TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI – It seemed as if the University of Cincinnati Bearcats were about to absorb another crushing loss to cap off what has been a humbling season, their first under head coach Luke Fickell.
The Bearcats took a 22-15 lead with 1:45 left after trailing, 15-7, late in the third quarter only to see Connecticut drive down the field to get in position for the tying touchdown. Facing fourth down and 10 at the UC 15-yard line with two seconds left, the Huskies got a huge break when UC's Linden Stephens was called for pass interference in the end zone, giving UConn the ball at the 2 for one last play with no time left on the clock.
It was the kind of penalty that has bedeviled the Bearcats all season long and it appeared as if it would again when UConn quarterback David Pindell rolled to his right and found Hergy Mayala in the end zone for a touchdown. Mayala was so fired up that he couldn't resist taunting the Bearcats and was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The 15-yard penalty moved the ball back to the 18-yard line for the extra point, removing any consideration the UConn coaches had of going for two points to win the game. Suddenly faced with a 36-yard kick, Michael Tarbutt, who kicked a 53-yard field goal earlier in the game, missed wide left and UC held on for a 22-21 season-ending victory before an announced crowd of 23,125 at Nippert Stadium that set off a wild celebration on the UC sideline as players spilled onto the field in elation.
"I was all over the place," said senior running back Mike Boone, who caught the 2-point conversion pass that tied the game with 14:42 left in the fourth quarter. "When you see that kick go left, you just want to break down from happiness."
There hasn't been a whole lot of happiness surrounding the Bearcats this season. UC finished 4-8 overall for the second straight year, 2-6 in the American Athletic Conference, to tie UConn (3-9, 2-6) for fifth place in the East Division. But there was a season-full of joy on the field after the game and in the locker room afterwards.
"We do it for the seniors," Fickell said. "I told them before the game, we will go as you guys go. Those guys put it on their shoulders."
UConn gained 449 yards to 335 for UC and ran 103 plays to 54 for the Bearcats. Still, the UC players found a way to hang in there, as they have all season when they very well could have packed it in. Moore was 19-for-28 passing for 199 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. UConn's Pindell was 27-for-51 for 273 yards and one touchdown with one interception. He also ran for 95 yards on 22 carries with one touchdown.
"We never gave up in any one of the games we had all year," said senior linebacker Jaylyin Minor, who rose from two-year backup to take over the middle linebacker position and was the league's leading tackler entering Saturday's game.
The Bearcats were trailing, 6-0, before Moore found Kahlil Lewis in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass after senior safety Carter Jacobs intercepted a pass at the UC 38 and returned it to the 41. Ryan Jones' extra-point kick gave UC a 7-6 lead at halftime. Amazingly, it was only the second game all season that the Bearcats led at halftime. The other was the season opener against Austin Peay.
The lead didn't last long, though. UConn reclaimed the advantage with a 19-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:53 to start the third quarter, with Pindell scoring from one yard out on fourth-and-goal. His pass for the 2-point conversion was caught but the receiver was flagged for illegal touching when he came back into play from out of bounds, leaving the Huskies with a 12-7 lead. That turned out to be a crucial call.
After a three-and-out, UConn scored again on Tarbutt's 53-yard field goal to make it 15-7. UC then went 75 yards on seven plays to tie it on Moore's 13-yard pass to Lewis and the 2-point conversion pass to Boone.
The Huskies had the ball at their own 22 with five minutes remaining, but the UC defense forced a punt after three plays. The Bearcats took over on their own 36 with 3:13 to play and drove 64 yards in seven plays with Moore scoring on a 4-yard run after Boone's 25-yard dash.
But UConn, which had lost its previous four games by an average score of 26 points, showed some resolve of its own. The Huskies took advantage of the interference call to score on Pindell's strike to Mayala in the end zone, with a chance to win with a 2-point conversion.
"We were going to go for two," said UConn coach Randy Edsall. "I was going for the win. I thought we had momentum. I thought we would have got two."
But the officials changed that strategy when they flagged Mayala for taunting and moved the ball back to the 18-yard line. The Huskies had no choice but to try to kick for one point to send the game into overtime.
As the kick sailed wide, Fickell's trying first season as UC's head coach came to an end on a high note. Fickell talked afterwards about using the win to "push it into the off-season," but the season also left him with a clear sense of where the program stands.
"I know this team has to get a hell of a lot better," he said.
For the moment, though, Fickell and his players were content to savor a rare moment of jubilation that they didn't want to end.
Offensive tackle Korey Cunningham, a 6-foot-6, 305-pound behemoth, recalled his arrival at UC five years ago when he was "a young, small, 225-pound tight end who would fall down when the wind blew."
"I can say I've got a home now at UC," he said. "I'm going to forever bleed that red and black and I'm going to be back every chance I get to see what coach Fick does with this program. It's going to be great."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com in January, 2015.
// POSTGAME NOTES
• Korey Cunningham and Devin Gray both ends their career with 24 consecutive starts
• Senior Lyndon Johnson had his first career forced fumble in the second quarter
• JaQuay Savage's 25-yard reception in the in second quarter was the longest of the season. His longest prior to that was an 11-yard catch at Navy
• Just before halftime, senior Carter Jacobs had his first career interception. He returned it 21 yards to the UConn 41.
• Kahlil Lewis' touchdown catch late in the second quarter was his sixth on the season. With another touchdown reception in the fourth, Lewis had his second multiple touchdown game of his career. He also became the first UC receiver with two receptions in a game since Devin Gray had two against Temple last season. 64 receiving yards is the most of his career.
• The Bearcats 7-6 lead at halftime was their second halftime lead of the season. The other time was the season-opener against Austin Peay, a 14-7 lead. Both halftime leads came via a Hayden Moore touchdown pass to Kahlil Lewis.
• Thomas Geddis had a career-high six receptions. 65 receiving yards marked the most this season
• Multiple players broke or tied their career highs in tackles. Carter Jacobs tied his with 13 and Jarell White matched his career-high with ten. Marquise Copeland surpassed his previous career-high of eight tackles with ten on the day.