TicketsCINCINNATI – The No. 21/24-ranked Cincinnati football team fell 27-24 to No. 19 Tulane in a hard-fought Senior Day regular season finale on Friday at Nippert Stadium.
The Bearcats dropped to 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Green Wave finished 10-2 overall and first in the AAC with a 7-1 conference mark and will host the AAC Championship next Saturday.
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell said "We knew it was going to come to the fourth quarter. We had to make plays in the fourth quarter, and we fought and fought, and it was back it forth. We got ourselves into a situation where we could win the game in the fourth quarter and we didn't get it done. Everybody is hurting, but nobody is more than those seniors. They meant more than anything to me; this program and it's very difficult. With all the things that pile on, whether it is their last game in this stadium or not, with all the other things that are presented to you with a championship opportunity, it just hurts that much more."
Cincinnati still has an opportunity to advance to the conference title game, but will need a UCF loss to USF on Saturday to have a chance.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Evan Prater made his first career start, replacing senior Ben Bryant, who was injured against Temple. Prater, a Cincinnati native, finished 10-of-26 for 102 yards and an interception, while rushing for 83 yards. Senior running back Ryan Montgomery tied a career-best 95 yards rushing and tallied two scores, as Cincinnati rushed for a season-best 235 yards.
"I thought Evan did a great job," Fickell said. "I thought he played with a lot of poise, played with a lot of confidence. You just never really know going into that situation, you figured he would, but sometimes some of those emotions can get to you. I thought he did an unbelievable job at handling all of those things."
Tulane running back rushed Tyjae Spears rushed 35 times for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
Green Wave wide receiver Duece Watts hauled in the winning 30-yard touchdown reception with 5:10 remaining to take the final lead, 27-24, for Tulane.
The winning play came less than 90 seconds after the Bearcats had erased the 20-10 deficit to take a 24-20 lead with 6:27 left on Montgomery's second touchdown.
Following the Watts' catch, Cincinnati went 3-and-out, but then forced Tulane to punt.
UC had one last chance with 1:36 remaining, but Prater took his first sack and his final pass attempt was dropped on fourth down.
"You have to give them credit, they were aggressive like we were trying to be," Fickell said. "They took some shots and made the plays. We still had an opportunity, we had to go out there and make another stop and had a chance to get the ball back, but you can't put yourself in those kinds of situations."
Tulane took advantage of the game's only a turnover, an interception by Prater off a deflected pass, to score on a 25-yard rush by Spears to take a 20-10 lead with 6:59 left in the third quarter.
UC responded by tallying its two longest touchdown drives of the season to take the lead.
Late in the third quarter, Prater completed a 3rd-and-9 pass to senior tight end Leonard Taylor to keep a drive alive before making several impressive plays with his legs and gave way to Montgomery carving up the Tulane defense. The versatile senior from Franklin, Ohio, had a superb 17-yard rush where he leaped over a defender for extra yards before bulldozing his way into the line for a 4th-and-1 first down. He ended a 14-play, 75-yard drive with an 8-yard score to bring UC within a field goal, 20-17, with 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
UC stopped Tulane on its first drive of the fourth quarter with redshirt sophomore linebacker Jaheim Thomas and senior linebacker Ty Van Fossen combining for a 4th-and-2 stop on Michael Pratt quarterback keeper.
After the Tulane stop, Montgomery converted another 4th-and-1 rush, and redshirt freshman receiver Will Pauling tapped his toe on the sideline for an incredible first down reception to keep the drive alive. A few plays later, Prater's fourth-and-inches conversion gave the Bearcats 1st-and-10 from the 20. Montgomery's 15-yard rush gave Cincinnati a 24-20 lead with 6:27 left.
Tulane fired right back to with a four-play, 75-yard game-winning drive.
Tulane jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Valentino Ambrosio's 34-yard field goal at 5:17 in the first quarter.
UC tied the game 3-3 in the second quarter on a 28-yard field goal from senior kicker Ryan Coe.
After Spears' 11-yard touchdown put the Green Wave in front 10-3 with five minutes left in the first half, Cincinnati answered with a seven-play, 75-yard drive where senior running back Charles McClelland appeared to be stopped, but broke several tackles and raced down the sideline for a game-tying 35-yard dash to the end zone.
Tulane was able to tack on a career-long 47-yard field goal from Ambrosio with 16 seconds left before halftime to take a 13-10 lead at the break.
