It took the Bearcats just 18 seconds to score their first points of the 2011 season.
It took Austin Peay State University nearly 44 minutes, and, following 60 minutes of play, the University of Cincinnati football team sent the Governors packing with a 72-10 home-opener win Saturday at Nippert Stadium.
“I thought our kids had great focus,” said UC head coach Butch Jones. “I thought they had great preparation throughout the week, and I think it showed tonight.”
The Bearcats, known for their high-scoring offense in recent years, handled and worked the Governors’ defense with ease, recording 561 total yards — 174 through the air and 387 on the ground.
“We have a different mentality, a different approach [than last season],” said UC senior running back Isaiah Pead. “We’re not the Cincinnati Bearcats that went to the Orange Bowl, not the team that went to the Sugar Bowl, we’re this team. We take pride in that and to make an identity, which started today.”
Pead and Cincinnati senior quarterback Zach Collaros stole the show in the first half, with a combined 222 yards and six touchdowns.
Pead ran for 88, averaging 12.4 per carry with two touchdowns, while Collaros went 12-of-19 through the air with 134 yards and four touchdowns.
“[Zach] was very efficient,” Jones said. “We worked very hard on the scramble drill and he was able to create some plays when they broke down with his legs.”
On the other side of the line, UC’s defense — ranked second-last in the Big East in 2010 — held Austin Peay to just 256 total yards.
“They have taken great strides, but again, I think we need to stop the run a little more consistently,” Jones said. “We still missed too many tackles, [but] we were opportunistic tonight. That was one of the things that pleased me the most tonight, is that we were able to take the ball away.”
Following a 60 yard return by UC freshman Ralph David Abernathy IV on the opening kickoff, Pead found the endzone on UC’s first play of the game with a 40 yard run.
On the Governors’ first drive, quarterback Jake Ryan was picked off by UC senior linebacker J.K. Schaffer. Cincinnati began its second drive on Austin Peay’s 48 yard line, and found the endzone 1:23 later with a 13-yard run by Pead.
“Our main focus was to get out to a fast start and limit the mental mistakes,” Pead said.
Just two drives later, Bearcats senior Derek Wolfe forced a fumble to put Cincinnati at Ausin Peay’s 36-yard line where UC capitalized on Ryan’s second turnover, finding the endzone in four plays. Cincinnati capped its 1:03 drive with a Collaros-Kembrell Thompkins hookup in the back of the endzone to give the Bearcats a 20-0 lead.
Cincinnati put together a 95-yard drive on their next possession that was capped by a 34-yard TD pass from Collaros to D.J. Woods.
Six minutes later, Collaros hooked up with sophomore wideout Anthony McClung for an eight-yard touchdown, and, with 27 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Cincinnati forced another fumble which led to another Collaros-McClung touchdown hookup and a 41-0 UC lead at half.
“We scored points, we were moving fast, subbing in and out,” Pead said. “I think when we move fast, we help out defense with fresh legs.”
With the game in control, the Bearcats featured their backups in the second half, who put up 31 more points en route to the Bearcats’ first win of the 2011 season.
“I thought tonight was very beneficial with the amount of reps that are second team was able to get,” Jones said. “Playing the three freshmen running backs and the freshmen receivers, I think we gained some valuable experience there, but we have a lot of work to do. A lot of improvements need to occur this week.”
The Bearcats return to action Saturday at 1 p.m. against the University of Tennessee in Nashville, Tenn.
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