Going into Saturday, if you would have told me Cincinnati would only score 14 points against Temple I would have assumed it had lost the game, and probably in the same fashion it lost to Memphis earlier this season (41-14). Instead, the Bearcats came away with a road win over the Owls, 14-6, and in the process extended their win streak to six games and kept their AAC championship hopes alive.
At this point in the season, getting the victory was the only objective for Tommy Tuberville, regardless of how it looked. The Bearcats aren’t in a position to need “style points,” and clearly a share of the conference crown is the team’s priority.
“We put ourselves in position to go home and play for a conference championship, which is what we set out to do at the beginning of the year,” said Tuberville.
One other positive from Saturday’s win over Temple is that Cincinnati proved it can win ugly. Before this game, the lowest point total the Bearcats had in a victory this season was 31 against Miami (OH) way back in Week 2, and they had averaged 41.6 points per game in conference wins heading into the match-up with Temple.
But against the Owls the Bearcats won with defense, and that is something I never thought I would say after writing about this unit as being one of the worst in the FBS after getting eviscerated in three straight games by Ohio State, Memphis and Miami (FL). And on a day when Temple’s defense held UC’s offense to 14 points and only 255 yards, it was a much needed performance.
“The Bad News Bearcats” defense suffocated Temple’s offense by keeping quarterback P.J. Walker in the pocket and limiting his play-making ability. Walker was sacked three times and fumbled once. The Owls managed only 267 yards of total offense and six points, which was their lowest point total of the season. Cincinnati was especially good on third downs and in the red zone, as Temple went 4-of-16 for a 25 pecrent third down conversion rate and was held to three field goal attempts, missing one of them.
The Bearcats= defense has not allowed a touchdown in two games now.
The defensive line played extremely well, which freed up Cincinnati’s linebackers to make big plays throughout the game. The two standouts in this one were senior linebackers Nick Temple and Jeff Luc. Temple amassed 13 tackles and two sacks, while Luc totaled seven tackles and a forced a fumble on a sack of Walker that set up the Bearcats first touchdown as it was recovered by Leviticus Payne on Temple’s three yard-line.
“That’s the kind of win I like. That brings back the old days, defensive football on both sides,” said Tuberville.
Since there isn’t tie-breaker to decide the conference title, Cincinnati can win a share of the AAC championship with a win at home against Houston next week, who is coming off a road win against SMU. Memphis has already guaranteed itself a share of the title after a solid beat down of UConn, 41-10 on Saturday, as it is idle this week. UCF can also grab a piece of the conference crown with a win on the road at ECU this week.
It looks as if the preseason AAC favorites are right where everyone thought they would be, but the road to get there has been anything but predictable.
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