Tulsa Falls to Cincinnati 31-21 in AAC Opener

Saturday, October 1

H.A. Chapman Stadium

6:00 p.m.

Tulsa

2-3 , 0-1

Cincinnati

4-1 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cincinnati

Tulsa

Deneric Prince

Photo by: BRETT ROJO, For the University o

Tulsa Falls to Cincinnati 31-21 in AAC Opener

10/1/2022 11:55:00 PM | Football

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GAME STATS I POST-GAME NOTES I QUOTES I PHOTO GALLERY I SEASON STATS

TULSA, Okla. –– It came down to another hard-fought physical game in the Tulsa-Cincinnati series as the visiting Bearcats held on for a 31-21 win in front of 21,111 fans at H.A. Chapman Stadium Saturday night.

Tulsa fell to 2-3 on the season and 0-1 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Bearcats improved to 4-1 and 1-0 in the league.

Tulsa's Keylon Stokes had his fourth 100+ receiving game of the season with 106 yards on six receptions, while Deneric Prince made his season debut with 71 yards and two TDs on 18 carries. Davis Brin completed 18-of-36 passes for 237 yards with a long of 41 yards.

Trailing 24-14 at halftime, Tulsa took the second half kickoff 75 yards in eight plays and cut its deficit to three points, 24-21, on a Prince 2-yard run with just 4:51 running off the second-half clock. However, the Bearcats took the subsequent possession 70 yards in five plays to retake its 10-point lead at 31-21 at the 8:37 mark.

Neither team would find the end zone after their opening second-half scores. From that point, the Hurricane defense held Cincinnati to 46 yards on 18 plays, while the Tulsa offense put up 84 yards on 34 attempts.

A Jaise Oliver interception gave Tulsa possession at the UC 21-yard line with 6:48 remaining in the contest, but a 4-and-1 throw into the end zone was broken up to preserve the Cincinnati lead and victory.

Tulsa ended the game with 285 total yards to Cincinnati's 364 yards. The Hurricane threw for 249 and rushed for just 36 yards on the night. Tulsa held a 23-15 edge for first downs, a 10-minute edge in possession time, 35 to 25, and converted 10-of-19 third downs to UC's 2-of-14.

The Bearcats put pressure on Tulsa's Brin the entire game, sacking the quarterback 11 times for 76 yards. The Tulsa defense had three sacks on the night for -25 yards.

The Hurricane defense shut down the Bearcats on the game's opening possession, but it was the Cincinnati defense that put the first points on the board intercepting a Brin pass for an 18-yard score. On Tulsa's subsequent possession, Brin led the Hurricane down the field, while fellow quarterback Braylon Braxton scored on a 2-yard run, capping 79-yard, 14-play drive for a 7-7 tie.

Cincinnati used one play to take a 14-7 lead when Ben Bryant hit Tyler Scott for a 61-yard score on the first play from scrimmage with 0:27 on the first-quarter clock.

The Bearcats had a short field to work with after a 31-yard punt return put the visitors at the Tulsa 28-yard line. Four plays later, Cincinnati scored on a 19-yard run to take a 21-7 lead with 6:49 left in the second quarter.

Tulsa put together a 3-play, 61-yard drive as Brin completed passes for 31 and 22 yards to the Cincinnati 8-yard line. Prince found the end zone on the next play for eight yards and the score to make it 21-14 game with 90 seconds remaining in the first half.

Cincinnati went down the field and settled for a 39-yard field goal and a 24-14 lead at halftime.

At the intermission, Cincinnati had a 253 to 163-yard edge in total offense with 121 rushing yards and 132 through the air. Tulsa passed for 137 yards but managed just 26 on the ground.

Tulsa goes on the road next week to face the Navy Midshipmen at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT) on CBS Sports Network