Cincinnati Dominates Utah State

Chad Plummer threw for one touchdown and ran for another as Cincinnati beat Utah State, 35-19, in the inaugural Humanitarian Bowl on Monday at Boise, Idaho.

Plummer, the Bearcats’ quarterback, led an offense that gained 411 yards on the afternoon and controlled the ball for more than 42 minutes. Plummer had 64 yards receiving, 62 yards passing, 53 yards rushing and won the game’s most valuable player award.

Cincinnati had a 28-0 lead midway through the third quarter before the Aggies scored three touchdowns in less than 10 minutes to cut the lead to 16 points early in the fourth.

But the Bearcats’ defense made two stands in the fourth quarter to give Cincinnati its first bowl victory in nearly half a century.

The victory was Cincinnati’s first in a bowl game since the 1949 Glass Bowl in Toledo, Ohio. The Bearcats (8-4) hadn’t been to a bowl since 1950, the longest absence in Division I football.

Freshman Deontey Kenner, who shared quarterbacking duties with Plummer, threw for 124 yards.

Steve Smith caught four passes for 136 yards and a touchdown to lead Utah State. Matt Sauk completed only 12 of 30 passes and was intercepted three times.

The Bearcats looked unstoppable early on, gaining 147 yards of offense while controlling the ball for more than 10 minutes in the first quarter. Cornelius Bonner caught two 14-yard touchdown passes in the first 16 minutes, and Cincinnati led, 21-0, at halftime.

Georgia Tech 35, West Virginia 30--Joe Hamilton passed and ran for 356 yards and three touchdowns to help the Yellow Jackets beat the Mountaineers in the Carquest Bowl in Miami, extending the their bowl losing streak to seven games.

Georgia Tech scored on its first three possessions to go ahead 21-7 and led the rest of the way. West Virginia closed within five points on Marc Bulger’s 74-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Porter with 3:49 left, but Georgia Tech picked up two first downs to run out the clock.

Both teams finished the season 7-5.

The game drew only 28,262 fans, the smallest crowd in the bowl’s eight-year history. Carquest officials had hoped for 50,000 in 75,192-seat Pro Player Stadium.

Hamilton, the game’s most valuable player, passed for 274 yards, completing 19 of 36 attempts, and added 82 yards rushing in 14 carries. He scored from the shotgun on scrambles of 30 and nine yards and hit Mike Lillie with a three-yard touchdown pass.