Cincinnati Closes First Big 12 Season With A Loss

  

The Cincinnati Bearcats closed their first season in the Big 12 with a 49-16 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks.

The Bearcats finished the season at 3-9 and 1-8 in the conference. Their lone win was against Houston, who was also in its first season in the Big 12. Both teams transferred from the American Athletic Conference.

The loss left Cincinnati out of Bowl Games and forced them to look forward to spring practice.

Kansas finished with an 8-4 record, 5-4 in the conference. They are eligible for a Bowl Game.

The Bearcats scored first off the opening kickoff with 49-yard field goal by Carter Brown after a drive that chewed up 6:48.

Kansas converted an interception into a quick five-play, 77-yard drive in 2:38 touchdown drive. Cobee Bryant intercepted a long pass intended for Xzavier Henderson at the Kansas 23 yard line. Devin Neal capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to put Kansas in the lead with 8:55 left in the first half.

Neal is ranked fifth on the Kansas all-time rushing list. He passed a pair of NFL greats in Gayle Sayers and John Riggins this season.

After Cincinnati suffered a three and out on offense, Jason Bean connected with Jared Casey on a 15-yard scoring pass to extend the Jayhawks lead to 14-3.

Cincinnati scored with 26 seconds left in the half on an 11-yard pass from Emery Jones to Ryan Montgomery.  The play completed a 75-yard drive in 13 plays to make the score 14-10.

Bean took just two plays and 17 seconds to get the score back to 21-10. He threw 30 yards to Lawrence Arnold on the first play. He hit tight end Mason Fairchild with a 26-yard scoring pass to close the half.

Neal ran 30 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. The carry put him at exactly 100 yards for the game and exactly 3,000 yards for his career.

Ryan Montgomery found Dee Wiggins in the end zone with a seven-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. Jones converted the two-point play on a keeper, just reaching the pylon to make it a two-score game. The conversion was overturned by review. Jones lost control of the ball before he touched the pylon. The Kansas bench was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, allowing Cincinnati to kick off from mid field.

Bean answered right away off a three-play drive, scoring on a 43-yard run untouched. He ran 50 yards for another touchdown with 9:52 left in the game. On two plays he rushed for 93 yards and finished with 90 yards rushing on four carries. Bean threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns, completing 13 of 17 passes.

Dylan McDuffie finished with a six-yard touchdown carry with 47 seconds left.