TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati football team fell 32-29 to Baylor on Saturday at Historic Nippert Stadium.
The Bearcats dropped to 2-5 (0-4 in the Big 12 Conference), while the Bears improved to 3-4 (2-2).
"First of all, (I'm) very frustrated and disappointed," first-year head coach Scott Satterfield said. "This is certainly not what Cincinnati football is all about, I promise you that, and this is not what we're going to be about. We're going to play better football, so we can go out there and get these wins. This one was certainly there for us to go get and we didn't do it, and that starts here with me…It's very frustrating, again we made some mistakes today."
Trailing 29-14 entering the fourth quarter, the Bearcats made it a one-score game, 29-21, on a 1-yard Myles Montgomery touchdown with 14:20 left in the game.
However, Baylor answered when kicker Isaiah Hankins made his fourth field goal of the day to put Baylor in front 32-21 with 7:01 left.
The Bearcats responded with a 6-play, 75-yard drive to make it a three-point game, 32-29, with 5:03 remaining in the game. Montgomery broke out for 35 yards to set up Jones' 29-yard touchdown to Xzavier Henderson one play later. Jones completed the two-point conversion pass to receiver Evan Prater to bring UC within a field goal.
Cincinnati forced a Baylor punt as the Bearcats took over at the 6-yard line with 2:19 remaining. The Bearcats gained 36 yards on the first three plays, but the final effort came up short as the 4th-and-11 pass attempt fell incomplete.
The Bears were led by quarterback Blake Shapen, who finished 25 for 42 for 316 yards and one passing touchdown to go along with a rushing score.
Montgomery finished with 103 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, while fellow UC running back Corey Kiner tallied his third 100-yard game of the season, rumbling for 129 yards on 15 totes.
"We wanted to come in and establish the run, we were able to do that," Satterfield said. "I thought our running backs ran hard today; we had some explosive runs in the running game. We have not seen that this year like we had today. That's a definite positive. I thought Corey [Kiner] and Myles [Montgomery] ran very hard. They did some great things in the running game. The guy's up-front blocked well today."
Senior defensive back Deshawn Pace totaled a career-high 11 tackles and 2.5 TFLs.
Cincinnati held a commanding 288-80 edge in rushing yards, but also registered four fumbles, including a kickoff giveaway that resulted in a Baylor touchdown that gave the Bears a 10-point lead early in the second quarter.
Cincinnati held Baylor to just 10 yards in the first quarter, but still trailed 3-0 after the first 15 minutes when a career-long 54-yard field goal by Bears' kicker Isaiah Hankins went through the uprights at the 5:55 mark.
The Bearcats answered with a 14-play, 75-yard drive to take a 7-3 lead five seconds into the second quarter when Jones zipped a 4-yard touchdown to Henderson.
On Baylor's ensuing possession, Shapen lofted a 41-yard completion to set up his own 3-yard touchdown run a few plays later to give the visitors a 10-7 lead with 12:16 remaining before the break.
Cincinnati receiver Braden Smith dropped Baylor's kickoff after the touchdown and then fumbled the ball into the arms of Baylor linebacker Byron Vaughns who ran into the endzone for the score that gave Baylor a 17-7 lead.
Hankins added a 43-yard field goal to extend Baylor's lead to 20-7 with 7:18 remaining in the second frame.
A pair of explosive plays kept UC in the game. Henderson had a 30-yard catch-and-run two plays before Montgomery spun out of a tackle to spring 38 yards to the end zone and bring the Bearcats within six points, 20-14, with 5:59 left before halftime.
Shapen completed a 55-yard bomb to receiver Ketron Jackson Jr. to open the second half and found tight end Jake Roberts two plays later for a touchdown to extend the Bears' lead to 26-14.
Cincinnati thwarted the Baylor two-point try after the score. Shortly thereafter, Kiner sprinted around the left end for a 40-yard rush to push him over 100 yards rushing for the third time this season. The Bearcats' first drive of the second half was halted when Jones' 4th-and-3 pass was incomplete.
Hankins drilled his third field goal of the day – this time a 46-yarder – at the 5:00 mark in the third quarter to make the score 29-14.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati hits the road to face Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. next Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2).
