Cincinnati Beats Western Carolina 62-10 with Nine Touchdowns
Nine touchdowns and 690 yards. That is the Cincinnati box score, and Western Carolina had a short window to enjoy being ahead.
Western Carolina did lead 3-0 on a Bryan McCollum field goal. Cincinnati took the lead on JC French IV's 5-yard pass to JaVonnie Gibson late in the first quarter and never gave it back, though it was only 14-10 after Lex Thomas scored from a yard out in the second quarter. From there it was 48 unanswered points: Cole Tabb ran 36 yards, Zion Johnson scored from 3, and the third quarter was Gi'Bran Payne (40 and 17 yards) and Zylan Perry (40 yards), all runs. Liam O'Brien scored from 11 yards out in the fourth quarter (the extra point failed, which is why it is 62 and not 63) and Samaj Jones closed it with a 4-yard run with 43 seconds left.
Seven of the nine touchdowns were rushing touchdowns, and Cincinnati piled up 418 yards on the ground against 272 through the air without a turnover. French was 21 of 24 for 245 yards and two scores, and Cincinnati ran for 146 more yards than it passed for.
The records: Cincinnati is 2-0, Western Carolina 0-1. Six different Bearcats scored on the ground, which tells you how many carries were handed out once the game was settled.
For fantasy, this is the kind of game where a backup's name pops up in the box score and you wonder who he is. The big points still went to the starters: French at 27.0, Payne at 25.6 and Gibson at 18.9.