MEMPHIS - Brendon Kay threw for 321 yards and a touchdown, Cincinnati held Memphis to 232 yards of offense, and the Bearcats beat the Tigers 34-21 on Wednesday night.
Kay was 27 of 35 to help Cincinnati (6-2, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) win its third consecutive game. Anthony McClung finished with 98 yards receiving and a touchdown, and Shaq Washington had 11 catches for 96 yards.
Tion Green scored two touchdowns, the final one from 3 yards with 1:26 remaining. Jordan Luallen and Ralph David Abernathy each had a rushing touchdown for the Bearcats.
Memphis’ Patrick Lynch completed 17 of 33 passes for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the Tigers (1-6, 0-4) struggled on offense at key times.
Memphis’ offense struggled throughout the game primarily because of the receivers’ inability to catch the ball. Lynch’s passing totals could have been much better, but receivers dropped at least a handful of passes, thwarting Memphis’ opportunities.
One pass that wasn’t dropped was an interception of Lynch by Cincinnati’s Deven Drane at the Memphis 25 with just under 9 minutes left. The Bearcats converted the turnover into a 24-yard scoring pass from Kay to Mc-Clung for a 27-14 lead with 7:23 remaining
That was an important touchdown because Memphis put together a 75-yard drive and cut the lead to 27-21 when Brandon Hayes scored on a circuitous 31-yard run, ending with a dive from the 3 to the pylon.
That was as close as Memphis could get as the final Cincinnati drive covered 61 yards and took almost 4 minutes late in the game.
The teams traded early touchdowns with the Tigers benefiting from a short punt that led to a 7-yard scoring pass from Lynch to Tevin Jones.
Cincinnati answered on a 13-yard run by Luallen, a fullback who was running out of a Wildcat formation. Part of the reason for Luallen being in that position was that Kay was on the sidelines recovering from a blow to the midsection two plays earlier.
Cincinnati took a 14-7 lead into halftime, capitalizing on a Memphis fumble in Tigers territory. Memphis running back Marquis Warford gained 2 yards but fumbled. Cincinnati’s Zach Edwards recovered at the Memphis 19.
On the next play, Abernathy scored on a run up the middle.
The Bearcats missed another opportunity when a 44-yard field-goal attempt by Tony Miliano was wide left in the final minute of the half.
Cincinnati allowed Memphis just 58 yards of offense in the first half, including 12 in the second quarter. Of those 12, only 1 was on the ground.
Sports, Pages 24 on 10/31/2013