Bearcats Top Tulsa Behind Boone's Three Scores

Nov. 14, 2015

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By Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com

CINCINNATI
- Having suffered through their share of heart-breaking losses this season, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats made sure they didn't come up short on the night their 20 seniors bade farewell to Nippert Stadium.

The Bearcats had to survive a minor scare but when the game was on the line, they found a way to blow past Tulsa, 49-38, on Senior Night before 35,015 fans Saturday at Nippert Stadium to become bowl eligible for the fifth straight season and the ninth time in the last 10 years.

"It was very important that we get this one, knowing that we had to go two on the road in some very tough games," said UC coach Tommy Tuberville. "We had a MASH unit on defense. We had them going down right and left. It was good to see us making plays. We weren't going to shut this team down. They throw it well, they can run it well, very similar to us. We just happened to make a few more plays than they did."

UC (6-4 overall, 3-3 in the American Athletic Conference) trailed briefly, 24-21, with 5:37 left in the third quarter, but scored 14 unanswered points in four minutes to take control.

Tulsa fell to 5-5 overall, 2-4 in the conference.

UC senior wide receiver Chris Moore tied Mardy Gilyard for UC's career lead in touchdown receptions with 25 when he caught a 43-yard pass from quarterback Gunner Kiel to put the Bearcats ahead, 28-24.

"I wanted to get it really bad," Moore said, "but I'm always going to do what I have to do for the team to win. I've still got two more weeks to break it."

When the Bearcats lost at Houston last week it fell to the seniors to keep the younger players motivated in the face of a season that has not lived up to expectations. It was a responsibility that they took seriously.

"We tried to make sure we kept our heads up," said senior defensive end Silverberry Mouhon, who had two sacks and three tackles for loss. "We tried to hold everybody accountable."

Kiel completed 29 of 42 passes for 386 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once and fumbled once to account for two of UC's three turnovers. Shaq Washington caught eight passes for 91 yards and Mekale McKay had six catches for 101 yards as the Bearcats gained 652 yards of total offense. Running Mike Boone gained 137 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns.

UC fell behind on Redford Jones' 33-yard field goal, set up by Kiel's fumble at the UC 20-yard line with 6:44 to play in the third quarter. It was the second lead of the night for the Golden Hurricane and it lasted all of one minute and 38 seconds.

First Kiel hooked up with Moore for the go-ahead touchdown. Tulsa's Ramadi Warren then fumbled. UC's Malik Clements recovered and advanced to the Tulsa 45 with 2:38 left. Four plays later, Tion Green ran for a 5-yard touchdown out of the Wildcat formation and it was 35-24, UC.

Tulsa's Jones then missed a 40-yard field goal and UC capitalized with an 8-play, 77-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 20-yard run by Hosey Williams to put UC ahead, 42-24, with 10:42 left in the fourth quarter.

Boone's third touchdown of the game increased UC's lead to 49-31 after the Golden Hurricane had pulled within 11 points at 42-31. The final Tulsa touchdown came with 14 seconds left in a game that took three hours and 46 minutes to play.

"You just try to slow that offense down," Tuberville said. "You're not going to stop it. You hope that you can run the ball on offense and run some of the clock down. We had two minutes (of possession) more than they did. That was one of our goals, to have it a little bit more them.

"When they get it, they're very explosive. They threw it deep down the field. We saw more deep balls tonight on our secondary than we saw probably in the last four or five games."

The Golden Hurricane totaled 588 yards, with quarterback Dane Evans passing for 375 and two touchdowns. Warren ran for 139 yards and touchdowns of 65 yards and 39 yards, both of which came on fourth down plays where he was barely touched by a UC defender.

UC will finish its regular season on the road with games at South Florida next Friday night and then at East Carolina on Nov. 28. USF upset No. 21 Temple on Saturday.

"We think we can win the rest of the games," Tuberville said. "We've got two tough games and we just added a bowl game, so we've got three left. We can still win as many as we won last year."

Given the way this season has unfolded, that would be a tribute to a group of seniors who refused to let their teammates give up on a season that held such great promise at Camp Higher Ground during the dog days of August.

"Every game we have we want to leave our mark," Moore said. "We want to finish strong and and make sure that people know that we are one of the best senior classes at the University of Cincinnati. We just play every game to leave our mark and let people know that we did good things while we were here."

Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of Go.Bearcats.com in January, 2015.