TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
NEW ORLEANS – For two long weeks, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats had waited not so patiently to play another game, eager to erase the lingering bitter taste from the 31-28 overtime loss they absorbed just before their bye week kicked in.
Now here they were tenuously clinging to a one-point lead with 5:15 remaining and Tulane backed up at its own 15-yard line following a UC punt, the Bearcats' defense determined to thwart the Green Wave's last-ditch effort to win.
But nothing has come easily for UC all season and neither would this. Tulane moved methodically down the field, advancing to the UC 14-yard line where it faced fourth and one. The Green Wave lined up with 1:26 remaining either to go for a first down or perhaps to get the Bearcats to jump off side. Instead, Tulane was called for a false start, pushing the ball back to the 18.
That's when Merek Glover and the Green Wave field goal unit trotted onto the field to attempt a 36-yard field goal they hoped would win the game.
But this time it was UC's turn to get a break. Glover's kick was low and well wide to the left, prompting a jumping, whooping celebration on the UC sideline. The Bearcats took over on their own 20 and on the next play Gerrid Doaks rumbled 57 yards down the left sideline for a first down. UC ran out the clock and walked off the field with a 17-16 victory before 20,798 fans Saturday at Yulman Stadium.
Gone was UC's five-game losing streak and their eight-game conference losing streak that dated to last season. The Bearcats improved to 3-6 overall, 1-4 in the American Athletic Conference, with a much-needed bounce in their step.
"It feels great," said middle linebacker Jaylyin Minor. "It's something we haven't done since the third game. We've been fighting our tails off all season and things haven't been falling our way. Today things ended up falling our way."
Tulane lost its fourth straight and fell to 3-6, 1-4.
UC coach Luke Fickell reveled not only in his first AAC conference win, but in the feeling that swirled around the locker room, where the Bearcats let out some of the pent-up frustration they had been feeling since they beat Miami back on Sept. 16.
"For myself it's one thing," Fickell said, "but for those guys in that locker room, the euphoria, this is what you do it for, the joy and the thrills of that right there, that brotherhood, that you finally see some reward for all the things that you've done, the sacrifices you've made. I'm so excited for those guys."
UC gained 456 total yards to 358 for Tulane and ran for 208 yards, including a career-high 149 from redshirt freshman Doaks on 17 carries. Doaks has emerged as UC's featured back, surpassing senior Mike Boone, but Boone also made a major contribution with 20 yards on six carries to go with four catches for 34 yards.
It was Boone's 5-yard touchdown run with 7:12 left in the third quarter that gave the Bearcats a 17-13 lead. In the locker room after the game, Boone was leading the cheers from his teammates to celebrate the win and Doaks' performance.
"You know darn well that he wanted it to be him," Fickell said of Boone, "but he cares about his teammates."
UC quarterback Hayden Moore had one of his best games of the season, completing 18 of 27 passes for 246 yards and one touchdown without an interception or a sack. He also ran for 39 yards on eight carries.
"I felt like the decision-making was the best part of the day," Moore said. "I got the ball into space to the playmakers and I let them do what they do. I took what they gave me. I got a few deep balls, which is what we were looking for this week. We got the opportunity and we converted. It was a great game plan. We knew exactly what they were gonna do and I knew exactly where I was gonna go every time. It felt good to be able to do that. The offensive line gave me as much time as I needed. Gerrid made it easy for me. When he's running like that it opens up everything else."
Neither UC nor Tulane turned the ball over, but an otherwise clean game was marred by a season-high 12 penalties by the Bearcats for 123 yards. Tulane quarterback Jonathan Banks was 18-for-25 passing for 226 yards and no interceptions. He ran for 75 yards on 10 carries.
UC grabbed a 3-0 lead on its first drive of the game on Ryan Jones' 25-yard field goal before Banks' 53-yard scramble for a touchdown put the Green Wave on top, 7-3. A 39-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Devin Gray put the Bearcats back in the lead, 10-7, with 14:53 left in the first half. Field goals by Glover from 37 yards and 19 yards gave Tulane a 13-10 halftime lead.
After Boone's touchdown with 7:13 left in the third returned the lead to UC, Jones missed a 41-yard field goal attempt less than two minutes into the fourth. Glover then drew the Green Wave within one point with his 26-yard field goal with 7:59 left.
But he was unable to convert the kick that could have won the game for Tulane.
"We were going crazy in the locker room," Minor said. "It's been awhile since we won. As much as we do, as much as we put in, week in and week out on the practice field, there's no greater feeling than that in the world. (Losing) wears on a team bad. That's when we have to come closer together as a team and as a brother and have a bond and keep going forward and not think this is the end of the world."
With three more games to play, beginning next Friday against Temple, the suddenly recharged Bearcats still have a chance to finish 6-6 and qualify for a bowl game. It may seem unlikely, but then so were the odds that Glover would miss that field goal.
"We all missed that winning feeling so much," Moore said. "That's what everybody was saying. And we want to keep on having this feeling the next three weeks. That's our motivation."
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.