Undefeated Bearcats improve to 8-0

Sophomore quarterback Zach Collaros threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns leading No. 8 Cincinnati to a 28-7 win over Syracuse University Saturday, Oct. 31.

With starting quarterback Tony Pike still recovering from an injury sustained on his left non-throwing arm, Collaros stepped in with another productive day. Collaros completed 22 of 28 passes and increased his season touchdown total to nine.

“I thought Zach showed great poise,” said UC head coach Brian Kelly. “He did a very good job finding the right guys and delivering the ball. There is a lot out there going on, and I’m really pleased with the job he did today.”

Junior receiver Armon Binns had a career day, catching five balls for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Binns’s first touchdown went for 81 yards and the second was a 13-yard circus catch in the corner of the endzone.

“Binns went up and made one of the more spectacular catches I’ve seen since I’ve been here at Cincinnati,” Kelly said.

Senior wide receiver Mardy Gilyard finished the game with six catches for 62 yards.

Cincinnati (8-0, 4-0 Big East) racked up 422 yards of total offense, but the rushing attack was mediocre throughout the game.

“I would have liked to do a better job running the ball today,” Kelly said. “I thought it got a little sloppy inside.”

Sophomore running back Isaiah Pead led the Cats in rushing and finished the game with 77 yards on 16 carries. Ramsey rushed 27 yards on seven carries and Collaros ran the ball nine times for 22 yards.

The Bearcats struggled at times in the first two quarters, only leading 14-7 at halftime, but came out in the second half and held Syracuse scoreless.

“I wanted to make sure our kids knew that we were going to have to grind one out here today,” Kelly said. “It wasn’t clicking on all cylinders at times, but when you go on the road you have to keep fighting. I’m proud of the way our guys fought the second half.”

The Bearcat defense limited Syracuse to 283 total yards of offense and forced two touchdown-saving turnovers.

Red-shirted freshman defensive back Drew Frey had an interception in the back of the endzone and sophomore defensive tackle Derek Wolfe forced and recovered a fumble on a first and goal carry.

“Our defense has been playing extremely well,” Kelly said. “Give credit to Syracuse because they played really hard and gave us a good battle.”

Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus threw one interception and completed 12 of 17 passes for 85 yards and one touchdown.

Delone Carter led the Orange in rushing with 50 yards on 19 carries.

Next up, the Bearcats return home to play the Connecticut Huskies at Nippert Stadium Saturday, Nov. 7.