|
By AARON BEARD
Associated Press Writer
GREENVILLE (AP) — Gino Guidugli threw four touchdown
passes — three to Jon Olinger — as Cincinnati beat East Carolina 42-26
Friday night to clinch a share of the Conference USA championship.
The Bearcats (7-6, 6-2) earned a bid to the New Orleans
Bowl, where they will face North Texas on Dec. 17. Cincinnati finished
tied with Texas Christian for the C-USA title and clinched its first
league championship since winning the Missouri Valley Conference in
1964.
Guidugli threw touchdown passes of 78, 49 and 48 yards
to Olinger and finished with 323 yards. He also threw a 26-yard scoring
pass to George Murray midway through the fourth quarter.
Olinger finished with four catches for 194 yards.
Cincinnati's DeMarco McCleskey rushed for 161 yards, and
the defense scored two touchdowns as the Bearcats snapped a four-game
losing streak to the Pirates (4-8, 4-4).
Linebacker-turned-running back Christshawn Gilliam
rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns for East Carolina. Gilliam made
his second career start on offense in place of Art Brown, a 1,000-yard
rusher who missed the last two games with a groin injury.
The Pirates could have spoiled the Bearcats' bowl hopes
and created a four-way tie for second place with the win. But Cincinnati
made big plays when needed and answered every East Carolina score.
The Bearcats maintained a slim lead as the teams traded
scores in the second half. The Pirates closed within 28-26 on a 54-yard
TD pass from Paul Troth to Richard Alston with 12:22 left.
But Guidugli found Murray for the 26-yard score for a
35-26 lead on the next possession, and Zach Norton had a 30-yard
interception return for a touchdown to seal it.
After the Pirates took an early lead on a 40-yard field
goal by Kevin Miller, the defense put the Bearcats ahead to stay. Blue
Adams stepped in front of a short Desmond Robinson pass and returned it
12 yards for a score.
The Bearcats extended the lead with Guidugli's 78-yard
scoring pass to Olinger. East Carolina closed to within 14-6 on a
45-yard field goal from Miller just before halftime.
02/23/2007 10:51 AM
Copyright 2002
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
