Cincinnati holds on to edge SMU
Ryan Coe kicked a school-record five field goals, including a season-long 52-yarder, and No. 21 Cincinnati broke up a game-tying two-point play in the closing minutes to hold on for a 29-27 win over SMU on Saturday for its sixth consecutive win.
Charles McClelland and Ryan Montgomery scored on runs of 76 yards and 1 yard for the Bearcats (6-1, 3-0 American), who won their 19th in a row against American Athletic Conference opponents. Tyler Lavine scored on a 1-yard plunge with 1:57 left to pull SMU (3-4, 1-2) within two, but Preston Stone’s 2-point conversion pass intended for Roderick Daniels Jr. in the near corner of the end zone was incomplete.
Three of the Bearcats’ 14 penalties came on SMU’s last scoring drive, one that negated an interception.
On Cincinnati’s subsequent drive, quarterback Ben Bryant — who sustained
a concussion in the fourth quarter of last week’s win against USF — completed a nine-yard pass on third-and-8 to allow the Bearcats to maintain possession for the balance of the game.
“In the gotta-have-it situations, we made the plays, both defensively and offensively,” Bearcats coach Luke Fickell said.
“It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t perfect, but ultimately it was good enough to get the job done,” Cincinnati linebacker Wilson Huber said.
Stone, a redshirt freshman, replaced starter Tanner Mordecai, who left the game and the field late in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury.
“You prepare for a moment like this,” Stone said. “Felt like I was going out to play little league.”
Coe’s 52-yarder came with a stiff wind at his back, and his other field goals were from 44, 31, 30 and 25 yards. He’s in his first season at Cincinnati after kicking for Delaware, where he hit from 53 yards. Coe had a 45-yard attempt blocked in the fourth quarter.
“I think I’ve shown enough confidence in practice for them to send me out, and it came to fruition today,” Coe said.
Fant’s big game powers Tennessee past UT Martin: This day in Princeton Fant’s career at Tennessee was a long time coming.
The 6-foot-2, 245-pound redshirt senior came to Rocky Top as a running back with a strong arm. He grew into a tight end.
Fant ran for two touchdowns and lofted a 66-yard scoring pass to Jalin Hyatt on Saturday to lead the No. 3 Volunteers to a 65-24 win over FCS No. 14 UT Martin.
Tennessee (7-0) used the win over the Skyhawks to prepare for upcoming Southeastern Conference battles with Kentucky and Georgia.
“I thought our guys prepared the right way this week,” said Tennessee coach Josh Heupel. “You’ve gotta be a consistent competitor.”
Besides running for scores of 1 and 11 yards, Fant took a lateral from Joe Milton and hit Jalin Hyatt for a 66-yard TD to give the Vols their 52-7 halftime lead. Fant also dropped a wide-open pass that would have been a touchdown.
Reese propels Baylor over Kansas: True freshman Richard Reese ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns, including a late game-clincher as the Bears held on to beat Kansas 35-23 on Saturday for their first victory in nearly a month.
Baylor (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the game matching former Top 25 teams that had both lost their previous two games, and led 28-3 at halftime.
“The mindset was start fast,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda. “That’s kind of a glimpse of who we can be, and we’re still just scratching and clawing and fighting to be there . ... It’s elusive though”
Because the Jayhawks (5-3, 2-3) got within 28-23 when quarterback Jason Bean scrambled 4 yards for a touchdown with 6 ½ minutes left. That ended a 93-yard drive after Baylor was stopped on fourth-and-1, and included completions of 29 and 47 yards by Bean.
Rutgers defeats Indiana, snaps Big Ten home losing streak: Rutgers changed its offensive coordinator, finding a new identity, and breathing hope into a season that was headed off track.
Samuel Brown V had a career-high 101 yards rushing and a touchdown and Noah Vedral threw for 113 yards and a touchdown as Rutgers rallied past Indiana 24-17 on Saturday.
It was good enough to snap a 21-game conference home losing streak for Rutgers (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten). The last conference home win was against Maryland in 2017. It was the longest home conference game losing streak in Big Ten history.
Rhode Island goes seven overtimes to defeat Monmouth: Marques DeShields had 234 yards of total offense with four touchdowns and Rhode Island made the only conversion in the seventh overtime, defeating Monmouth 48-46 on Saturday.
Rhode Island stopped a 2-point pass in the seventh overtime, then Ed Lee caught a pass from Kasim Hill to win it for the Rams.