Ridder breaks Bearcats’ TD record, No. 2 UC defeats USF

TAMPA, Fla. — Desmond Ridder threw two touchdown passes to break the Cincinnati career record and

ran for a score to help the No. 2 Bearcats beat South Florida 45-28 on Friday night.

Cincinnati (10-0, 6-0 American Athletic, No. 5 CFP), one of four unbeaten FBS teams,

has started the season with 10 consecutive wins for just the second time in school history. The Bearcats also did it

in 2009, when they got off to a 12-0 start.

Ridder broke the school record with this 79th touchdown pass, a 21-yard strike to Josh Whyle early in the third that made it 31-7. Gino Guidugli, now Cincinnati’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, had 78 scoring passes from 2001-04.

Ridder completed 31 of 39

passes for 304 yards, and ran for 65 yards on 13 carries.

The Bearcats played without running back Jerome Ford due to a leg injury that

happened during last week against Tulsa. Ford has 888 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.

Jaren Mangham had two rushing TDS for South Florida (2-8, 1-5), which has lost 19

consecutive games against teams ranked in the top 20

since upsetting Notre Dame on the road in October 2011. He has 15 touchdowns on the ground this season, tied for second-most in USF history.

Freshman Timmy Mcclain completed 16 of 29 passes for 245 yards. His 80-yard hookup with Jimmy Horn Jr. got USF to 31-21 late in the third

quarter, and he added a 2-yard TD run that the cut deficit to 38-28 with six minutes to play.

Ridder had a 13-yard TD run, connected on a 1-yard

scoring strike to Tre Tucker, and Alex Bales made a 27yard field goal during the

second quarter as the Bearcats took a 24-7 lead.

After turning the ball over on its first and fourth plays on offense, Cincinnati tied it at 7 when Ryan Montgomery