San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
RIDDER, CINCINNATI PASS FIRST BIG TEST OF SEASON
No. 7 Cincinnati found itself in a four-quarter struggle for the first time all season and Desmond Ridder and the Bearcats showed they can take a punch.
Ridder threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores as Cincinnati defeated host Central Florida 36-33 Saturday to head into the release of the first College Football Playoff rankings unbeaten.
The Bearcats (8-0, 6-0 American) fell behind 14-3 in the first quarter against their toughest opponent yet, but grabbed the lead by halftime.
“What a hard, hard-fought game,” Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said. “That is a really good football team, that on senior night gave us everything we could handle.”
Dillon Gabriel threw for 243 yards, three touchdowns and one interception as the Knights (5-3, 4-3) lost at home for the second time this season.
UCF took a 25-22 lead in the third quarter with a 19yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to Marlon Williams.
“Burn this one, quick turnaround,” UCF coach Josh Heupel said. “We’ve got a trophy game (Friday against USF), our guys will be ready to play.”
The interception Gabriel threw was costly for UCF.
Bearcats safety Darrick Forest picked off Gabriel’s pass early in the fourth quarter and returned it 20 yards to the Knights’ 16. Four plays later, a 1-yard sneak by Ridder gave UC a 29-25 lead with 13:07 remaining.
Rider passed for 338 yards and ran for 57.
“He’s just a baller, he shows up ready to go every game,” Taylor said of Ridder. “He’s a winner. He’s a competitor and when we go out there we’re behind him.”
Cincinnati used 10 plays to go 71 yards on its next possession to go up two scores. The Bearcats converted a fourth-and-1 at the UCF 26 and three plays later Ridder threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Taylor for a 36-25 lead with 7:15 remaining.
UCF made it 36-33 with 4:27 remaining on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to Jaylon Robinson and a 2point conversion pass to Jacob Harris
“I thought our kids responded and continued to compete and handled the ups and downs of the football game,” Heupel said. “We’re not far off from being a really good football team.”
The Bearcats ran down all but one second of the clock, trying not score down near the goal line. Cincinnati was cutting it close and then an errant snap on fourth down gave everyone a jolt, but was recovered by Ridder. The Knights got one play from their 8 that went nowhere.
No. 8 BYU 66, North Alabama14: Tyler Allgeier ran for a career-high 141 yards and two touchdowns and host BYU routed overmatched North Alabama (0-4) to improve to 9-0.
No. 13 Georgia 31, Mississippi
State 24: JT Daniels made quite a debut between the hedges, throwing for 401 yards and four touchdowns as Georgia (5-2, 5-2 SEC) held on to beat visiting Mississippi State (2-5, 2-5).
No 18 Oklahoma 41, No. 14 Oklahoma State 13: Spencer Rattler passed for 301 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score to help host Oklahoma (6-2, 5-2) beat Oklahoma State (5-2, 4-2) to boost its hopes of winning a sixth straight Big 12 championship.
No. 15 Coastal Carolina 34, Appalachian State 23: Reese White scored on a 3yard run with 2:24 to play and Coastal Carolina improved to 8-0 (6-0 Sun Belt Conference) with its first victory over Appalachian State (6-2, 4-1).
North Carolina State 14, No. 21 Liberty 14: North Carolina State (6-3) blocked Alex Barbir’s 39-yard field goal attempt with 1:18 left to beat visiting Liberty (8-1).