Cincinnati Bearcats Football: Report Card Grades for the South Florida Game

The Cincinnati Bearcats got a huge road conference win yesterday, knocking off South Florida 37-34 in dramatic fashion. 

The win propelled the Bearcats into first place by themselves in the Big East conference and leaves them as the only undefeated team in the league.

Big East teams are now only 2-8 on the road in conference play, so the win was huge for a team that has struggled on the road so far this season and last year as well. 

Here are report card grades for the Bearcats' win over South Florida. 

After struggling in the first half, similarly to the Louisville game, Zach Collaros turned it up in the second half and had the best half of football possibly of his career. 

He finished the game 26-of-41 passing for 389 yards and two touchdowns to go along with two first-half interceptions. 

Collaros also carried the ball 10 times for 21 yards, including two touchdowns—the second of which came with 12 seconds remaining and Cincinnati trailing 34-30.  

Overall grade: B+

Running back Isaiah Pead was held in check by the Bulls defense and was never able to break off the big run he has so often done for the Bearcats. 

Pead finished the game with 79 yards on 22 carries and was held out of the end zone on the ground for the first time all season.

He did catch four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.  

Cincinnati totaled 118 yards running the football, an area where they are usually more balanced. 

Overall grade: C

Junior college transfer Kenbrell Thompkins was forced to sit out last season and had the first big game of his Bearcats career against South Florida. 

Thompkins finished with 114 yards on six catches. 

True freshman Alex Chisum caught three passes for 73 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown pass that put Cincinnati ahead 30-27 midway through the fourth quarter. 

D.J. Woods had six catches for 45 yards and Anthony McClung had four catches for 46 yards. 

Tight end Adrien Robinson had a 21-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter. 

Overall grade: A-

The offensive line did a great job of blocking for Zach Collaros when he dropped back to throw. 

He was only sacked one time the entire game—an impressive number for someone who threw 41 times. 

Collaros had much more time to throw the football than he did the week before against Louisville, and it showed by his production in the second half. 

The line did struggle slightly, however, to open up holes for Pead and the running game. 

Overall grade: B+

The defensive line did a better job than the other units on the defensive side of the ball. 

Like they have all season, they virtually shut down the running game, holding South Florida to only 86 yards on 36 carries. 

They kept B.J. Daniels in check for the most part on the ground, allowing only 54 yards on 15 carries. 

Running back Darrell Scott carried the ball 11 times for only 29 yards. 

The line totaled two sacks for the game, one by Brandon Mills and another by Monte Taylor

Overall grade: B+

Linebacker J.K. Schaffer led Cincinnati with eight tackles, and he had a big fumble recovery. 

Fellow linebacker Maalik Bomar had seven tackles, and true freshman Nick Temple saw his first significant action of the season. 

He had five tackles, including one tackle for loss. 

While they helped stop the run, they did have a difficult time helping to control Daniels through the air. 

The development of Temple, however, could be huge for Cincinnati down the stretch. 

Overall grade: B-

The Cincinnati secondary was shredded by B.J. Daniels for most of the day. 

Daniels passed for 409 yards and three touchdowns on 31-of-47 passing. 

The Bearcats did force one interception on a pass by tight end Isaac Virgin on an attempted trick play. 

Safety Wesley Richardson had eight tackles and cornerback Deven Drane stepped in nicely for the injured Dominique Battle, who went down early in the game. 

He finished with six tackles, as did Drew Frey, who also had a tackle for loss.

Still, they gave up way too much through the air.  

Overall grade: C-

Punter Pat O'Donnell had another huge game with four punts totaling 214 yards, good for an average of 53.5 per kick. 

Kicker Tony Miliano missed a 33-yard field goal on the Bearcats' initial drive but came back with a 43-yarder in the second quarter. 

Cincinnati also had an extra-point blocked midway through the fourth quarter. 

Kick returner Raply Abernathy IV was impressive once again with a few huge returns to get Cincinnati set up with some good field position. 

Overall grade: B

There should not be much reason to criticize the coach for any conference victory on the road. 

That holds true in the case of Butch Jones and the Bearcats in their victory over South Florida. 

Cincinnati did have trouble stopping the Bulls offense, but they were able to put up enough points to get the big road victory—and that is all fans can ask for from their coach. 

Overall grade: B