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MIAMI, Fla. - The University of Cincinnati football team dropped its final nonconference game of the season 55-34 to Miami on Saturday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Questionable prior to the start of the contest, Bearcats quarterback Gunner Kiel (Columbus, Ind./East/Notre Dame) threw three touchdowns while completing 31 of 57 passes for 355 yards to go with three interceptions.
After Miami's Duke Johnson ran 80 yards to give the Hurricanes a 7-0 lead at 11:30 in the first quarter, UC answered. Kiel found Shaq Washington (Maple Hts., Ohio/Maple Hts.) on an 11-yard TD strike, capping off a 13-play 80-yard drive at 6:54 in the opening quarter.
But the Hurricanes had too many weapons on the day, building a 21-7 advantage when quarterback Brad Kaaya found Clive Walford on a 14-yard toss inside two minutes to play in the first quarter. Kaaya later threw a 28-yard score to Phillip Dorsett with 7:57 left in the second quarter.
The two teams traded field goals before intermission. UC's Andrew Gantz (Dayton, Ohio/Centerville) made a 33-yard attempt with 4:59 left before Miami's Michael Badgley connected on a 42-yard kick with 46 seconds remaining before halftime.
Miami's Tyriq McCord thwarted UC's opening drive of the second half when he intercepted a Kiel pass and ran 46 yards for a score to push the Hurricanes' lead to 31-10 only 45 seconds into the third quarter. The Bearcats were not able to trim the deficit inside 21 points the rest of the game.
Gantz pulled the Bearcats within 34-13 at 3:34 in the third quarter following a 46-yard field goal.
Kiel went on to throw touchdown scores of 3 yards to Mekale McKay (Louisville, Ky./Moore/Arkansas) and 45 yards to Max Morrison (Kenton, Ohio/Kenton) in the final quarter.
Bearcats safety Carter Jacobs (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./American Heritage) later picked up a Miami fumble and ran 27 yards with 4:27 left in the game to pull the Bearcats within 55-34.
Cincinnati travels to Dallas to play at SMU on Oct. 18. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET.