SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 31, 2014
Cincinnati 38, Tulane 14: New Orleans native Munchie Legaux tied a career high with three touchdown passes as the visiting Bearcats downed the Green Wave in American Athletic Conference action.
Legaux replaced starter Gunner Kiel after the latter aggravated a rib injury on an interception on the first play of the game and threw for 211 yards for Cincinnati (5-3, 3-1 AAC), which improved to 4-11 all-time against Tulane with its third straight win. Rodriguez Moore ran for a career-high 124 yards while freshman Mike Boone added 113 and a late fourth-quarter score as the Bearcats piled up 265 rushing yards.
Tanner Lee went 24-of-35 for 205 yards and a touchdown for the Green Wave (2-6, 1-3), who are guaranteed to finish with a non-winning record for the 11th time in 12 seasons. Freshman Dontrell Hilliard ran for a career-high 123 yards and Lazedrick Thompson added a 19-yard rushing TD to put Tulane on the board early in the second half.
Cincinnati rebounded from its early miscue with a field goal on its next possession and, one play after the Green Wave’s Trevor Simms missed a 51-yard kick, Rod Moore’s 61-yard run set up Legaux’s 5-yard TD pass to Max Morrison. Legaux struck again early in the second quarter as he connected on a short crossing route with Casey Gladney, who raced past Tulane's defense for a 54-yard score.
The Bearcats rolled into the break with a 24-0 advantage when Tulane’s Teddy Veal mishandled a punt midway through the second quarter and Eric Wilson jumped on the loose ball in the end zone. The Green Wave made it interesting with touchdown drives on their first two possessions of the second half – including Lee’s 10-yard scoring strike to Charles Jones – but Cincinnati answered with a 75-yard march and sealed the win with Shaq Washington’s one-handed TD grab late in the third quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tulane’s 14 third-quarter points were five more than it had scored in the period over its first seven games. … Cincinnati has won each of its games during its streak by at least 17 points after it was outscored by an average of 23.3 during a three-game skid. … The Green Wave forced three turnovers and have at least one takeaway in 17 consecutive contests. Tulane, which is tied for sixth in the country with 21 takeaways, has recorded 10 over its last three games.