Cincinnati 27, South Florida 10: Bearcats Get Back On Track With Win Over Bulls

Cincinnati came into this game as heavy favorites, as the USF Bulls were 13-point underdogs if I remember correctly, and didn’t disappoint the bettors. The Bearcats played stiff defense against an offense with few playmakers to work with. South Florida was not only without B.J. Daniels but actually was forced to play their third string quarterback Matt Floyd yesterday. There was just something ‘off’ about their offense all night. The Bulls fumbled six (6!!) times last night, two of which were recovered by Cincinnati who turned one into immediate points on a 18 yard Brendon Kay touchdown run.

As a result of USF’s miscues the Bearcats were gifted short fields all game. Never was UC forced to start within their own 10 yardline and started six drives on their own 34 yardline or shorter. But it seemed like even with everything going in their favor Cincinnati’s offense looked as out of sorts as South Florida’s. The Bearcats scored four touchdowns but it seems like they could have poured on four more. Maybe it was Butch Jones and Mike Bajakian staying conservative against a lesser opponent or the players not converting opportunities (probably a little of both) but UC didn’t have the ‘step on their throat’ mentality that I would have liked to see. The game was never in doubt but Cincinnati played pretty lackadaisically. UC plays a much better UConn Huskies team on the road next week and will have to improve their focus to pull out another victory.