The Cincinnati Bearcats rallied to tie No. 17 Houston in the fourth quarter on Saturday, then watched the Cougars answer almost immediately, falling 31-24 at TDECU Stadium in a loss that cost them far more than a game, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Houston (led by quarterback Conner Weigman) opened a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on two touchdown passes to Amare Thomas, covering 8 and 31 yards, according to the Enquirer’s live game report. Cincinnati answered in the second quarter: JC French hit Cole Tabb for a 17-yard touchdown, and after a French touchdown run was called back by a holding penalty, Stephen Rusnak’s 28-yard field goal cut the margin to 14-10. Weigman’s 2-yard touchdown run sent Houston to halftime ahead 21-10.
Cincinnati (5-4) kept climbing back after the break. French found tight end Gavin Grover for a 34-yard touchdown — Grover’s first career score — to make it 21-17, the Enquirer reported, before Jonathan Dimas answered with a 28-yard field goal for a 24-17 Houston lead. Tabb was injured in the third quarter and replaced by Gi’Bran Payne, according to the Enquirer.
The game’s defining moment came in the fourth quarter, when Bearcats wide receiver JV Gibson was hit on a pass toward the end zone, drawing two flags, and left the field on a stretcher and cart, the Enquirer reported. Sports Illustrated reported that Gibson was stabilized and transported to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center for further evaluation, and the Enquirer reported a 16-minute injury delay before play resumed. No further update on Gibson’s condition was available in either report Saturday night.
Remarkably, Cincinnati finished that drive anyway: after the delay, French scored from a yard out to complete a 16-play, 96-yard drive and tie the game 24-24 with 6:21 to play, the Enquirer reported. The tie lasted barely a minute of game time — Re’Shaun Sanford broke a 51-yard touchdown run to put Houston back in front 31-24.
Cincinnati’s final chance ended with two minutes left, when a French pass to Zylen Perry was ruled a backward pass, Perry dropped it, and Houston’s Christian Brathwaite recovered, according to the Enquirer. Attendance was 32,372, the Enquirer reported.
The Bearcats are now 1-12 in November under head coach Scott Satterfield, according to the Enquirer, and Sports Illustrated noted they have three more chances to reach bowl eligibility. What happens next comes quickly: Cincinnati travels to Iowa State on Nov. 14, with a kickoff time still to be determined — and, before that, a week of waiting for word on Gibson and the rest of a battered roster.
Photo: redlegsfan21, CC BY-SA