Brendon Kay Leads Cincinnati Past Temple, Into Bowl Eligibility

Nov 10, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendon Kay (11) throws for a touchdown during the first quarter against the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Just before kick off on Saturday against the Temple Owls, UC fans learned that fifth year senior Brendon Kay would be the man leading their team into battle on Lincoln Financial Field. The game marked the first start of the quarterback’s college career, which has been plagued with injuries and tough competition at the position. He did not disappoint, leading the Bearcats to a 34-10 road win over the Owls.

Cincinnati started the game strong with the lead and never looked back. On the Bearcats second possession in the first quarter, George Winn and Brendon Kay took turns eating up chunks of the field on the ground and through the air, eventually ending the drive with Winn one yard touchdown run. This play put the Bearcats up 7-0 early in the first quarter.

The Owls, not to be out-done in front of their home crowd, answered on their next possession with a drive of their own. After Coyer led his team down the field for 72 yards of total offense, Cincinnati’s defense was finally able to get the stop. Temple was forced to settle for a Brandon McManus 20 yard field goal, bringing the score to 7-3 with 4:53 left in the first quarter.

The Bearcats had the last laugh in the third quarter, though. On their third possession of the game, Brendon Kay hit Kenbrell Thompkins for a 75 yard touchdown pass on his second throw of the drive. After a Pat O’Donnell kickoff for 65 yards to Temple, the first quarter eventually ended with Cincinnati leading Temple 14-3.

Temple didn’t have much luck on their next drive and had to settle for nine plays and 14 yards before punting the ball back to UC for a touchback. On their first drive of the second quarter, the Bearcats took it to the ground level. Ralph Abernathy, Brendon Kay, and George Winn all combined for 80 yards on the ground on their way to another Winn one yard touchdown run. Cincinnati extended their lead 21-3 over the Owls.

Neither team scored again until the end of the half. With 3:54 left in the second quarter, Temple quarterback Chris Coyer was intercepted by Cincinnati’s Drew Frey and with 48 seconds left on the clock Tony Miliano hit a 22 yard field goal to put the Bearcats up 24-3 heading into halftime.

After an unsuccessful drive to start the half, Cincinnati was forced to punt to Temple. After a quarterback switch, the Owls’ Clinton Granger took the field as quarterback and led his team down the field for a touchdown. With 3:55 left in the third quarter, the new score was UC 24, Temple 10.

That was the final scoring drive for the Owls, as the Bearcats dominated the field and the rest of the game. Cincinnati went on to score two more times. Once on a late third quarter 65 yard touchdown pass from Kay to Chris Moore and then again on another Miliano 23 yard field goal with 3:16 left in the fourth quarter. The final score was 34-10, Bearcats.

Though, this game seemed to be over as soon as it began, it was a big win for the Bearcats on the road and their first time starting quarterback. He not only helped the team through the air; he picked up yards on the ground and caught a pass to prove he deserves the starting role on this squad. The win placed UC third in the Big East with a conference record of 3-1 and overall record of 7-2. UC also played themselves into bowl eligibility and opened up their shots of a Big East Championship run.

Final Stats of the Game for Cincinnati

Passing

Rushing

Receiving