Bearcats Overcome RedHawks and Weather to Capture 13th-Straight Victory Bell

Neither a night of rain rain nor the Miami-Ohio Red Hawks could stop the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday, as UC claimed a 21-0 victory over their oldest football rivals at Paul Brown Stadium. With the win, the Bearcats earned their 13th-straight win in the Battle for the Victory Bell, a rivalry that dates back to 1888.

Michael Warren once again had a big game out of the backfield, as the sophomore running back piled up 91 yards and two touchdowns after amassing 142 yards and three scores in week one against UCLA. The running game was not left to Warren alone, as Desmond Ridder made his first career start at quarterback and rushed for an even 100 yards. He really had to since the weather conditions did not permit a whole lot of successful passing. Ridder did throw a touchdown pass to tight end Josiah Deguara in the fourth quarter, but completed only 6-of-11 passes for 45 yards overall. Deguara was the favored target, catching four balls and accumulating 34 yards.

Thanks to the help of the weather as a 12th man of sorts, the Bearcats (2-0) once again displayed brilliant defensive ability. Not only did Miami-Ohio (0-2) finish with zero points, but it was only able to muster 198 total yards. Most of them came through the air, but quarterback Gus Ragland only connected on 22-of-41 pass attempts and was intercepted once. That pick came courtesy of safety Darrick Forest in the fourth quarter and featured a 23-yard return which set up a one-yard scoring run from Warren. Miami never even made it into the red zone and, even though they did not record any sacks, the Bearcats still had five tackles for a loss.

UC has really silenced doubters in these first two weeks. Next up is a matchup against FCS Alabama A&M at Nippert Stadium next Saturday.