Friday, October 31, 2008
CINCINNATI (AP) — Playing with a soft cast protecting his broken left forearm, junior Tony Pike had one of his finest games Thursday night, throwing a pair of touchdown passes and steadying Cincinnati’s offense in a 24-10 victory over No. 24 South Florida.
Pike was sharp in his second game back since he broke his non-passing arm, which is held together by a plate and six screws. A black wrap covered the removable cast that hides a 4-inch scar from the operation and softens the blows. He took several rattling hits and hung in there until the middle of the fourth quarter.
Cincinnati (6-2, 2-1 Big East) looked back to normal with an experienced quarterback running the no-huddle, spread offense again. Facing one of the conference’s toughest defenses, Pike was 20-of-28 for 281 yards and two touchdowns, including a 1-yard pass to Connor Barwin that put the Bearcats up 24-10 early in the fourth quarter.
South Florida (6-3, 1-3) was the last Big East team ranked in the Top 25, a measure of the conference’s struggles so far. The Bulls readily acknowledged that if they didn’t win this one, they likely would have no chance for the league title.
Not even a steady quarterback could pull them through.
Junior Matt Grothe came into the game on a surge, throwing at least two touchdown passes in each of the last three games. He had only five interceptions all season, a sign of his dependability. But against the Bearcats, Grothe threw three — two of them deflected — against a defense that pressured him steadily.