The Cincinnati Bearcats (5-1,3-0 AAC) traveled to Dallas, Texas to take on the SMU Mustangs (3-3, 1-1 AAC). The Bearcats are coming off a bye week and were looking to get some good health news before this one. The Bearcats did get some as they got wide receiver Will Pauling, quarterback Ben Bryant and running Corey Kiner for this contest. The bad news was that star wide receiver Tyler Scott was declared out with his ankle injury. Scott was a true Game-time decision, but showed up in a boot before this one. The Bearcats were going to have to battle the tough SMU aerial attack on the road. In one of the top games, this week would the Bearcats be able to get the tough road win?
The Bearcats won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Bearcats and Mustangs punted on their first drives. But after an 84-yard punt from Mason Fletcher, the Bearcats got pressure on Tanner Mordecai and Arquon Bush jumped a back shoulder route and set up the Bearcats at the SMU 9. The Bearcats did not get anything on the offensive side though and were forced to kick a 30 yd field goal. This gave the Bearcats a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter. Both teams were struggling on offense in the first quarter which was filled with drops and mistakes. The Bearcats finally got something going on offense with the first quarter running down as Ben Bryant found Nick Mardner for a couple of crucial throws. Corey Kiner had a nice 22-yard run to set up Ryan Montgomery for the 1-yard score. Montgomery’s first score of the year had the Bearcats up 10-0. The Bearcats defense kept bringing pressure in the first and Mordecai was struggling to get anything going heading into the second quarter. The Bearcats forced a punt after an Eric Phillips and Jaheim Thomas sack. Then it was the Charles McClelland show as he took the handoff 76 yards to extend the Bearcat’s lead 17-0. SMU continued to struggle on offense in the second quarter as the Bearcats were allowing nothing in the air until the Bearcats got aggressive on 4th down from their own 45 and were stuffed. This set up SMU for a huge 42-yard catch by Jordan Kerley which was followed by a 3-yard touchdown run by TJ McDaniel to cut the Bearcat’s lead 17-7. The Bearcats would bounce back though after the score as Ben Bryant found Jadon Thompson for a couple of huge catches on an 11-play 67-yard drive to extend their lead to 13 at 20-7 after a Ryan Coe 25-yard field goal. SMU before the half was able to establish a long drive of their own after Cincinnati’s long drive. SMU went on a 13-play 77-yard drive to cut the lead 20-14 after a 1-yard catch from Jordan Kerley. This is where the score would be at the half. The Bearcats struggled in the air while SMU took advantage of a couple of Bearcat’s mistakes to keep them in this game in the first half. Would the Bearcats clean it up heading into the second half?
The Bearcats got the ball to start off the second half as the Bearcats relied on the run to open the second half. The Bearcats drove down the field on seven plays to set up a 52-yard field gaol from Ryan Coe to extend the Bearcats lead 23-14. The Bearcat’s defense then backed up the solid drive with a 3-and-out stop on the SMU offense. This gave the Bearcats great field position for their second drive of the half. The Bearcats were able to drive down the field after some nice runs and a throw to Jadon Thompson to set up another Ryan Coe field goal. The Bearcats led 26-14 halfway through the 3rd quarter. The Bearcats defense found its way to Tanner Mordecai again as Justin Wodtly snuck through for the coverage sack and the Bearcats 5th of the day. This led to another bearcat drive in plus territory to start the second half. Ben Bryant was able to connect with Josh Whyle for a big 35-yard gain to set up Ryan Coe’s fifth field goal of the game. Coe set the school record with this field goal and gave the Bearcats a 29-14 lead with 1:54 to go in the third. The big news heading into the 4th quarter was SMU losing star quarterback Tanner Mordecai and having to start Preston Stone for the remainder of the game. SMU struggled on offense to begin the 4th quarter setting up the Bearcats to try and drain the clock for the remainder of this one. The Bearcats did exactly that using the run game to burn over 6 minutes of time after a 12-play drive. The drive would end with another field goal attempt by Ryan Coe, but unlike the others, this one was blocked by SMU. The blocked field goal set up some much-needed momentum for SMU. The Mustangs would drive down the field in hopes of making this game a 1 score game late in the 4th quarter. The Bearcats made some nice plays to set up multiple 3rd and longs and 4th and longs, but Stone and company found a way to keep the game alive for the Mustangs. The biggest lay of the drive was a 4th and 14 pass that was intended for Rashee Rice was tipped and caught by RJ Maryland for the 16-yard TD to cut the lead to 8 at 29-21 with 5:09 to go in the game. The Bearcats on the next drive went 3 and out so it would come down to the Bearcat’s defense in holding off SMU’s stellar offense. SMU would have to go 82 yards and get a 2-point conversion to tie the game late. Cincinnati was not helping themselves though as they picked up two critical penalties, the biggest coming on a deep throw from Stone that was picked off by Ja’von Hicks, unfortunately, Hicks was called for pass interference that set up SMU at the 30 of Cincinnati. The Bearcats would continue this sloppy drive with a late hit penalty that set up a Tyler Lavine touchdown run to cut the lead to 2. SMU had to go for the 2-point conversion, but the Bearcats shut it down to keep the lead late. SMU would go for an onside kick late, but Cincinnati would recover and pick up a big first down with a throw from Ben Bryant to Josh Whyle. The Bearcats would hang on and win 29-27. With the win, Luke Fickell officially became Cincinnati’s all-time winningest head coach, surpassing Rick Minter with 54 victories in his sixth season with the Bearcats.
Stats from the win:
Bryant: 18-of-35 200 yards
McClelland: 16 carries for 129 yards and a touchdown
Thompson: four catches for 69 yards
Whyle: four catches for 53 yards
The Bearcats with the win are now 6-1( 4-0 AAC) and will be heading to UCF to take on every tough Knights team. The game time has not been decided yet, but TFON will let you know when we have more details.
