The Cincinnati Bearcats remained unbeaten in NCAA with a 31-12 victory Saturday over a struggling Tulane Green Wave as Desmond Ridder and tight-end Josh Whyle connected for two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Jerome Ford rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown — his 14th this season — for Cincinnati (8-0, 4-0 American Athletic Conference), who briefly trailed in the second quarter and led by just two points at halftime.

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Ridder rushed for 47 yards and threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns, but he was also sacked in the end zone and intercepted. Whyle hauled in four receptions for a total of 79 yards.

Tulane (1-6, 0-4) dropped its sixth straight game despite missing starting quarterback Michael Pratt due to a concussion suffered in last week’s defeat against SMU.

Coming back from a knee injury that ended his 2020 season, running back Tyjae Spears carried for 106 yards on 19 runs, including a 47-yard score in the first half.

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Third-string quarterback Tulane started freshman Kai Horton since backup Justin Ibieta was also injured. He threw for 79 yards on seven of his 16 passes. He was sacked four times and intercepted twice.

The Green Wave frequently used direct snaps to running backs in the goal of relieving Horton’s workload while also confusing the Bearcats. While this did not result in a win, it did prevent Cincinnati from putting the game out of reach until the fourth quarter.

 After Cincinnati scored first on Ridder’s 16-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Whyle, Tulane surprisingly surged into the lead in the second quarter with a series of successes that began with linebacker Marvin Moody wrapping up Ridder in the back of the end zone for a safety.  

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Spears’ big TD run on the next play made it 9-7.

The Bearcats answered by driving 80 yards in five plays for a touchdown, highlighted by Whyle’s 28-yard reception, Ridder’s 37-yard scramble, and Ford’s 3-yard touchdown run through a huddle of defenders.

When Evan Prater intercepted Horton’s screen pass in Tulane territory, Cincinnati appeared to be on the verge of pulling away, but Macon Clark intercepted Ridder a few plays later, returning the ball to midfield.