Final Huddle: Bearcats Capture AAC Title 35-20 Over Houston

Cincinnati may have just punched a ticket to the College Football Playoff.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Dec 4, 2021 9:26 PM EST

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats football team is 13-0.

Never in history was that statement true, until UC's 35-20 AAC Championship victory over No. 21 Houston. The Bearcats used a furious offensive stretch coming out of halftime to secure a big lead, and the front seven tanks started firing on the other side.

The Cougars proved a worthy opponent for much of the game but couldn't find anyone on offense to make a play besides wide receiver Nathaniel Dell.

Here's the Final Huddle from the biggest night in Bearcats Football history.

'Blackcats' Ball Out

Going into Halftime, Cincinnati needed a turnaround performance from their defense, and they got it. Senior linebacker Joel Dublanko spied quarterback Clayton Tune for much of the second half after he slithered for scrambles, proving to be the right fix.

The Bearcats finished with eight total sacks, as Dublanko led the way in his spy role with two. Eight different players recorded at least a half-sack in the game. It was evidence of just how hard UC smacked Houston in the mouth coming out of the halftime locker room.

Tune—who led the conference in season completion rate (69%)—passed for 250 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception on 26 attempts. The Cougars dropped back roughly 40 times, but the quarterback faced blanketed coverage on most of those plays. He ran 23 times for 21 net rushing yards.

It took a broken play on a Dell screen pass to give Houston their chance to hit 20 points. Great teams adjust mid-game, and Cincinnati did just that after Houston scored on its first three possessions.

Ford Flies at Nippert

Jerome Ford nearly became the fourth Bearcat ever to rush for 200-plus yards in a single game during his dominant performance on Saturday night.

The junior tallied 187 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries against Houston. He was just two yards shy of his career-high set in October against UCF (189 yards, four touchdowns).

Ford showed his big-play ability throughout the contest—capturing his fourth career 75-plus yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Ford ran with purpose and great vision while his offensive line opened up big holes all afternoon. The entire team helped spark a great ground attack like they have all season. At one point in the second half, wide receiver Alec Pierce got into a small scuffle with a Houston corner because he blocked the Cougar so well into out-of-bounds territory.

Cincinnati entered the game ranked sixth nationally in rushing EPA/play, and they showed why against a Houston team that was ranked 12th on the defensive side of that metric.

Dell Digs Deep

Dell was the entire Cougars offense on Saturday night, totaling nine catches for 152 yards and one touchdown. The 5-foot-10 slot receiver displayed innate shiftiness, and he put up a rare performance against one of the best coverage units in the nation.

Over the past two years, Cincinnati hasn't allowed any player to post 150-plus receiving yards. Dell is the first player to gash the Bearcats like this since Memphis's Damonte Coxie tallied 165 receiving yards in 2019.

Mike Tressel's unit normally doesn't allow performances like this and the program as a whole has allowed just four 150-plus yard receiving outings since 2017. Dell did a lot of his damage after the catch, evidenced by this third-down conversion that kept Houston's hopes alive in the fourth quarter.

Dell is one of the best receivers Cincinnati faced in AAC play, and the competition only gets tougher as they turn the sights toward the College Football Playoff.

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