From start to finish the Cincinnati Bearcats controlled the game against Notre Dame, leading 17-0 at halftime before ultimately winning the game 24-13. As long as the Bearcats can close out their season without a loss, they should have a realistic chance of making this years College Football Playoff.
The Opening Drive
Jack Coan and the Notre Dame offense had the ball first, and put together a nice drive to start the game. Unfortunately for the Fighting Irish, on 2nd & goal from the 6 yard line, Coan threw a terrible pass resulting in an interception that ended the drive.
That was as close as Notre Dame would come to scoring any points during the first half of this game.
Fighting Irish First Half: 5 Punts, 2 INTs, 1 Fumble
The Cincinnati Bearcats defense and special teams could not have scripted things better than how they actually went on Saturday. The defense was able to bend but not break as they capitalized on and intercepted a bad pass by Jack Coan in the red zone.
The Bearcats defense then forced back to back punts by the Irish before intercepting a pass from Notre Dame QB Tyler Buchner, who entered the game on his team’s fourth offensive drive of the game. Jack Coan re-entered the game and led the Irish Offense to 44 yards gained on the next three drives, all of which ended in punts.
The Bearcats special teams joined the party when Notre Dame return man Chris Tyree fumbled the kickoff that came after Cincinnati scored the games first touchdown, and the Bearcats recovered.
Irish Finally Score Following Ridder Fumble
The Notre Dame offense was finally able to break through at put points on the board after their defense was able to recover a fumble by Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder.
Too Little Too Late, Bearcats Put Game Away
Despite the Irish finally finding the end zone, it was a case of too little too late. They were able to make things a bit more interesting when Cincinnati missed a field goal and Notre Dame scored again to make it 17-13, but subsequently missed the extra point. The Bearcats immediately drove down field for another touchdown to seal the victory.
Bearcats Fans Travel Well
If we learned anything about the Cincinnati Bearcats’ fans yesterday, it was the fact that they travel well for big games. In fairness, it is approximately only a four hour drive between Cincinnati and South Bend so the fans didn’t have a long way to go. Regardless, they were present and they were loud.