OTHER TOP 25
No. 2 Cincinnati 31, Tulane 12: Desmond Ridder twice connected with tight end Josh Whyle for touchdowns, and visiting Cincinnati remained unbeaten.
Jerome Ford rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown – his 14th this season – for Cincinnati (8-0, 4-0 American Athletic Conference), which briefly trailed in the second quarter and led by just two points at halftime.
Ridder passed for 227 yards and three touchdowns to go with his 47 yards rushing, but also was sacked in the end zone for a safety and intercepted. Whyle caught four passes for 79 yards.
Tulane (1-6, 0-4), which was playing without starting quarterback Michael Pratt because of his concussion during last weeks loss at SMU, lost its sixth straight, but did have a few standout performances.
Running back Tyjae Spears, coming back from a knee injury that wiped out his 2020 season, rushed for 106 yards on 19 carries, highlighted by his 47-yard touchdown in the first half.
Third-string QB Kai Horton, a freshman, started for Tulane because backup Justin Ibieta also was hurt. He completed seven of 16 passes for 79 yards. He was intercepted twice and sacked four times.
The Green Wave regularly employed direct snaps to running backs in hopes of easing the burden on Horton and also throwing off the Bearcats. While that didn’t produce a victory, it kept Cincinnati from putting the game out of reach until the fourth quarter.
After Cincinnati scored first on Ridder’s 16-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Whyle, Tulane surprisingly surged into the lead in the second quarter with a series of successes.