2018 CINCINNATI BEARCATS FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES

CINCINNATI 21, MIAMI (OH) 0 SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 | 8:05 PM | CINCINNATI, OH | PAUL BROWN STADIUM ATTENDANCE: 16,062

SERIES INFORMATION • Tonight’s game was the 123rd meeting in the Battle for the Victory Bell and, with the Bearcats’ win cutting into Miami’s all-time series lead as the RedHawks now lead, 59-57-7. The Bearcats have now won 13 in a row in the series with the RedHawks with the last loss in the series coming in 2005, a 44-16 win for host Miami in Oxford • The last time the Bearcats posted a shutout the series came in 2013 when they won, 14-0, in Oxford. • Tonight’s game marked the second time Paul Brown Stadium has hosted the series with UC winning the previous game in 2014, 31-24, when Nippert Stadium was undergoing renovations. This is the first time UC has been the visiting team at Paul Brown Stadium as well.

CAPTAINS/COIN TOSS • Cincinnati Captains: #8 QB Hayden Moore, #44 DT Marquise Copeland, #72 OL Garrett Campbell, #96 DT Cortez Broughton • Coin Toss: Cincinnati won and deferred; Miami received; Cincinnati to defend the south end zone

TEAM NOTES • The Bearcats have opened a season with back-to-back road games 12 times previously with the 2-0 start to the 2018 campaign marking just the second time UC has won both. The last time it happened came in 1898 when UC posted a 12-0 win at Ohio before blanking host Miami, 22-0. The last time UC opened a season with back-to-back road games was in 1991 when it lost at #5 Penn State and at North Carolina. • The Bearcats held the RedHawks off the scoreboard for the entire game, marking the first shutout victory for UC since 2014 when it defeated Temple, 14-0, in Philadelphia. Couple that with not allowing points to UCLA in both the second and fourth quarters last week and the UC defense has now posted six scoreless quarters of play. Last year, the Bearcats held a foe scoreless in just five quarters with only one game – hosting Austin Peay – seeing the defense shutout a foe in two quarters. • Cincinnati was 3-of-3 on red zone chances in the game and are now 7-of-7 on the year after scoring on all four chances last week in the win at UCLA. • After UCLA opened last week’s game with a 10-0 lead, the Bearcats defense has responded by allowing just seven points of the next seven quarters, including the shutout of MU tonight. For the season, UC is now outscoring its foes, 47-17.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES • First Starts: #14 CB Cam Jefferies earned his first career start with UC after starting seven games last year at Bowling Green while #9 QB Desmond Ridder and #26 WR Jerron Rollins both earned their first collegiate starts on the offensive side of the ball. • Ridder broke off a 39-yard run on the second drive of the first quarter, a play that eventually led to #3 RB Michael Warren II rushing two yards for his fourth touchdown of the year. Ridder’s rush surpassed his career-long of 32 yards (at UCLA, 9/1/18). • Ridder’s 39 yard scamper was the third of the year for UC for plays over 30 yards with Ridder recording two of those plays. Last year, the Bearcats recorded 19 plays of 30 yards or more with five coming on the ground. • With 3:21 remaining in the game, Ridder recorded his first career touchdown pass, hitting a wide open TE Josiah Deguara over the middle for a 9-yard strike. The touchdown grab also was the first Deguara’s career on his 21st career reception. • Ridder finished the game with 100 yards rushing on 18 attempts, both of which are career highs. His rushing total also makes him the first Bearcats quarterback since Munchie Legaux to hit the century mark on the ground after Legaux recorded 117 yards against Pittsburgh on September 6, 2012, six years and two days prior to Ridder’s feat. Ridder’s first career start saw him finish 6-of-11 through the air for 45 yards and one touchdown while accounting for 145 yards of total offense when adding his rushing. • Warren’s touchdown at the 5:37 mark of the first quarter was his fourth score of the season. Last year, UC did not record its fourth rushing score of the season until the 9:04 mark of the third quarter in a game against Marshall, the fifth game of the year. • Warren now has five rushing touchdowns on the year after adding two to his total tonight. Entering the season, he had scored only one rushing touchdown in his UC career and now has back-to-back games with multiple scores on the ground. Warren finished the game with 91 yards on 29 carries. • Late in the first quarter, Broughton recorded his second tackle-for-loss of the game, bringing his season total to 5.5 already. That total already eclipsed his best season total when he recorded 5.0 in 2016. Early in the second quarter, Broughton forced a fumble that MU recovered, marking the first force of his career. Broughton finished the game with five tackles, including 2.0 TFL, one quarterback hurry, one forced fumble and one pass breakup. • Entering the game, CB Tyrel Gilbert had four career pass breakups and nearly doubled that total in the first half as he had three on RedHawks wide receivers. Gilbert added a pair of solo tackles in the game as well. • S Darrick Forrest recorded his first interception and returned it 23 yards to the Miami 1 early in the fourth quarter, setting up Warren’s second rushing touchdown of the game. On the defensive play, CB Coby Bryant got his hand on the ball to deflect it from the receiver with LB Bryan Wright getting his hand on it to keep the ball in the air where Forrest snagged it and nearly found the end zone, being tackled just short. • RB Tavion Thomas recorded his first career carry in the third quarter, toting the ball for three yards and a Bearcats first down. It was his lone rush in the contest. • P James Smith punted eight times in the game, totaling 368 yards for an average of 46.0 per kick. His long of the night measured 63 yards and was his second kick of 50+ yards on the night after he also hit a 50-yarder in the third quarter. With those two 50+ yard boots, he raised his total to 12 on the year with his 63-yard punt standing as his longest this year and third-longest of his career behind a 65-yard kick at ECU and a 64-yard punt against Austin Peay. Smith also dropped three of his punts inside the 20.

NEXT UP • UC will welcome Alabama A&M to Nippert Stadium Saturday as the Bearcats will play their first home game of the 2018 campaign. The game is scheduled to kick at 7 p.m. with ESPN3 broadcasting the game live online and both 102.7 WEBN FM and 700 WLW AM carrying the game on radio.