TicketsMiscues Send UC to 19-7 Defeat at Syracuse
Contact: Tom Hathaway
9/18/2004
Doug Monaghan had two interceptions at Syracuse, giving him three in three games this season. |
SYRACUSE, N.Y. ? Six turnovers, including three inside the Orangemen 20-yard line, spelled doom for Cincinnati, as the Bearcats fell to Syracuse, 19-7, on Saturday in the Carrier Dome in a preview of 2005 BIG EAST play.
After racking up 45 points and 453 yards in last week?s win over Miami (Ohio), UC managed just 293 total yards and had only one drive longer than 45 yards. Gino Guidugli completed 14-of-25 passes for 155 yards with three interceptions. Richard Hall led the rushing effort with 56 yards on 14 carries, with just 11 of those yards coming after the half.
Tailback Damien Rhodes caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Perry Patterson early in the fourth quarter and Walter Reyes ran for 117 yards and a TD to lead Syracuse.
Patterson's first career touchdown pass couldn't have come at a better time for the Orange (2-1), who had sputtered on offense in a 51-0 loss at Purdue and a 37-17 win at Buffalo.
Patterson, who played most of the game after relieving freshman starter Joe Fields in the first quarter, was 10-for-16 for 156 yards and two interceptions.
The Bearcats (1-2), who will become a member of the Big East Conference next season, were victimized by an opportunistic Syracuse defense that intercepted four passes and blocked a punt.
The Orange scored all the points they would need in the closing minutes of the second quarter. After Cincinnati was forced to punt for the fifth straight time in the scoreless game, Landel Bembo was flattened by Antoine Horton before he could field the kick, and the penalty gave Syracuse the ball at its own 41.
Reyes gained 28 yards on two runs to move the ball into Bearcats territory. Andre Fontenette then made a nice adjustment to catch a 17-yard pass down the right sideline from Patterson and Reyes scored on the next play to give Syracuse a 7-0 lead with 5:28 remaining.
Collin Barber made it 10-0 with a 37-yard field goal with 68 seconds left in the half.
UC had its best chance to score in the third quarter after Doug Monaghan forced a Reyes fumble and Dominic Ross returned it to the Syracuse five-yard line. On the next play, however, Guidugli was hit and fumbled the ball back to the Orangemen.
After a scoreless third, the Bearcats finally broke through early in the fourth on a 45-yard drive that was set up by Monaghan's second interception of the game and a costly roughing-the-quarterback penalty against Syracuse defensive tackle Kader Drame.
Cincinnati needed six plays to score from the 14, including a faked field goal. Backup quarterback Collin Carey gained 3 yards on the fourth-and-1 fake from the 10-yard line. The Bearcats faced another fourth down near the goal line and Guidugli rolled left and hit tight end Brent Celek with a 2-yard TD pass with 13:41 left to make it 10-7.
Rhodes, who also had 82 yards rushing on 11 carries, quashed any hope of a Cincinnati comeback right after the ensuing kickoff. On second down, he caught a pass out of the backfield near midfield and raced untouched down the left side into the end zone to make it 17-7 with 12:43 left.
Anthony Smith, who blocked two punts last week against Buffalo, notched his third block of the season after the Bearcats failed to get anything going and was credited with a safety when the ball bounced through the end zone. The block was the fifth of Smith's career, tying him with David Tyree for the school record.
UC drove back into SU territory with under seven minutes left, but Mike Daniels? attempt at a running back pass was intercepted by Kelvin Smith. Syracuse then ran the clock down under two minutes before giving it up.
Monaghan finished with six tackles, a forced fumble and two interceptions, the first multiple pick game of his career. Adam Roberts had eight tackles, including his first career sack, and blocked a field goal attempt in the second quarter.
UC enters Conference USA play next when they travel to face East Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 25.
The Associated Press contributed to this story