Cincinnati 34, UConn 17: Bearcats Win 4th Big East Championship

The Bearcats have won their 4th Big East championship in the last 5 seasons. It’s really quite remarkable how Cincinnati year after year overcomes the losses of important seniors as well as the critics who compile preseason polls based off of sheer guesses. Maybe it’s not a coincidence. Maybe the Bearcats really do possess a consistently powerful football program.

Who knew.

It seems that UC football has grown to the point where the no longer rebuild in the offseason, but reload. This can be attributed to the steadily improving recruiting at Cincinnati as well as the continuous leadership of the seniors. And it was those seniors that paved the way to a UC victory tonight.

On the opening drive of the game Brendon Kay marched the Bearcats right down the field and set the tone with a beautiful touchdown pass to Travis Kelce. The tight end returned the favor in the second quarter with a touchdown pass of his own, to the Cincinnati quarterback. It was masterful feat of trickeration that was a vintage play from offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian. See for yourself:

Two touchdowns was more than enough for the Bearcats to secure a victory. The Cincinnati defense was aggressive from the beginning of the game and took their foot of the pedal in the 2nd half, letting UConn’s receivers run free, but they made enough big plays to offset the holes in the zone coverage. Chris Williams, Drew Frey, and Deven Drane to quell any threat by the the Huskies’ passing game. The run defense was surprisingly stout. After being gashed by Rutgers and South Florida the past two weeks, Cincinnati’s defensive front allowed just 36 yards on the ground. It was an impressive performance for a group that had to deal with more turnover than any unit on the team.