Ben Bryant threw four touchdowns in a dominant first half and host Cincinnati rolled to a 45-24 victory over previously unbeaten Indiana on Saturday.
Bryant completed 24 of 40 passes for a career-best 354 yards. He threw three of his four TDs to Tyler Scott and also recorded his third 300-yard passing performance since joining Cincinnati as a transfer from Eastern Michigan after last season.
Scott finished with career highs of 10 receptions for 185 yards. Scott had a 75-yard TD in the first quarter before hauling in a 34-yard scoring pass and a 32-yard TD pass in a span of 4:01 when Cincinnati (3-1) scored three times in the final 4:33 before halftime.
The Bearcats won their third straight and got their second straight win over Indiana in the first meeting in Cincinnati between the schools since 1998.
Indiana’s Connor Bazelak, who began Saturday with the second-lowest completion rate (56.6) in the Big Ten, completed 31 of 66 passes and threw two TD along with two interceptions. He threw over 50 times for the third time in four games.
Indiana running back Shaun Shivers ran 19 times for 79 yards and had a pair of TDs, including a 47-yard rushing score early in the fourth quarter as the Hoosiers (3-1) tried to stage a fourth straight comeback.
After Bryon Threats intercepted Bazelak and returned it 28 yards, the Bearcats took a 3-0 lead on Ryan Coe’s 24-yard field goal with six minutes remaining in the first. Indiana got inside the red zone a little over four minutes later and tied it on a 27-yard field goal by Charles Campbell
Bryant found Scott for their first TD with one minute left in the first and connected with Tre Tucker for a 5-yard TD with about 12:36 minutes to go in the second for a 17-3 lead. Josh Henderson’s 19-yard TD got Indiana within 17-10 midway through the second but the Bearcats began dominating and took a 38-10 lead when Bazelak was sacked by Eric Phillips for an 11-yard loss, fumbled and it was recovered by Dominique Perry for a 14-yard TD with 22 seconds left in the half.
Shivers brought Indiana within 38-17 when he caught a 2-yard pass with 10:23 left in the third before getting his second TD 59 seconds into the fourth.
–Field Level Media