Cincinnati's 32-game winning streak at Nippert Stadium ended as the 19th-longest home victory streak in college football history.
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The Bearcats dropped to 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Green Wave finished 10-2 overall and first in the AAC with a 7-1 conference mark and will host the AAC Championship next Saturday.
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell said "We knew it was going to come to the fourth quarter. We had to make plays in the fourth quarter, and we fought and fought, and it was back it forth. We got ourselves into a situation where we could win the game in the fourth quarter and we didn't get it done. Everybody is hurting, but nobody is more than those seniors. They meant more than anything to me; this program and it's very difficult. With all the things that pile on, whether it is their last game in this stadium or not, with all the other things that are presented to you with a championship opportunity, it just hurts that much more."
Cincinnati still has an opportunity to advance to the conference title game, but will need a UCF loss to USF on Saturday to have a chance.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Evan Prater made his first career start, replacing senior Ben Bryant, who was injured against Temple. Prater, a Cincinnati native, finished 10-of-26 for 102 yards and an interception, while rushing for 83 yards. Senior running back Ryan Montgomery tied a career-best 95 yards rushing and tallied two scores, as Cincinnati rushed for a season-best 235 yards.
"I thought Evan did a great job," Fickell said. "I thought he played with a lot of poise, played with a lot of confidence. You just never really know going into that situation, you figured he would, but sometimes some of those emotions can get to you. I thought he did an unbelievable job at handling all of those things."
Tulane running back rushed Tyjae Spears rushed 35 times for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
Green Wave wide receiver Duece Watts hauled in the winning 30-yard touchdown reception with 5:10 remaining to take the final lead, 27-24, for Tulane.
The winning play came less than 90 seconds after the Bearcats had erased the 20-10 deficit to take a 24-20 lead with 6:27 left on Montgomery's second touchdown.
Following the Watts' catch, Cincinnati went 3-and-out, but then forced Tulane to punt.
UC had one last chance with 1:36 remaining, but Prater took his first sack and his final pass attempt was dropped on fourth down.
"You have to give them credit, they were aggressive like we were trying to be," Fickell said. "They took some shots and made the plays. We still had an opportunity, we had to go out there and make another stop and had a chance to get the ball back, but you can't put yourself in those kinds of situations."
Tulane took advantage of the game's only a turnover, an interception by Prater off a deflected pass, to score on a 25-yard rush by Spears to take a 20-10 lead with 6:59 left in the third quarter.
UC responded by tallying its two longest touchdown drives of the season to take the lead.
Late in the third quarter, Prater completed a 3rd-and-9 pass to senior tight end Leonard Taylor to keep a drive alive before making several impressive plays with his legs and gave way to Montgomery carving up the Tulane defense. The versatile senior from Franklin, Ohio, had a superb 17-yard rush where he leaped over a defender for extra yards before bulldozing his way into the line for a 4th-and-1 first down. He ended a 14-play, 75-yard drive with an 8-yard score to bring UC within a field goal, 20-17, with 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
UC stopped Tulane on its first drive of the fourth quarter with redshirt sophomore linebacker Jaheim Thomas and senior linebacker Ty Van Fossen combining for a 4th-and-2 stop on Michael Pratt quarterback keeper.
After the Tulane stop, Montgomery converted another 4th-and-1 rush, and redshirt freshman receiver Will Pauling tapped his toe on the sideline for an incredible first down reception to keep the drive alive. A few plays later, Prater's fourth-and-inches conversion gave the Bearcats 1st-and-10 from the 20. Montgomery's 15-yard rush gave Cincinnati a 24-20 lead with 6:27 left.
Tulane fired right back to with a four-play, 75-yard game-winning drive.
Tulane jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Valentino Ambrosio's 34-yard field goal at 5:17 in the first quarter.
UC tied the game 3-3 in the second quarter on a 28-yard field goal from senior kicker Ryan Coe.
After Spears' 11-yard touchdown put the Green Wave in front 10-3 with five minutes left in the first half, Cincinnati answered with a seven-play, 75-yard drive where senior running back Charles McClelland appeared to be stopped, but broke several tackles and raced down the sideline for a game-tying 35-yard dash to the end zone.
Tulane was able to tack on a career-long 47-yard field goal from Ambrosio with 16 seconds left before halftime to take a 13-10 lead at the break.
Cincinnati's 32-game winning streak at Nippert Stadium ended as the 19th-longest home victory streak in college football history.
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