No. 21 South Florida Falls to No. 8 Cincinnati 34-17

NFL News - October 16th, 2009 - Written by Scott

Despite losing starting quarterback Tony Pike in the third quarter, No. 8 Cincinnati rallied behind backup Zach Collaros and dominated the second half as the Bearcats went on to defeat No. 21 South Florida 34-17 to remain undefeated.  Pike left the game in the third quarter after injuring his non-throwing arm, the same arm that he injured last year.  The Bearcats were ahead of the South Florida Bulls when he left the game, but Collaros came in and performed brilliantly to seal the win for Cincinnati.  Coach Brian Kelly stated that Pike will miss their next game against Louisville, but did not comment on the extent of the injury. 

The Cincinnati Bearcats got on the board early in the first quarter on a 37 yard field goal from Jake Rogers.  South Florida would answer and claim their only lead of the game when quarterback B.J. Daniels connected with Jessie Hester on a 28 yard touchdown pass to put the Bulls ahead 7-3.  Cincinnati responded with 2 touchdowns in the second quarter as Pike found Armon Binns with touchdown passes from 3 and 8 yards out to give the Bearcats a 17-7 lead.  The Bulls would get a field goal from Eric Schwartz as time expired in the first half to bring South Florida within 7 heading into halftime.

Cincinnati, who had 401 total yards on the night, found themselves in a dog fight to start the second half.  After Pike left the game with his injury, Collaros would come in and make an immediate impact on the Bearcats offense.  Collaros broke open on a 75 yard touchdown run to put Cincinnati ahead 24-17.  The Bulls would answer with a 1 yard touchdown run from Daniels to bring South Florida within a touchdown once again.  It did not take long for the Bearcats to regain their 14 point lead, as Collaros scored on his second touchdown run from 3 yards out, capping a 70 yard scoring drive.  Rogers would add his second field goal of the night to seal the Bearcats win.

Collaros finished the game with a team high 132 yards rushing.  He showed his composure and his head coach could not be more proud of the way he came in and did what he needed to do. 

"He's a gamer. He's a competitive kid," Kelly said. "He's athletic, and we did what we had to do with him in the game, and that was obviously run him, control clock, play good defense and get out of here with a win."

Daniels finished the game with 208 yards passing and 1 touchdown for the Bulls.  He also added a team high 74 yards rushing, but had two costly interceptions.  South Florida (5-1) will look to regroup as they play at Pittsburgh next weekend and keep their conference title hopes alive. 

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