Houston Cougars vs Cincinnati Bearcats Match Player Stats On Dec 06, 2014

Cincinnati 38, Houston 31: Mike Boone rushed for three touchdowns and Gunner Kiel passed for a pair of scores as the host Bearcats held on to capture a share of the American Athletic Conference title.

Kiel completed 15-of-24 passes for 190 yards for Cincinnati (9-3, 7-1 AAC) before leaving with cramps in the third quarter. Munchie Legaux came on to complete 10-of-14 passes for 158 yards จC engineering a pair of third-quarter scoring drives จC while Boone scored on runs of 5, 1 and 6 yards.

Greg Ward Jr. completed 27-of-45 passes for 360 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Cougars (7-5, 5-3), marching Houston from its 5 to the Cincinnati 11 before his fourth-down pass at the goal line fell incomplete on the gameกฏs final snap. Kenneth Farrow rushed 19 times for 138 yards and a touchdown for Houston, whose defense came in ninth in FBS at 17.8 points per game.

Kiel found Alex Chisum for an 8-yard touchdown with 9:13 remaining in the first half to put the Bearcats ahead 14-7 and, after Kyle Bullardกฏs 27-yard field goal with 2:45 to go brought Houston within 14-10, Kiel hit Shaq Washington from 12 yards out with 33 seconds left to send Cincinnati into halftime ahead 21-10. Legaux took over on the opening drive of the second half when Kiel cramped up and Boone capped the 11-play march with his 1-yard run to extend the advantage to 18 points.

Ward broke loose on a 40-yard touchdown run with 5:43 to go in the third, but Boone scored from 6 yards out with 15 seconds left in the period to make it 35-17. Ward fired an 89-yard touchdown pass to Markeith Ambles and hit Demarcus Ayers from 26 yards out with 5:27 to go to bring the Cougars within 38-31 before adding runs of 13 and 25 yards on the final drive before throwing three incompletions from the 11 in the final 13 seconds.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Boone opened the scoring with his 5-yard run with 10:01 left in the opening quarter, but the Cougars answered when Farrowกฏs 9-yard TD capped a 75-yard drive with 6:14 left in the period. กญ The Bearcats finished tied with Memphis and UCF atop the conference standings. กญ Houstonกฏs streak of 34 consecutive games with at least one forced turnover ended.