COLLEGE FOOTBALL Cincinnati cruises past East Carolina, 40-3

Texas Christian held off a late rally to beat Tulane.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CINCINNATI -- Gino Guidugli tied the school record for career touchdown passes, but spent most of his time handing off Monday as Cincinnati ground out a 40-3 victory over East Carolina.
Guidugli, a junior who holds most of Cincinnati's passing records, had as many runs as completions in the first half, when the Bearcats (1-0) pulled ahead 21-0.
Richard Hall ran for 117 yards and the Bearcats' first touchdown.
East Carolina (0-1) had a dreadful debut under John Thompson, who signed on as the Pirates' 18th coach on Dec. 20. Junior quarterback Desmond Robinson was erratic in his first career start, and an offensive line that was supposed to be the Pirates' strength -- five senior starters -- got manhandled.
Thompson, a defensive coordinator at seven schools including LSU, Arkansas and Florida, couldn't get his defense in sync against the Bearcats' no-huddle approach.
The Pirates also were penalized twice for roughing the passer on third-down incompletions by Guidugli, sustaining drives.
East Carolina, which went 4-8 last season, lost its opener for the 10th time in the last 13 years.
Cincinnati returned 10 starters from a team that went 7-7 last season, including a 42-26 victory over the Pirates that clinched a share of the Conference USA title and a trip to the New Orleans Bowl.
Taking control
The Bearcats went 59 yards -- all on the ground -- to set the tone on their second possession, with Hall scoring standing up on fourth-and-goal from the 1. An interception then set up Tedric Harwell's 1-yard touchdown run.
Cincinnati went 90 yards in 12 plays late in the half, with Guidugli throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dennis Hart. Guidugli faked a handoff to Hall, and Hart got free behind the coverage for an easy score with 23 seconds remaining.
Guidugli, who set most of Cincinnati's single-season passing records last year, tied the school record with his 39th career touchdown pass. He finished 13-of-25 for 121 yards in his first game with an all-new receiving corps. He also ran eight times for 45 yards, often surprising the Pirates on draw plays.
The Pirates managed only two first downs in the first half, one of them on a flea-flicker. Robinson was 7-of-11 for 70 yards and an interception before being replaced by Paul Troth late in the third quarter.
East Carolina lost top runner Art Brown to a knee injury last month, and didn't have an effective replacement. Marvin Townes carried 15 times for 36 yards, but had few holes to exploit.
The Pirates didn't get any closer than the Cincinnati 43-yard line in the first half. Hall's fumble set up Cameron Broadwell's 36-yard field goal early in the third quarter, but Derick Eddington's 23-yard touchdown run ended any chance of an East Carolina comeback. Harwell ran 10 yards for another score in the closing minutes.
No. 25 TCU 38, Tulane 35
NEW ORLEANS -- Tye Gunn completed two crucial third-down passes, then scored on a 4-yard bootleg as Texas Christian held off a furious comeback by Tulane.
Gunn orchestrated the 11-play, 61-yard drive that lasted 5:33 after Tulane had scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns -- the last on a 35-yard fumble return -- to pull within 31-28 with 7:39 remaining.
After Gunn put TCU up 38-28, Tulane drove 77 yards for a touchdown with 24 seconds to go, but could not recover the onside kick in the season opener for the Conference USA teams.
Lonta Hobbs scored three touchdowns on short runs for the Horned Frogs, while Ricky Madison added an 80-yard touchdown on a short swing pass from Gunn.
Madison finished with 206 total yards, 115 on the ground.
Gunn was 17-of-27 for 243 yards and Hobbs ran for 62 yards.
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