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The lone highlight of the third quarter was a 14-yard touchdown catch by Cincinnati's D.J. Woods -- followed immediately by a helmet-removing, head-bouncing hit on Woods, after which he somehow managed to hold onto the ball. Woods was examined on the field by trainers and walked off under his own power.
Not so lucky is Louisville's starting CB Johnny Patrick, headed to the locker room with an undisclosed injury.
At the end of the third quarter, Cincy leads, 28-24.
Scoring slowed down a touch in the second quarter of Louisville-Cincinnati. A Cards field goal was followed by an incompletion-riddled three-and-out from the Bearcats. Louisville responded with a five-minute drive culminating in another Powell touchdown run.
Collaros found his footing soon enough, completing a 25-yard pass down the left and a 31-yard touchdown pass, both to Armon Binns.
At the half, Louisville leads Cincinnati, 24-21.
Louisville certainly isn't the team we would have picked to have a better record heading into Keg of Nails week, but here we are, and they're matching the Bearcats stride for stride.
Cincinnati struck first, with a 47-yard Zach Collaros TD pass to D.J. Woods two minutes into the game, following a Cards three-and-out. From there, the teams traded a pair of scoring strikes, one from Adam Froman and another from Collaros. Louisville's Bilal Powell ripped off an 85-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14-all with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter.
SB Nation's Cincinnati bloggers, relegated to the Friday-night wasteland of a Joe Tessitore-Rod Gilmore broadcast, are coping with the imminent pain and indignity the best way they know how: Tessitore drinking game!
Tessitore misses a a down and distance spot - One Drink
Tessitore mispronounces a players Surname - One Drink
Tessitore gives a player the wrong first name example; Zach Collaros will magically become Tim Collaros - Two Drinks
Tessitore gives the wrong name for any duplicate number, example; When Maalik Bomar makes a tackle he will say that Munchie Legaux did - Two Drinks
Tessitore gives credit for a play to a player currently standing on the sidelines - Two Drinks
For entertainment purposes only. Please enjoy Joe Tessitore responsibly.
SB Nation's Card Chronicles opens up the blog to former Louisville kicker Art Carmody and takes a look back at the Keg of Nails series (with bonus product placement facial!):
In our locker room there were different corners based on the layout of the room. There was "the neighborhood," which consisted of locker #'s 1-12, and "the corner," which consisted of locker #'s 13-24. I don't know who came up with the names.
On Wednesday morning it started with "the neighborhood" tossing little pieces of rolled up tape over the lockers trying to hit someone in "the corner." You would never know who threw what because everyone would deny it. It was like a game of Battleship. As the day went on, it went from pieces of tape, to cups, to towels, to Gatorade bottles, to whatever. It was all in good fun and we cleaned up everything so the whole team wouldn't get in trouble. Since it was during the holidays, by NCAA rules the team has to provide every player with a meal for each day there is no class. Naturally, we had Papa John's pizza. Well now the neighborhood now had the ammunition they needed. I had just finished taking a shower and was getting ready to get dressed when all of the sudden out of nowhere three pieces of pizza stuck together crushed me in the face. It was a direct hit. I had cheese and pizza sauce all in my hair and face. I now had to go take another shower. I had no proof of who threw it but I am pretty sure it was Antoine Sharp. Antoine, with a slight smile on his face, still denies it to this day.
(Sports Network) Big East play begins for a pair of teams this Friday, as the Cincinnati Bearcats face off with the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
The Bearcats are coming off their most impressive performance of the campaign, a 45-3 trouncing of rival Miami-Ohio this past weekend. It marked the first win over a FBS program this season for Cincinnati, which took down Indiana State for its only other victory. At just 2-3, the Bearcats obviously had a rough non-conference campaign, but they hope to turn things around in the Big East, where they are the defending champions.
The Cardinals meanwhile, showed they are a much improved team during their non-league schedule, winning three games and losing two by just seven points each. The team enters the tilt fresh off its most convincing win of the season, a 56-0 blanking of Memphis last weekend. It marked the first shutout for Louisville since a 62-0 triumph of Temple back in 2006.
In regard to the all-time series, Cincinnati holds a 27-21-1 lead over Louisville and that includes a 41-10 victory in last season's meeting.
The Bearcats had everything working for them this past weekend, throwing for 225 yards and rushing for an impressive 384 yards in a rout of Miami-Oh. Isaiah Pead had himself a game, rushing for 197 yards on 10 carries, including an 80-yard TD run. Pead, who missed most of two games because of a knee injury, rushed for 169 yards against Oklahoma in the team's prior game and he has really ignited the ground attack since his return. QB Zach Collaros can also be dangerous with his legs, but against Miami-OH, he used his arm to complete an efficient 14-of-17 tosses for 216 yards and three TDs. It was another strong performance for Collaros, who has converted 63.2 percent of his pass attempts, with 12 TDs against just one INT for the season. DJ Woods and Armon Binns provide Collaros with some nice weapons in the passing game and they have combined for 53 catches, 839 receiving yards and eight scores. Last weekend, Binns stole the spotlight, as he grabbed five balls for 115 yards and a pair of TDs.
