TicketsMORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The Cincinnati football team dropped a road game to West Virginia, 42-21, on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Paced by quarterback Garrett Greene, who rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns, the Mountaineers rushed for 424 yards and finished with a 634-344 advantage in total offense.
WVU running back Jaheim White added 204 rushing yards and a score on 21 carries.
The Bearcats were led by quarterback Emory Jones, who came off the bench to complete 14-of-24 passes for 166 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tight end Chamon Metayer.
Defensively, Deshawn Pace totaled a career-best 12 tackles and one TFL.
Greene had 136 rushing yards before halftime and the Bearcats punted on their first four possessions as West Virginia built a 21-0 lead.
After West Virginia missed a 52-yard field goal and then forced a Cincinnati three-and-out, the Mountaineers had a nearly-seven-minute drive, marching 91 yards over 14 plays to take a 7-0 lead with 2:40 left in the first quarter.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brady Lichtenberg made his first career start for Cincinnati, playing the first series, before Emory Jones entered the game. The duo traded series throughout the first half.
The Mountaineers led 14-0 two minutes into the second quarter and moved ahead by three scores on 13-yard touchdown run by running back CJ Donaldson.
The Bearcats got on the board following a 75-yard drive where Lichtenberg completed a 22-yard pass to wide receiver Evan Prater, who broke several tackles on his way to a first down, and scrambled 17 yards to the 1-yard line. Jones entered at quarterback to score the touchdown on the sneak that made the score 21-7 with 1:32 left in the first half.
"Brady got banged up," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "He was wincing a little bit on that drive, and we wanted to get him out earlier but we were rolling. I think the last play was the QB draw to the 1-yard line, and that's when we made the switch. We'll have to see how he is when we get back early in the week. He would have continued to play. Our plan was to play both and stick with the hot hand. Emory came in and played great with some really nice things."
Greene tacked on another score right before the half, zipping through the defense for 26 yards to put the Mountaineers ahead, 28-7.
Greene scored again on an 18-yard scramble on a broken play to make it 35-7 with 4:39 left in the third quarter.
White added a 4-yard touchdown at the end of the third quarter to extend the WVU lead to 42-7.
The Bearcats provided several highlights in the fourth quarter.
Jones zipped a 55-yard pass to Xzavier Henderson on 3rd-and-15 from the Cincinnati 15-yard line before finding Metayer wide open for a 30-yard touchdown pass on a trick play to make the score 42-14 with 12:29 left.
Redshirt sophomore defensive back Ken Willis tallied an interception for the second straight game to thwart a WVU red zone opportunity. UC used that momentum to drive down the field as Jones had a 25-yard rush and a 7-yard touchdown pass to Metayer with 5:11 left.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati welcomes Kansas on Saturday for a Senior Day regular season finale at Nippert Stadium. The game time and television network have not been announced yet.
Paced by quarterback Garrett Greene, who rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns, the Mountaineers rushed for 424 yards and finished with a 634-344 advantage in total offense.
WVU running back Jaheim White added 204 rushing yards and a score on 21 carries.
The Bearcats were led by quarterback Emory Jones, who came off the bench to complete 14-of-24 passes for 166 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tight end Chamon Metayer.
Defensively, Deshawn Pace totaled a career-best 12 tackles and one TFL.
Greene had 136 rushing yards before halftime and the Bearcats punted on their first four possessions as West Virginia built a 21-0 lead.
After West Virginia missed a 52-yard field goal and then forced a Cincinnati three-and-out, the Mountaineers had a nearly-seven-minute drive, marching 91 yards over 14 plays to take a 7-0 lead with 2:40 left in the first quarter.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brady Lichtenberg made his first career start for Cincinnati, playing the first series, before Emory Jones entered the game. The duo traded series throughout the first half.
The Mountaineers led 14-0 two minutes into the second quarter and moved ahead by three scores on 13-yard touchdown run by running back CJ Donaldson.
The Bearcats got on the board following a 75-yard drive where Lichtenberg completed a 22-yard pass to wide receiver Evan Prater, who broke several tackles on his way to a first down, and scrambled 17 yards to the 1-yard line. Jones entered at quarterback to score the touchdown on the sneak that made the score 21-7 with 1:32 left in the first half.
"Brady got banged up," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "He was wincing a little bit on that drive, and we wanted to get him out earlier but we were rolling. I think the last play was the QB draw to the 1-yard line, and that's when we made the switch. We'll have to see how he is when we get back early in the week. He would have continued to play. Our plan was to play both and stick with the hot hand. Emory came in and played great with some really nice things."
Greene tacked on another score right before the half, zipping through the defense for 26 yards to put the Mountaineers ahead, 28-7.
Greene scored again on an 18-yard scramble on a broken play to make it 35-7 with 4:39 left in the third quarter.
White added a 4-yard touchdown at the end of the third quarter to extend the WVU lead to 42-7.
The Bearcats provided several highlights in the fourth quarter.
Jones zipped a 55-yard pass to Xzavier Henderson on 3rd-and-15 from the Cincinnati 15-yard line before finding Metayer wide open for a 30-yard touchdown pass on a trick play to make the score 42-14 with 12:29 left.
Redshirt sophomore defensive back Ken Willis tallied an interception for the second straight game to thwart a WVU red zone opportunity. UC used that momentum to drive down the field as Jones had a 25-yard rush and a 7-yard touchdown pass to Metayer with 5:11 left.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati welcomes Kansas on Saturday for a Senior Day regular season finale at Nippert Stadium. The game time and television network have not been announced yet.