The Three Stars of Cincinnati’s Victory Bell Triumph

The real star of the 123rd Battle for the Victory Bell was the weather, as heavy rain really affected how the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Miami-Ohio RedHawks played football on Saturday night at Paul Brown Stadium. One team managed to deal with the poor conditions better than the other, with the Bearcats winning 21-0. It’s unlikely that each individual rain drop was wearing pads, but UC’s players all stepped up and won the program’s 13th-straight Victory Bell. Here are the players who stepped up the most.

One Star - Desmond Ridder, QB

This was not your prototypical first career start. After leading the Bearcats to their upset win over the UCLA Bruins in week one, Ridder earned himself the starting gig, but the weather did not cooperate. Luckily, Ridder isn’t a guy that just has to take a three or five-step drop and stand like a statue. He can move the ball by himself and that’s just what he did, rushing for a team-high 100 yards, extending plenty of drives. On the passing front, he did manage to connect with Josiah Deguara on a fourth-quarter touchdown, while completing 6-of-11 pass attempts for 45 yards.

Sophomore running back Michael Warren could have gotten a star as well, what with his 91 yards and two touchdowns, but both of those scores were from right on top of the goal line and he averaged only 3.1 yards per carry. It’s nice having to make tough decisions when giving these stars out rather than having to scrape together evidence to force it.

Two Stars - Darrick Forrest, S

Forrest gets his first stars of the season because of one play. Sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time and to be able to capitalize.

Three Stars - Cortez Broughton, DL

Broughton has to be an early front-runner for American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year. He brutalized UCLA’s offensive line last week and kept on dominating against Miami-Ohio. He finished with five tackles, including a team-high 2.0 for loss, while adding a quarterback hit and even breaking up a pass. Miami-Ohio’s offense was completely befuddled by the UC defense (and the rain), managing fewer than 200 yards of total offense, and Broughton’s constant presence in the middle of the UC defensive line led the way.