On defense is where the Bearcats have had some issues, but last weekend the unit stepped up and held Miami-OH to just 269 total yards. The group was especially strong versus the run, limiting Miami-Oh to just 42 yards on 25 carries. Unfortunately, the pass defense wasn't nearly as stout, surrendering 227 yards. That has been the case all season long for the Bearcats, who are giving up 267.6 ypg through the air compared to just 84.8 ypg on the ground. Creating turnovers has also been in issue, as Cincinnati has logged just five takeaways thus far. JK Schaffer has been the unit's most consistent player and he leads the team with 49 stops, including four last weekend.
The Cardinals had their way with Memphis over the weekend, as they ran for 299 yards and threw for 275 more in a lopsided victory. Louisville averaged 10.2 yards per play, as the offense, which is managing 461.4 total ypg for the season, showed off its firepower. Bilal Powell led the charge with 204 yards and a pair of TDs on just 18 carries. It was an electric performance from Powell, who has now rushed for 689 yards and seven scores. He is averaging 7.6 yards per carry for a ground game that is churning out a healthy 218.9 ypg. Adam Froman also enjoyed his finest effort of the season last weekend, as he tossed four first-half TDs while finishing with 235 yards on 12-of-16 pass attempts. He had just five passing TDs through the first four games, so hopefully last weekend's performance will give him a boost heading into the Big East season.
Louisville posted its first shutout in four years, so obviously the defense was dominant in the win over Memphis last weekend. The Cardinals surrendered just 223 total yards and that includes only 39 rushing on 34 carries. It was certainly a nice improvement for the run defense, which has been abused at times and is permitting 147.6 ypg for the season. The Cardinals brought down the Memphis' QBs five times and the defense continues to shine in this area with 18 sacks for the season. Darius Ashley led the way with 6.5 tackles and his first two sacks of the campaign. Rodney Gnat got into the mix with a sack of his own and he has been the team's top pass rusher with 6.5 sacks on the campaign.
Both teams are coming off impressive performances, as each built up some confidence heading into Big East play. The Bearcats are a bit more potent on offense and their stout run defense should give the Cardinals all sorts of problems, so expect them to come away with the victory.
Collaros Throws Career-Best Five TDs As Cincinati Defeats Louisville, 35-27
Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Zach Collaros threw three of his career-high five touchdown passes to Armon Binns, as the Cincinnati Bearcats took down the Louisville Cardinals, 35-27, in Big East action from Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Collaros completed 18-of-28 passes for 275 yards and two interceptions for the Bearcats (3-3, 1-0 Big East), who have now won 13 straight conference games. Binns caught eight passes for 175 yards.
D.J. Woods hauled in two touchdown passes totaling 61 yards, and Isaiah Pead carried the ball 21 times for 145 yards for Cincinnati, which has won three consecutive games against Louisville.
Adam Froman connected on 18-of-27 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown for the Cardinals (3-3, 0-1), who were trying for their first three-game winning streak since the 2008 season.
Bilal Powell carried the ball 24 times for a career-high 209 yards and two touchdowns.
Trailing 24-21, Cincinnati put together a 14-play, 77-yard drive on its second possession of the third quarter. The Bearcats converted on three third downs during the march that lasted over six minutes. Woods capped the series with a 14-yard catch in the middle of the end zone for a 28-24 lead with 2:51 to go.
Collaros was intercepted by Darius Ashley on the first play of the fourth. Louisville cut the gap to 28-27 with Chris Philpott's 37-yard field goal.
Cincinnati responded with a five-play, 74-yard drive. Faced with a 3rd-and-9, Collaros and Binns hooked up on a 62-yard score to make it a 35-27 contest with over nine minutes to play.
The Cardinals marched the ball down to the Cincinnati eight-yard line. Two incomplete passes and a four-yard loss on a run by Powell set up a 4th-and- goal from the 12. Froman's pass to Josh Bellamy was broken up by Camerron Cheatham.
The Bearcats scored on their first offensive play to get a high-scoring first quarter started. Collaros rolled to his right and threw a 47-yard TD pass to Woods.
Philpott missed a 40-yard field goal on the ensuing Louisville possession, but Greg Scruggs' interception gave the Cardinals' offense the ball back. Josh Chichester made it a 7-7 game with an 11-yard touchdown catch.
Cincinnati responded with a nine-play drive that Binns capped with a 10- yard score for a 14-7 lead. However, Powell's sensational 85-yard touchdown run quickly tied things up again with 1:20 left in the first.
Louisville bridged the first and second frames with a seven-play drive, which Philpott capped with a 26-yard field goal for a 17-14 margin. The Cardinals built a 10-point lead with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that featured a trio of third-down conversions. Powell ended the march with a nine-yard TD run to make it 24-14 with 5:33 to go until half.
Binns' 31-yard touchdown catch with 3:46 remaining made it a 24-21 game at the break.
Philpott missed a 40-yard field goal early in the third quarter.
Oct 16 12:27a by Rich Ramus - 0 comments