Bearcats to establish the run game early to free up the passing game as Tyler Scott is a name to keep an eye on as he was just added to the Biletnikoff watch list as he has recorded 6 touchdowns of 20+ yards this season, and leads the Bearcats with 28 receptions and 500 yards along with those 6 touchdowns.
The Bearcats would also be without starting safety Bryon Threats for the first half after being ejected last week for targeting in the Bearcats 31-21 victory over Tulsa, and Jacob Dingle would step in and make his first career start in place.
The Bulls would strike right away after an 11 play drive, resulting in 75 yards, 51 of those on the ground after a huge 22-yard touchdown run by Brian Battie that would give the Bulls an early 7-0 lead over the Bearcats. The Bulls making it an emphasis to establish the run game early and wear down the Bearcats defensive line, and they did that on the first drive. The Bulls would respond right away as they forced Ben Bryant to throw an interception on the first play of the game and the Bulls were looking to make a splash early. The Bulls would capitalize on the Bryant interception as the Bearcats would hold them to just a field goal to make this a 10-0 game with 3:16 remaining, but the Bulls were dominating the run game early.
The Bearcats would respond as Ben Bryant would connect with Jadon Thompson for a 28 yard, his first of his Bearcat career after making multiple defenders miss en route to the endzone. The Bearcats were really establishing the intermediate game in the flat early after a Bryant interception on the first play of the game, the Bearcats were looking to settle in after a slow start where they trailed the Bulls 10-7 heading to the second quarter. The Bearcats would respond with a huge three and out, that would set them up with great field position that would result in a six-play drive that ended with Bryant threading the needle to Nick Mardner for his third touchdown of the season to give the Bearcats a 14-10 lead over the Bulls with 10:27 remaining in the first half.
The Bulls would respond right away as they continued to dominate the run game as they would take off another 5 minutes after a 10-play drive resulted in a 9-yard touchdown catch as Gerry Bohanon would connect with Xavier Weaver for a nine-yard touchdown in the back corner of the endzone to give the Bulls a 17-14 lead over the Bearcats with 5 minutes left in the first half. The Bulls defense would hold the Bearcats to a three and out, but the Bearcats would see leading receiver Tyler Scott appear to hurt his right ankle or foot after being rolled up on and was seen heading into the medical tent and was something to keep an eye on for this Bearcats offense as they would see Chris Scott take a huge blow to the head and neck area the following drive so the Bearcats saw two options on offense go down with injury towards the end of the first half.
The story of the first half as the Bearcats trailed USF 17-14 at the break, the first time the Bearcats trailed at home since the Bearcats took on UCF back on October 4th, 2019, which infamously was known as the Sauce pick-6 game. However, the story of the first half was the Bulls dominating the run game as 127 of their 203 yards came on the ground, as they continued to wear down the Bearcats defense and dominate the time of possession where they outlasted the Bearcats 21:17 to 8:43. Bryant would start with an early interception but would settle back in and rally off seven straight completions for 96 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bulls were looking to dominate the first half just by keeping the ball in their hands, as they are known to be a team to run the ball as they didn’t have a passing touchdown until last week.
