Cincinnati Bearcats Survive Late SMU Charge

A little over a week after taking apart the Memphis Tigers the Cincinnati Bearcats returned home to Nippert Stadium Saturday to face

Nov 9, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats receiver Chris Moore (15) celebrates with Anthony McClung (6) after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter of the game against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Leifheit-USA TODAY Sports

the Mustangs of SMU. Both schools entered Saturdays game sporting two of the best offenses in the America Conference. Those offense would show on Saturday.

A slow start by the Bearcats and a quick strike offense from SMU swayed momentum early in the first quarter of Saturday’s game. SMU scored on their first drive a nearly six minute 75 yard drive worked the Cincinnati defense early. From there the Bearcats offense struggled mightily as quarterback Brendon Kay struggled to find receivers and the running game was essentially nonexistent.

In the second quarter though things changed for the Bearcats. After an SMU field goal early in the second quarter the Bearcats finally found their offense. A Brendon Kay pass into the very far side of the north end zone to Chris Moore resulted in a Bearcat touchdown and shrank the score gap to 10-7.

Quarterback Brendon Kay struck again quickly on the next possession with a 64 yard pass to MeKale McKay to put the Bearcats ahead 14-10. They would never look back.

On the ensuing kick off a very scary moment happened at SMU returner JaBryce Taylor appeared to hit his head during the process of being tackled. Following that he laid motionless on the field, sending a hush over the stadium. It appears Taylor was fine though after being checked out at UC Medical.

Two rushing touchdowns for the Bearcats in the third quarter set to game out of reach for SMU. A 2 yard run by Jordan Luallen and a 7 yard run by Tion Green put the Bearcats rushing game back into place.

A late SMU charge in the fourth quarter made the game interesting but their 15 unanswered points weren’t enough to overcome the Bearcats as Cincinnati won 28-25.

Brendon Kay had a phenomenal day going 27/32 for 299 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hosey Williams led the team in rushing with 90 yards, Tion Green got in on the action with 47 yards. Cincinnati put up over 400 yards of offense for the 5th time this season.

Sitting at 7-2 the Bearcats are bowl bound, they could potentially be AAC Champs with some help. Games against Rutgers, Houston and Louisville are huge for the Bearcats. Winning out and two losses by UCF would make this season very interesting.

Cincinnati plays in Piscataway next weekend as the Bearcats take on the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers (5-3) at Noon on Saturday.