ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The University of Cincinnati football team didn't pick up any "style points" on Saturday, but the No. 2/3-ranked (Associated Press/Coaches) Bearcats did enough to stay undefeated and keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Navy scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull within 27-20 with :50 to play. The Midshipmen then recovered an onside kick.
More:Analysis: If Desmond Ridder's on the list of Heisman hopefuls, Jerome Ford should be too
But Cincinnati nickelback Arquon Bush intercepted Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai to halt the home rally and preserve the 7-point victory at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
"We haven't been challenged down the stretch to end the game," UC coach Luke Fickell said. "You knew it was going to have to be done at some point in time. Sometimes several times. This was a challenge for us. I knew at halftime. I told those guys, 'We'll find out a lot more about each other after this next 30 or so minutes. Just about how willing we are to continue to commit to each other and continue to do whatever it takes to find a way to win the football game, and we had to do everything in our power to win a football game. I'm proud of those guys for doing that."
It marked the first-ever win for the Bearcats (7-0, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) against the Midshipmen (1-6, 1-4) at Navy. It also marked their 10th straight victory against an AAC opponent. UC hasn't lost to a conference foe since Memphis in the 2019 AAC Championship Game.
Cincinnati senior quarterback Desmond Ridder completed 18 of 30 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns, while Jerome Ford, the back-to-back AAC Offensive Player of the Week, finished with 15 carries, 90 yards and a score.
More:Analysis: If Desmond Ridder's on the list of Heisman hopefuls, Jerome Ford should be too
Cincinnati won the coin toss and elected to receive, which is rare for Fickell. The move showed just how valuable each possession is against Navy's methodical, time-consuming triple-option offense.
"We really wanted to start the game with the ball," Ridder said. "Just give us as many possessions as we could. Obviously, if we could go back and fix it, we wouldn't have those three-and-outs at the beginning."
Ridder and the UC offense left the field empty-handed on each of its first two possessions. The slow start allowed the Midshipmen to grab an early 7-0 lead on a two-yard rushing touchdown by Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai with 3:51 to play in the opening quarter.
The score capped a 13-play, 79-yard drive for the Midshipmen that ate up 7:12 of game clock.
"They did a lot of really good things offensively," Fickell said. "I am not saying we didn't have a have a great preparation for it. They did some motions and flexed out. They had a really good game plan for us. I give our guys and coaches credit for adapting and adjusting."
Navy tried to catch Cincinnati napping on the ensuing kickoff by booting an onside kick, but the Bearcats recovered the loose ball and quickly responded to Lavatai's score.
Three plays after the onside kick, Ridder linked up with tight end Josh Whyle for a 31-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. It was Whyle's first score since the season-opener (Sept. 4 vs. Miami University).
Whyle ended the day with a season-high in catches (four), receiving yards (60) and touchdowns (two).
"I haven't gotten as many looks this year, but I'm not trying to focus on that," Whyle said. "Just trying to be in the right place at the right time and Des will find me."
A kicking battle ensued in the second quarter. After an interception by Ridder (just his third of the season and first since Sept. 18 at Indiana), Navy snatched back the lead on a 33-yard field goal by Bijan Nichols at the 14:15 mark in the frame. But Cincinnati seized a 13-10 lead by halftime with back-to-back field goals with its normal starting kicker, junior Cole Smith, watching from sideline.
Smith has struggled this season (3 of 8 on field-goal attempts) and Fickell has said he would give other guys opportunities to show what they can do. Fickell said Saturday that Smith did not play due to an unspecified injury.
"We were going to see how (Smith) felt in warmups," Fickell said. "He wasn't quite there, so we knew we were going to go with the young guy (freshmen Christian Lowery). And if we had to go with a long field goal, we would go with Bales as well."
Lowery (who also handled extra points on Saturday) was good from 32 yards out with 4:07 left in the first half.
After Deshawn Pace blocked a Navy field-goal attempt, the first for the Bearcats since 2012 (Jordan Stepp), Alex Bales, Cincinnati's other freshman kicker, nailed a 52-yard field goal as time expired before intermission.
Bale's blast was the seventh-longest field goal in program history.
"In general, the way the first half went, I don't think there was really an emotional swing," Fickell said. "Having the scoreboard in our favor, especially with a team that can control the ball so well, we knew every point was going to matter. It was a big enough swing knowing that they were going to get the ball to start the second half. We really needed it."
Defensively, the Bearcats opened with a 4-4 front, bringing safety Bryan Cook down to give the "Blackcats" more bodies up front against Navy's triple option, but it wasn't as effective as Fickell had hoped, particularly in the first half.
The Midshipmen rushed for 116 yards before halftime, while their defense held Cincinnati and Ford to just 10 yards on the ground before the break.
"You have to give them a lot of credit," Fickell said. "We had to come out in the second half and really get back to who we want to be. We gave our guys up front the opportunity to put their cleats in the ground and roll a little bit more. I don't think we did a good enough job of that in the first half."
After being held in check in the first half, Ford exploded for a 43-yard score to make it 20-10 with 7:39 to play in the third. It was Ford's fourth run of 40 yards or more this season.
Ridder and Whyle connected again on a two-yard strike to give Cincinnati a 27-10 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Cincinnati's offense again stalled in the fourth, punting on consecutive possessions to open the final period. Navy countered with a 27-yard field goal with 7:34 to play, and then came within a score after a 1-yard touchdown by Lavatai with :50 left.
"We have to find ways, especially on the road when you are up 13 points, to close things out," Fickell said. "That is probably the only thing that I am disappointed that we couldn't and didn't do today. We needed a challenge and we got one."
Cincinnati will be back on the road Oct. 30 with a showdown at Tulane (1-6, 0-3). Kickoff is schedule for noon (11 a.m. Central time) on ESPN2.
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