Middletown native’s field goal lifts UC to AAC Championship
Cincinnati CINCINNATI — head coach Luke Fickell believes his team deserves a spot in theCollege Football Playoff. On Saturday night, his focus was on winning an AmericanConference championship.
“I don’t want to be distracted from what we did tonight,” Fickell said. “When we came in here four years ago, we saidwewant to play for championships. I believe this team deserves a shot.”
Middletown High School grad Cole Smith made a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give No. 6 Cincinnati a 27-24 victory over No. 20 Tulsa in the rainy AAC Championship game.
“Right now, I’m going to ride the high,” said Smith, a junior. “Iwas just thinking to put it right down the pipes. Good snap, good hold, good line to block for me.”
Alec Pierce had a careerhigh 146 yards receiving on five catches, Desmond Ridder passed for 269 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score, and JeromeFord added a 42-yard scoring run for the Bearcats (9-0, No. 9 CFP).
“It’s been a long timecoming,” Ridder said ofwinning the program’s first AAC title. “For this team to fight through adversity in 2020as crazy as it is. It’s something you never forget.”
Tulsa tied it with 3:41 remaining on Zach Smith’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Juan Carlos Santana. But GoldenHurricane defensive tackle Jaxon Player jumped offside on a hard count on fourth-and-2, giving theBearcats a first down at the 19 to set up Smith’s kick.
“That young man has made so many plays for
us,” Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery said. “That’s just one of those plays that happens.”
The Golden Hurricane relied mostly on their running game with Smith struggling to throw in the wet conditions. He was 13 for 30 with two interceptions. Corey Taylor rushed for 106 yards and a TD.
After Jarrell White’s interception ended a promising drive for Tulsa, the Bearcats went ahead 7-0 on Ford’s 42-yard touchdown run. Pierce had a pair of acrobatic catches in the first quarter. He had a one-armed catch to help set up the first touchdown. His 45-yard grab led to a field goal.
“He’s been a big part of this team,” Ridder said. “We were able to get behind the deep safety. We can always count on big-time players to make big-time plays. That’s what he did.”
Player’s recovery of Ridder’s
fumble at the Bearcats 28 set up Taylor’s 10-yard TD run that tied it at 10.
Tulsa struggled to cover Pierce. He had 126 receiving yards in the first half, including a 36-yard TD catch to help Cincinnati take a 17-10 lead into halftime.
Deneric Prince’s 8-yardTD run capped a 55-yard drive on Tulsa’s opening possession of the third quarter, tying it at 17. Ridder scored on a 10-yard run to put the Bearcats back ahead.
In last year’s AAC championship game, Cincinnati led Memphis by one point with four minutes remaining, but lost 29-24.
The Golden Hurricane have had 16 come-from-behind wins since Montgomery took over as head coach in 2015. They nearly pulled off another.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” Montgomery said. “Left it all out there on the field, made plays. We’re
going to fight for 60minutes, every second of it. We did that again tonight.”
The Bearcats were able to overcome the loss of one of their top defensive playmakers when senior safety James Wiggins left in the first quarterwith a right leg injury and did not return.
“They’ve met every challenge that’s been thrown in front of them,” Fickell said.
Long layoff
Cincinnati hadn’t played sinceNov. 21duetoCOVID-19 issues, and the rust showed with 12 penalties and two lost fumbles. The Bearcats had nine pre-snap penalties. “There was a 14-day pause in therewherewe had little contact with our guys,” Fickell said. “We had to fight through a lot of things. That’s just a part of not playing for a while. We’ve gotsomethings to work on.”