Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) -
CINCINNATI: The Bearcats put an end to a two-game losing streak by posting a
35-24 victory at Nippert Stadium on Saturday. It was the ninth straight win at
Nippert Stadium for the Bearcats who are now 6-2 overall and 2-1 in conference
play. Cincinnati had 470 yards of total offense in the game and has now gone
over 425 total yards in seven of eight games this season. George Winn had a
career-best 165 yards rushing on 30 carries and also scored three touchdowns.
Winn also threw for a touchdown on a 37-yard hookup with Travis Kelce in the
second quarter. Even in the win Cincinnati gave up more yards than it gained
with the Bearcats surrendering 479 yards of total offense. Greg Blair had 10
tackles in the game, a team-high, which marked the fifth time this season he
has had a double-digit tackle total in a game. Cincinnati did not create much
pressure in the game with just a single sack but did block a field when
Brandon Mills swatted a 24-yard attempt in the second quarter. Cincinnati
travels to Philadelphia next week to play Temple.
CONNECTICUT: The Huskies dropped a 13-6 decision on the road to South Florida
over the weekend to fall to 3-6 overall this season. The defeat was the fourth
straight for the Huskies who are still winless (0-4) in conference play. Lyle
McCombs led the team with 47 yards rushing while four sacks of quarterback
Chandler Whitmer accounted for a bulk of negative yardage. McCombs also had 28
yards receiving and finished second on the team with 74 yards of total
offense. Whitmer threw for 284 yards in the game while completing 24-of-38
pass attempts but threw two costly interceptions. Geremy Davis was Whitmer's
best pass catcher in the game with team-highs in receptions (seven) and yards
(98). UConn was forced to punt on its first five possessions and turned the
ball over on its last three. The defense was still strong, allowing 283 yards
of total offense. Byron Jones had a team-high with nine tackles while Dwayne
Gratz had an interception and five total tackles including one of six tackles
for loss by the Huskies. UConn will be back in Rentschler Field next weekend
when the Huskies battle Pittsburgh.
LOUISVILLE: Led by Teddy Bridgewater the Louisville Cardinals continued their
perfect season with a 45-17 romp over Temple. Bridgewater threw a career-high
five touchdown passes in the game with 324 passing yards on 19-of-28 passing.
It was the third time this season Bridgewater has thrown for 300 or more yards
in a game. With the win the Cardinals are 9-0 for the first time in school
history and have reached No. 11 in the top-25. The win was also the sixth
straight at home for the Cardinals, the longest such streak under current head
coach Charlie Strong. Jeremy Wright was the lead rusher on the day with 100
yards even and a touchdown on 10 carries. Wright now has 14 rushing touchdowns
after a three-yard score in the second quarter. As a team Louisville has
rushed for 22 touchdowns this season which is the most by a Louisville team
since 2007. Louisville held Temple to 309 yards of offense including just 54
through the air while holding the Owls scoreless in the second half.
Louisville also kept Temple to just a 2-for-10 conversion rate on third down.
Preston Brown led the team with 10 tackles, while Keith Brown had eight and
one of four fumble recoveries for Louisville. Up next for Louisville is a road
contest with Syracuse next Saturday.
PITTSBURGH: Pittsburgh let a 20-6 lead in the fourth quarter disappear en
route to suffering a 29-26 loss in triple overtime to Notre Dame in South
Bend. Pittsburgh let a number of opportunities slip away with Kevin Harper
missing a potential game-winning field goal in overtime after Pittsburgh
recovered a Notre Dame fumble. Despite how close the game was Pittsburgh was
out-gained on offense by more than 200 yards (522-308). Pittsburgh also
converted only 1-of-14 attempts on third down. Ray Graham did not seem
concerned by Notre Dame's defensive prowess, rushing for 172 yards and a
touchdown on 24 carries. Graham also hauled in a team-high six passes for 25
yards. Tino Sunseri was efficient completing 19-of-29 passes for 164 yards and
a touchdown. That scoring strike went to J.P. Holtz who had a team-high 54
yards through the air. The Panthers had 21 fewer first downs (34-13) than
Notre Dame and struggled to put up much resistance on third down (10-for-20).
Pittsburgh stays on the road next week to face Connecticut in a Friday night
matchup.
RUTGERS: After suffering its first defeat of the season, a 35-23 loss to Kent
State, Rutgers was idle this past week. The Scarlet Knights moved back into
the top-25 and now sit at No. 24 after three different teams dropped out of
the rankings. Rutgers will get a chance to bounce back next week against Army.
SOUTH FLORIDA: South Florida got into the win column for the first time since
the beginning of September by pulling out a 13-6 victory over Connecticut. The
Bulls had lost six straight games before the win with the last victory a 32-31
win over Nevada on Sept. 8. The win was also the first in conference play for
the Bulls this season (1-4) and puts USF at 3-6 overall. B.J. Daniels was
responsible for the bulk of the Bulls' offensive output with 199 yards passing
and 23 yards rushing, while scoring the only touchdown of the game on a five-
yard run in the first quarter. Daniels was forced to leave the game in the
fourth quarter when he was injured on a 15-yard run. Overall the Bulls had
only 283 yards of total offense, while surrendering 327 to the Huskies. The
Bulls made up for that by forcing three turnovers and allowing the Huskies to
have just one possession in the red zone, which UConn turned into a field
goal. South Florida steps out of conference play next week to take on in-state
foe Miami.
SYRACUSE: After a two-game winning streak, Syracuse ended up on the losing end
of a 35-24 decision on the road against Cincinnati. The loss puts Syracuse
below .500 (4-5) overall and 3-2 in conference play. Ryan Nassib led the
offense to 479 total yards, including 316 in the first half. Nassib became
just the third quarterback in school history to total 8,000 career yards
passing by throwing for 286 yards and a touchdown on 23-of-47 passing. In the
process Nassib also broke the record for passing yards in a season that he set
last season with his 2,773 yards this season. Alec Lemon also reached a career
milestone with his 101 yards receiving giving him 2,095 yards for his career.
He is the sixth player in school history to reach the 2,000-yard plateau.
Up next for Syracuse is a showdown with conference-leading Louisville in the
Carrier Dome.
TEMPLE: It looked like Temple might be able to keep up with the undefeated
Louisville Cardinals on Saturday, but things fell apart after the first
quarter and the Owls lost 45-17. Temple was tied 14-14 with the Cardinals at
the end of the first quarter but managed only three more points the rest of
the game including a scoreless second half. The Owls got off to fast start
when Matt Brown returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. It was
the second kickoff return for a touchdown in his career. The Owls had nearly
200 yards fewer than the Cardinals (508-309) but only 54 yards passing. Chris
Coyer completed only 2-of-8 pass attempts for 30 of those yards while Clinton
Granger had three completions for 21 yards when he took over in the fourth
quarter. The OWls were able to run the ball effectively with 255 yards. Montel
Harris was the lead rusher with 115 yards and a touchdown. Harris has rushed
for 100 yards three times this season and 25 times for his career. On defense
Temple surrendered 508 yards of total offense including 338 yards and five
touchdowns through the air. The Owls will try to put an end to their current
three-game losing streak next week in a home bout with Cincinnati.
The Sports Network