Cincinnati Is First to 10 Wins

CINCINNATI -- The talk all week in Cincinnati -- no make that for the past few weeks -- was when would Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike return? And, if so, would he start?

Friday against West Virginia, Pike finally saw his first action in 29 days and even threw two touchdowns, but he was merely a footnote. The real story for the Bearcats was running back Isaiah Pead, who rushed for a career-high 175 yards as the fifth-ranked Bearcats did just enough to get past the Mountaineers 24-21.

With the victory, Cincinnati became the nation's first team to get to 10-0 this season, but it was anything but a perfect 10. Playing on Friday the 13th, there were a lot of strange occurrences for the Bearcats, including trailing in a game for the first time in 24 quarters and losing a fumble for the first time this season.

The Bearcats also dropped a sure touchdown pass and missed a chip shot field goal.

"All we need to know is that we came out with a win and at the end of the day that's all that matters," Cincinnati senior linebacker Andre Revels said.

After scoring on its first possession, Cincinnati's Adrien Robinson lost a fumble on UC's next possession. It was the first lost fumble this season -- ending a streak of 597 consecutive offensive plays this year without a fumble.

"We definitely shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times in the first half," said Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros, who threw his second interception of the season. "We would come back to the sideline and say they aren't stopping us. ... We were really clicking and just shot ourselves in the foot."

"If we do what we're supposed to do, we will have beaten five Top 25 teams. If (we're not ranked higher), I think the BCS will have to reexamine the way this is set up.''
- Cincinnati coach
Brian Kelly Midway through the second quarter, West Virginia fullback Ryan Clarke rumbled 37 yards for a touchdown, giving WVU a 14-7 lead with 8:05 remaining before halftime. It marked the first time since the first quarter at Oregon State on Sept. 19 the Bearcats had trailed.

However, they didn't trail for long -- two minutes and 31 seconds to be exact.

The Bearcats answered with a tying score on Pead's 2-yard touchdown run at 5:26 before the half. The officials initially ruled Pead fumbled when he was stretching the football across the goal line, but after an instant replay review, the officials changed the call to a touchdown.

Needless to say the reversal was a relief for Pead.

"I went from zero to hero," Pead said.

In the second half, the Bearcats turned to their defense and the running of Pead to defeat the Mountaineers for the first time in eight games at Nippert Stadium.

With UC leading 21-14, Pead raced for 43 yards to set up a Jake Rogers' field goal with 2:08 remaining that sealed the victory.

"(Starting running back) Jake (Jacob Ramsey) went down (with a sprained foot)," Pead said. "Next man in as the slogan goes.

"I haven't seen (a career-high 18 carries) since my last game in high school. With Jake and I splitting time, they said I would get a majority of the series. I wasn't expecting to get the ball that many times. That's pretty nice (10 yards a carry)."

Pike, who injured his left forearm on Oct. 15 at South Florida and had surgery on it a couple weeks ago, made his first appearance with 10:08 remaining in the opening quarter after Collaros had driven the Bearcats to the 10.

Pike and Collaros both said they had no idea Pike would go into the game in that situation.

"When we got to the red zone, (Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly) said, 'Pike'," Pike said. "I thought he was going to talk to me about a play, but he wanted me to go in. Going into the game, he said he wanted me to get in. I didn't know if it would be a series or a special play."

Pike's first pass was a 10-yard touchdown to Armon Bines. Pike didn't return to the game until UC's opening possession of the third quarter. Again, after Collaros drove the Bearcats down to WVU's 6, Pike entered the contest.

After two incompletions, Pike hit DJ Woods for a 6-yard touchdown on third-and-goal, giving the Bearcats a 21-14 lead.

"We felt like we wanted to minimize his risk," Kelly said. "We knew we would get a lot more bracket coverage. Tony can fit it in. He can see it a little bit better than Zach. It just worked out really well.

"It really was what we worked on all week. We scripted it out all week and he delivered for us."

Pike said he was excited to get back in a game. He is expected to see much more substantial playing time in two weeks against Illinois.

"You couldn't ask for anything better," Pike said. "The great ovation the crowd gave me and you couldn't write a better script. It just tells you the confidence Coach Kelly has in us. With Zach rolling and leading the team, there is no pressure. To get back out there to help the team means a lot.

"It has definitely been fun watching how Zach plays. He has been pretty amazing. The other part is it is your senior year and you want to play. It is good to stand around our guys and help them on the field."

The Bearcats have a week off before closing the season at home against Illinois on Nov. 27 and at Pittsburgh on Dec. 5 in a game that will determine the Big East championship.

Kelly said he's not worried where the Bearcats are slotted in the national polls, but admitted he does keep an eye on where Cincinnati is ranked compared to non-BCS schools TCU and Boise State.

"I really don't care about those other (undefeated) teams," he said. "Look, we know about Florida, we know about Alabama, we know about Texas. If I'm ever sitting down and reading the paper or trying to get some information, I want to know about TCU and Boise."

Earlier this week, Kelly was asked what his thoughts were if an unbeaten TCU or Boise State finished ranked above an unbeaten Cincinnati.

"If we do what we're supposed to do, we will have beaten five Top 25 teams," Kelly said. "If (we're not ranked higher), I think the BCS will have to reexamine the way this is set up. As part of a BCS conference, you'll then have to put more of the strength of schedule as part of the criteria.

"Clearly, Boise State has played one football team all year that has that type of recognition and TCU has some good wins, but they don't play in the Big East and play the caliber of opponents we play. That's just my take on it."