Ridder, Ford help No. 5 Cincinnati rout Temple

CINCINNATI — Desmond Ridder threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns and No. 5 Cincinnati routed Temple 52-3 on Friday night for its 23rd straight home victory.

Jerome Ford ran for a career-high 149 yards and two scores to help the Bearcats (50, 1-0 American) avoid a letdown after their big victory at Notre Dame last week.

“First time really playing a complete game,” Bearcats coach Luke Fickell said. “Not saying perfect by any means, but a complete game. We talked about keeping that pressure on.”

The home streak is the second-longest in the country, behind Clemson at 31. Temple is the last team to beat the Bearcats at Nippert Stadium, edging them 35-24 in 2017.

Temple (3-3, 1-1) has played Cincinnati tough in recent years with the previous three meetings decided by a combined 20 points, including a 1513 victory by the Bearcats in the last meeting in 2019.

The Bearcats figured to get off to a fast start against Temple, which was outscored 50-7 in the first quarter through the first five games.

They took advantage of a Temple mistake when Jadan Blue’s muffed punt was recovered by Ja’von Hicks at the 13. Two plays later, Alec Pierce caught a 9-yard touchdown pass for a 10-0 lead. Pierce had six catches for 93 yards. “I know he’s a guy who I can trust to go up and get the ball,” Ridder said. “We’ve had a great connection and it’s starting to show up in games.”

Ford had an 8-yard touchdown run to help the Bearcats build a 17-3 lead at halftime.

On the first snap of the second half, Ford found a gaping hole and sprinted 75 yards for a touchdown that made it 24-3.

“It was an inside zone play,” Ford said. “I saw a lot of space, then nobody around and it was just a foot race. The O-line was moving guys around tonight.”

Temple muffed another punt and the Bearcats cashed in with Tyler Scott’s 38yard catch-and-run touchdown that made it 31-3.

“Sometimes special teams is about being opportunistic,” Fickell said. “It’s tough being on the road. It makes it tough for a defense, especially against an offense like ours.”