 retained the inside track for the conference title by ending their recent trend of slow starts . They led 38-0 at halftime and began sending in its backups midway through the third quarter. ''We haven't had one of these in a while,'' coach Luke Fickell said. The Bearcats struggled in a home win over Tulsa, then had to rally in the fourth quarter for a victory at East Carolina. Fickell made sure they were much more focused against the worst all-around team in the conference. ''Coach went in on Tuesday and kind of ripped into us a little bit,'' tight end Josiah Deguara said. ''We can't play to our opponent. So, we had a really good week of practice and it showed tonight. '' For UConn? Nothing good at all. The Huskies (2-8, 0-6) had two players ejected while losing their 17th straight conference game. The Huskies have dropped 24 of their last 25 against FBS teams. They fell to 0-9 all-time at Nippert Stadium . The Bearcats got rolling against a defense that has allowed the most points in the conference. Ridder connected with Deguara on touchdowns of 18 and 15 yards. Warren scored from 6 and 1 yards out, and Gerrid Doaks had a 53-yard run that set up his 1-yard touchdown in the first half. Ridder went 13 of 23 for 136 yards and ran seven times for 94 yards. He was replaced after the opening drive of the third quarter. ''It was really good for us to come out there, jump on them quick, get up 14-0 and just keep it going,'' Ridder said. The tone was set in the first 10 minutes, when the Huskies gave up a pair of touchdowns, got a punt blocked, and had linebacker Omar Fortt ejected for targeting a receiver. Defensive lineman Dillon Harris also was ejected in the second quarter for a high hit on Ridder that caused a fumble. UConn coach Randy Edsall disagreed with both calls and ejections. ''If they are going to be throwing people out of the game for playing football, we might as well stop playing football,'' Edsall said. ''The two calls they gave - if that's targeting, let's stop playing. '' Cincinnati's Darrick Forrest picked off Zack Zergiotis, giving the Bearcats 13 interceptions and 21 takeaways for the season, among the best nationally. Cincinnati has 11 interceptions and five fumble recoveries in the last five games. Zergiotis was 4 of 14 for 35 yards in the first half with the interception, the true freshman's fourth turnover in the last two games. Mike Beaudry started the second half and went 6 of 9 for 35 yards. ''I told Jack at halftime: You're like a starting pitcher in baseball today,'' Edsall said. ''You just didn't have it. It's like you gave up five home runs. You have to put the other guy in. Next start it might be a lot better. '' UConn's Kevin Mensah ran for 115 yards in his third straight triple-digit game. He has been the Huskies' only threat on offense lately. ''You just go out there and give it all you've got, try to motivate guys, try to motivate the team,'' Mensah said. THE TAKEAWAYUConn has lost its last two games against Cincinnati by a combined 97-10. The Bearcats harped on playing with more focus after their ragged wins against Tulsa and East Carolina and were sharp in all aspects of their homecoming game. POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Bearcats put themselves in position to improve upon their highest ranking since 2009, when they got as high as No. 4 during a perfect regular season. The Huskies fell to 3-32 against ranked teams. BAD TIMESThe Huskies' last win over a ranked team was 20-17 over No. 13 Houston in 2015. The other two were over No. 19 Louisville in 2012 and against No. 11 South Florida in 2007. MOVING UPWarren has 29 touchdowns rushing in his career, moving ahead of Isaiah Pead into third place on the school's list. STREAKINGCincinnati has won 12 in a row at Nippert Stadium since November 2017. UP NEXTUConn has a bye before hosting East Carolina on Nov. 23. Cincinnati plays at South Florida on Saturday. ---More college football: http://apnews. com/tag/Collegefootball and http://www. twitter. com/-Top25)
Nov 06, 2019In a stellar season when the American Athletic Conference has had multiple ranked teams popping in and out of the top 25, the Cincinnati Bearcats currently hold a lofty position. The No. 20 Bearcats are the only team that is unbeaten in AAC play. Cincinnati (7-1, 4-0), the nation's highest-ranked Group of Five squad, hosts the UConn Huskies on Saturday at Nippert Stadium. The AAC has received plenty of attention this season. In Sunday's College Football Playoff rankings, four teams from the conference locked down spots inside the top 25. However, it took a monumental fourth quarter in Greenville, N. C. , last Saturday against East Carolina for the Bearcats to stay ranked and atop the AAC East Division standings. Cincinnati mounted a ferocious rally against the Pirates in the fourth quarter in a high-scoring game. Trailing by 12 points with under nine minutes remaining and a 24 1/2-point favorite over ECU, Cincinnati started its comeback behind a touchdown pass from quarterback Desmond Ridder to tight end Josiah Deguara from 3 yards out. Ahmad Gardner then stepped in front of a short out hook route and returned the interception 62 yards for a score. Sam Crosa's 32-yard field goal on the game's final play gave the Bearcats a 46-43 win as they outscored ECU 18-3 in the fourth quarter. Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said rallying to win a game as a big favorite on the road would be beneficial for his group, which holds the tiebreaker over division rival UCF by way of a 27-24 home victory on Oct. 4. "We really struggled emotionally in the first half," Fickell said. "But we showed a lot of heart. We're going to be a lot better because of this game, and we're going to be a lot tighter because of this game. This is going to give us a lot more opportunities. " However, Cincinnati's defense allowed a whopping 638 yards of offense to ECU. Pirates sophomore quarterback Holton Ahlers passed for a school-record 535 yards and four touchdowns. Cincinnati may not need to rely on fourth-quarter heroics against UConn -- the Bearcats opened as a 34 1/2-point favorite -- but they only need to look around the college football landscape to realize nothing can be taken for granted. UConn (2-7, 0-5) saw one dreadful streak continue on Friday night a week after another came to an end. A 56-10 loss to Navy extended their AAC losing stretch to 16 consecutive games. Running back Kevin Mensah rushed for 107 yards, and freshman quarterback Jack Zergiotis passed for 205 yards and a score but also committed three turnovers. The Midshipmen produced 573 yards of offense, 408 of it rushing. "We didn't play very well," said UConn coach Randy Edsall. "We had our opportunities early. I think Jack just tried to press too much. " In their previous game at UMass, the Huskies won 56-35 to end their 22-game losing streak against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. UConn's only other win was its season opener against Wagner -- a game in which the Huskies barely slipped past the Football Championship Series school, 24-21. --Field Level Media
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