CINCINNATI -- It would have been hard before Saturday night's 119th game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Miami RedHawks to envision the scenario that was unfolding midway through the fourth quarter. It had been nine years since UC lost the Victory Bell to its rival, and this wasn't supposed to be the year that changed. Miami was owners of 19 losses in a row, including a home defeat at the hands of FCS member Eastern Kentucky this season.
Yet there were the RedHawks, trailing 31-24, with a first-and-goal at the UC 1-yard line and less than eight minutes left on the fourth quarter clock at Paul Brown Stadium.
There were a lot of stats that showed how well Miami played in this game. The RedHawks had the ball for more than 31 minutes. They gained 364 yards and they converted eight of the 15 third-down chances they had, plus a fourth down play. There were plenty of mistakes by UC defensively, most of them in the form of missed tackles, but when the Bearcats needed to come up with plays they did.
Facing that first-and-goal situation, they came up with three plays in a row to preserve their ninth straight win against Miami and head into next Saturday's matchup at Ohio State 2-0.
It wasn't the style of win that was expected but you won't find anyone complaining on the UC side.
"That's the worst place to be, first-and-goal, your back is against the wall and if they score it's a different ball game," said senior middle linebacker Jeff Luc.
Luc led UC with 18 tackles. He was credited with 1½ of the eight sacks UC had of Miami quarterback Andrew Hendrix. He had 2½ tackles for loss and, while the official stats didn't credit Luc with forcing a fumble by Miami's Dawan Scott late in the first half it was indeed Luc who ripped the ball from Scott's hands. It was a turnover that led to a Gunner Kiel 7-yard touchdown pass to Mekale McKay and a 24-14 UC lead.
But Luc pointed to one play by teammate Leviticus Payne as the most important of the game. The cornerback blitzed and dropped Hendrix for a loss of nine yards on third-and-goal. Payne came clean and didn't miss Hendrix. Miami missed the subsequent field goal and the UC offense ran out the final 5:40 of the clock.
"That changed the whole game," said Luc. "I had 18 tackles but that play was bigger than my 18 tackles."
UC's defense was in a bending mode all night. Miami had a short field on its opening possession and took advantage of it with a six-play, 48-yard touchdown drive. The RedHawks had a 14-7 lead after running back Paul Moses broke four tackles on a third-and-1 play and rushed for an 18-yard touchdown three plays into the second quarter.
That became the first moment for the Bearcat defenders to find themselves. The RedHawks had the ball for just five more plays the rest of the half -- not counting a final kneel down -- and gained just seven more yards on two possessions as UC scored 17 straight points to end the half.
After Hendrix connected with senior wide receiver David Frazier for a third-down conversion pass that missed tackles turned into a 74-yard touchdown three plays into the third quarter, the Bearcats again found some resolve. They limited Miami to just three points the rest of the game. Miami twice had starting position inside UC territory -- at the UC 20 following cornerback Quinten Rollins' second interception of Gunner Kiel and then at the UC 43 following a short punt -- but they got nothing out of either drive.
"We don't like that they got what they got but we'll build off of this," said sophomore safety Zach Edwards, who intercepted a Hendrix pass to negate the second Rollins pick of Kiel.
"I was eying (Hendrix) but it was more the d-line with the pressure," said Edwards. "They gave him the opportunity to throw a bad ball, which gave me the opportunity to intercept it."
Hendrix finished the game 13-of-26 for 262 yards, two touchdowns and the one interception. UC, as it did in the opener against Toledo, gave up too many big plays for the liking of head coach Tommy Tuberville. But for the second game in a row, it found a way to come up with enough plays on defense when it needed to the most.
"I'm proud of our defense the way it held up right there at the end," said Tuberville. "We found a way to win the game."
