E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeZach Collaros threw for 480 yards and a score and ran for two more touchdowns, as fourth-ranked Cincinnati held on for a 47-45 win over Connecticut to stay undefeated.
Collaros started in place of Tony Pike, who is still recovering from surgery on his non-throwing arm, for the third straight game and kept the Cincinnati offense rolling.
He completed 29-of-37 passes and finished with 75 rushing yards on 13 carries for the Bearcats (9-0, 5-0 Big East), who totaled a school-record 711 yards of offense. Isaiah Pead ran for 67 yards and a pair of scores on 10 attempts, while Mardy Gilyard caught 12 passes for 172 yards.
Armon Binns ended with five catches for 108 yards and a score, while Jacob Ramsey ran for a team-high 91 yards for Cincinnati, which matched the 1951 team for the best start in school history.
"How was that? Was that exciting football? That is going to age me quickly," Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly said.
Jordan Todman powered Connecticut (4-5, 1-4) with 162 yards and four TDs on 26 carries, as the team finished with 462 total yards. Zach Frazer ended with 261 yards and a score on 19-of-32 completions, but the Huskies missed a potential game-tying two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter and fell to their third consecutive loss.
"It's just the same old story again, in terms of our five losses," UConn head coach Randy Edsall said. "We just got ourselves in a situation early on that wasn't good. This team is full of grit, determination, any adjective you want to use, but we just keep coming up short."
UConn trailed 40-24 after Jake Rogers connected on a 35-yard field goal nine seconds into the fourth quarter, but trimmed its lead by responding with a TD. Frazer had the big play -- a 52-yard pass to Kashif Moore -- to get the ball to the one-yard line, and Todman plunged into the end zone from there to make it a 40-32 game with a little more than 13 minutes left.
After the Bearcats went three-and-out, the Huskies started a long scoring drive at their own 38. They went the distance in 14 plays, eating up 6:42 of the clock in the process. Among the plays was a four-yard run by Todman on 4th-and-1 to keep the drive going.
Todman continued to carry UConn downfield, and he plowed into the end zone from two yards out on fourth down. The Huskies then went for the two-point conversion, but Frazer was sacked to keep it a 40-38 contest with 5:03 left.
But Cincinnati thwarted the comeback with a scoring drive of its own. Collaros completed four consecutive passes for 33 yards to get the ball across midfield, and Pead ended the march with a 14-yard run across the goal line. The score put the Bearcats up 47-38 with 1:52 on the clock.
"There was definitely a sense of urgency," Collaros said of the drive. "There was most of the second half. We really shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times in the third. The last drive, everybody cowboyed up and we did it."
Connecticut drove for a quick score, a nine-yard pass over the middle from Frazer to Marcus Easley, but Cincinnati recovered the onside kick to seal the victory.
Pead's one-yard TD run capped the opening drive of the game, an eight-play, 80-yard progression. UConn responded with an 11-play, 79-yard march that Todman ended with a six-yard run to make it a 7-7 game midway through the first.
Rogers connected on a 41-yarder on the Bearcats' ensuing drive, and they scored again on a drive that spanned the first two quarters. Collaros' four- yard run 48 seconds into the second frame made it a 17-7 game.
The teams then traded field goals, as Dave Teggart hit a 42-yarder for UConn and Rogers booted a 27-yarder for a 20-10 lead.
Gilyard fumbled on a punt return after the Huskies went three-and-out, but Cincinnati recovered and got another score -- this time a 41-yard Collaros pass to Binns.
Rogers connected on a 34-yarder with time running out to make it a 30-10 game at halftime.
Todman recorded a 46-yard TD run with just under 10 minutes left in the third quarter, but the Bearcats responded with another touchdown, a 28-yard run from Collaros.
Cincinnati was forced to punt later in the stanza, but Robert McClain returned it 87 yards for a score to make it a 37-24 game going to the fourth.
Game Notes
What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
- Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
- Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
- Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
- Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
- Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
- Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
- Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
- Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.