Cole Smith made a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give No. 6 Cincinnati a 27-24 victory over No. 20 Tulsa on Saturday night in the rainy American Conference Championship game.
Alec Pierce had a career-high 146 yards receiving on five catches, Desmond Ridder passed for 269 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score, and Jerome Ford added a 42-yard scoring run for the Bearcats (9-0, No. 9 CFP).
Tulsa (6-2, No. 23 CFP) reached the conference championship game following three straight losing seasons. It was the Golden Hurricane’s first appearance in the AAC title game.
Tulsa tied it with 3:41 remaining on Zach Smith’s 13-yard touchdown pass to JuanCarlos Santana. But the Golden Hurricane defense jumped offside on a hard count on fourth-and-2, giving the Bearcats a first down at the 19 to set up Smith’s kick.
After Jarrell White’s interception ended a promising drive for Tulsa, the Bearcats went ahead 7-0 on Ford’s 42-yard touchdown run. Pierce had a pair of acrobatic catches in the first quarter. He had a one-armed catch to help set up the first touchdown. His 45-yard grab led to a field goal.
Jaxon Player’s recovery of Ridder’s fumble at the Bearcats 28 set up Corey Taylor’s 10-yard TD run that tied it at 10.
Tulsa struggled to cover Pierce. He had 126 yards receiving yards in the first half, including a 36-yard TD catch to help Cincinnati take a 17-10 lead into halftime.
Deneric Prince’s 8-yard TD run capped a 55-yard drive on Tulsa’s opening possession of the third quarter, tying it at 17. Ridder scored on a 10-yard run to put the Bearcats back ahead.
In last year’s AAC championship game, Cincinnati led Memphis by one point with four minutes remaining, but lost 29-24.
The Golden Hurricane have had 16 come-from-behind wins since Philip Montgomery took over as head coach in 2015. They nearly pulled off another.
Cincinnati hadn’t played since Nov. 21 due to COVID-19 issues, and the rust showed with 12 penalties and two lost fumbles.