Cincinnati falls to Texas Tech, 44-41

Missed opportunities.

That will be the overwhelming theme of Cincinnati's 44-41 loss at Texas Tech Saturday night.

After losing both Corey Kiner and back-up running back Evan Pryor to injuries, Brendan Sorsby completed 31-of-45 passing attempts for 426 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for 52 yards on 12 carries. 

(Photo: Heartland College Sports)

The Bearcats raced out to a 14-3 lead with 4:59 remaining in the first quarter, but Tech outscored UC 21-10 the rest of the half to tie the score at 24 after two quarters of play. 

Tahj Brooks' two-yard touchdown run with 12:27 left in the third quarter gave Tech a 31-24 lead. Brooks would finish the game with 172 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries.

Nathan Hawks was able to cut the Tech lead to 31-27 with a 26-yard field goal but disaster would strike for the Bearcats on their next offensive possession. 

After Resse Burkhardt extended the Tech lead to 34-27 with a 38-yard field goal, Sorsby threw his first interception of the season.

Facing pressure, Sorsby forced a throw that AJ McCarty would pick off and race 51 yards for a touchdown to extend the Tech lead to 41-27. 

The Bearcats were down, but not quite out of it.

Two plays after the interception, Manny Covey took a Sorsby screen pass 71 yards for his first career touchdown to cut the Tech lead to 41-34. 

Covey would score again with 3:24 remaining to bring the Bearcats to within three, 44-41.

Needing a stop, Simeon Coleman came up with a big tackle for loss on Tahj Brooks for a five-yard loss. On the next play, Behren Morton completed a pass to Josh Kelly for no gain to set up a punt and final drive for the Bearcats with 1:53 remaining.

After taking a loss on the first play of the drive, Sorsby connected with tight end Joe Royer for a 28-yard gain over the middle.

Two plays later, Sorsby rolled out to the right and threw a beautifully placed ball to Jamoi Mayes for a 19-yard gain to the Texas Tech 44 with :48 seconds remaining.

After a short gain by Sorsby, a targeting call was initially called on CJ Baskerville. Following a review, the targeting call was overturned, but also meant a ten second run-off would occur. 

Two incompletions later, kicker Nathan Hawks came on to attempt a game-tying 51-yard field goal attempt with :06 seconds remaining.

Hawks kick sailed right - his second miss of the game - and Tech was able to survive a comeback attempt by the Bearcats to walk off their home field with a 44-41 win. 

Final Stats:

- Xzavier Henderson led the receiving group with 7 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. Manney Covey also finished with 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns on 6 catches. Tony Johnson's 15 yard touchdown grab gave Cincinnati a 7-3 lead with 7:35 left in the first quarter. Johnson hauled in five catches for 61 yards.

- Tight End Joe Royer turned seven catches into 66 yards. 

- The Bearcats rolled up 552 yards of total offense, but the defense was only able to force one punt throughout the game as Tech finished with 482 yards of total offense. Quarterback Behren Morton completed 19-of-29 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns with receiver Josh Kelly on the receiving end of eight of those completions for 111 yards. 

- Two turnovers led to 14 points for Texas Tech. Evan Pryor's fumble on UC's first drive after receiving the second half kickoff proved costly as Tech drove 62 yards in six plays following the turnover. 

- Josh Minkins and Jake Golday led the Bearcats with six tackles, each. 

- Strong day for freshman Simeon Coleman with three total tackles and two tackles for loss. 

Final Thoughts:

This was a game the Bearcats played well enough to win offensively. As we saw last year, however, you can't turn the ball over and expect to win in the Big 12.

On a day where Sorsby had the offense absolutely rolling, two turnovers and two missed field goals ultimately were the difference in a three-point loss.

From a glass half full perspective, this was another encouraging performance. The defense still needs to find consistency, but the offense was clicking on all cylinders tonight, even without their top two running backs.

Redshirt-freshman Manny Covey was only able to manufacture 15 yards on eight carries,but showed great breakaway speed and proved to be a legit threat out of the backfield in the pass game. 

UC will have a bye week next week before traveling to UCF Saturday October 12th.