TicketsNov. 23, 2012
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CINCINNATI — The University of Cincinnati football team defeated South Florida 27-10 Friday evening on Senior Day at Nippert Stadium, keeping alive the program's goal of a fourth 10-win season in five years.
UC (8-3, 4-2 BIG EAST) senior running back George Winn rushed for 119 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns, while senior quarterback Brendon Kay passed for 178 yards and one TD while adding 52 yards and a score on the ground.
Senior tight end Travis Kelce produced a career-high seven receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bearcats offensive attack. Kelce now has 507 receiving yards on the season, which surpassed Joe Koynock's 1990 mark of 496 yard for the UC all-time single-season leader for a tight end.
Defensively, senior linebacker Greg Blair recorded a game-high 14 total tackles, while senior defensive linemen Dan Giordano and John Williams added seven and six stops, respectively, to lead the Bearcats defense.
Winn scored his second touchdown with 12:12 left in the game when he muscled his way to the end zone on a 4-yard rush that capped a six-play, 66-yard drive and gave Cincinnati a 27-3 lead.
USF (3-8, 1-5 BIG EAST) reached the 10-point plateau at the 7:19 mark in the fourth quarter when senior running back Demetrius Murray scampered in the end zone from five yards out, capping a 12-play, 73-yard drive that was earlier kept alive on a third-down roughing-the-passer penalty.
UC took a 13-point lead into halftime after outgaining USF 188-95, including a 101-48 advantage in rushing yardage.
The Bearcats defense set up the first points of the game when Giordano recovered Murray's unforced fumble at the USF 17-yard line at the 7:24 mark of the first quarter. Two players later, Kay rushed 18 yards to the left pile-on for the touchdown and a 7-0 UC lead.
Cincinnati took a double-digit lead with 2:58 remaining in the second quarter after completing an 11-play, 81-yard drive when Kay threw a 3-yard touchdown strike to Kelce, who was wide open in the back of the end zone. A missed point-after attempt by Tony Miliano made the score 13-0 Bearcats.
USF produced its first points of the game on its opening drive of the second half. Starting on their own 27-yardline, the Bulls move the ball 65 yards in the nine plays before place kicker Maikon Bonani made a 25-yard field goal, which cut Cincinnati's lead to 13-3 with 8:01 left in the third quarter.
On UC's third possession of the second half, a 48-yard pass from Kay to senior receiver Kenbrell Thompkins preceded a 3-yard touchdown run by Winn that gave the Bearcats a 20-3 lead at the 3:06 mark of the third quarter.
The Bearcats will play their regular-season finale Dec. 1 on the road against the UConn Huskies in East Hartford, Conn.