The Bearcats dropped to 2-5 (0-4 in the Big 12 Conference), while the Bears improved to 3-4 (2-2).
"First of all, (I'm) very frustrated and disappointed," first-year head coach Scott Satterfield said. "This is certainly not what Cincinnati football is all about, I promise you that, and this is not what we're going to be about. We're going to play better football, so we can go out there and get these wins. This one was certainly there for us to go get and we didn't do it, and that starts here with me…It's very frustrating, again we made some mistakes today."
Trailing 29-14 entering the fourth quarter, the Bearcats made it a one-score game, 29-21, on a 1-yard Myles Montgomery touchdown with 14:20 left in the game.
However, Baylor answered when kicker Isaiah Hankins made his fourth field goal of the day to put Baylor in front 32-21 with 7:01 left.
The Bearcats responded with a 6-play, 75-yard drive to make it a three-point game, 32-29, with 5:03 remaining in the game. Montgomery broke out for 35 yards to set up Jones' 29-yard touchdown to Xzavier Henderson one play later. Jones completed the two-point conversion pass to receiver Evan Prater to bring UC within a field goal.
Cincinnati forced a Baylor punt as the Bearcats took over at the 6-yard line with 2:19 remaining. The Bearcats gained 36 yards on the first three plays, but the final effort came up short as the 4th-and-11 pass attempt fell incomplete.
The Bears were led by quarterback Blake Shapen, who finished 25 for 42 for 316 yards and one passing touchdown to go along with a rushing score.
Montgomery finished with 103 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, while fellow UC running back Corey Kiner tallied his third 100-yard game of the season, rumbling for 129 yards on 15 totes.
"We wanted to come in and establish the run, we were able to do that," Satterfield said. "I thought our running backs ran hard today; we had some explosive runs in the running game. We have not seen that this year like we had today. That's a definite positive. I thought Corey [Kiner] and Myles [Montgomery] ran very hard. They did some great things in the running game. The guy's up-front blocked well today."
Senior defensive back Deshawn Pace totaled a career-high 11 tackles and 2.5 TFLs.
Cincinnati held a commanding 288-80 edge in rushing yards, but also registered four fumbles, including a kickoff giveaway that resulted in a Baylor touchdown that gave the Bears a 10-point lead early in the second quarter.
Cincinnati held Baylor to just 10 yards in the first quarter, but still trailed 3-0 after the first 15 minutes when a career-long 54-yard field goal by Bears' kicker Isaiah Hankins went through the uprights at the 5:55 mark.
The Bearcats answered with a 14-play, 75-yard drive to take a 7-3 lead five seconds into the second quarter when Jones zipped a 4-yard touchdown to Henderson.
On Baylor's ensuing possession, Shapen lofted a 41-yard completion to set up his own 3-yard touchdown run a few plays later to give the visitors a 10-7 lead with 12:16 remaining before the break.
Cincinnati receiver Braden Smith dropped Baylor's kickoff after the touchdown and then fumbled the ball into the arms of Baylor linebacker Byron Vaughns who ran into the endzone for the score that gave Baylor a 17-7 lead.
Hankins added a 43-yard field goal to extend Baylor's lead to 20-7 with 7:18 remaining in the second frame.
A pair of explosive plays kept UC in the game. Henderson had a 30-yard catch-and-run two plays before Montgomery spun out of a tackle to spring 38 yards to the end zone and bring the Bearcats within six points, 20-14, with 5:59 left before halftime.
Shapen completed a 55-yard bomb to receiver Ketron Jackson Jr. to open the second half and found tight end Jake Roberts two plays later for a touchdown to extend the Bears' lead to 26-14.
Cincinnati thwarted the Baylor two-point try after the score. Shortly thereafter, Kiner sprinted around the left end for a 40-yard rush to push him over 100 yards rushing for the third time this season. The Bearcats' first drive of the second half was halted when Jones' 4th-and-3 pass was incomplete.
Hankins drilled his third field goal of the day – this time a 46-yarder – at the 5:00 mark in the third quarter to make the score 29-14.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati hits the road to face Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. next Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2).