Cincinnati Bearcats vs West Virginia Mountaineers Football Recap

West Virginia 24, Cincinnati 21

Following the Big East Conference in 2011 is a study in intellectual and visual whiplash. Necks have been jerked around and heads have been spinning in an attempt to make sense of unadulterated chaos. It made perfect sense, then, that on Saturday afternoon at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, the first-place team in the Big East regressed precisely when its moment of profound opportunity arrived. It made perfect sense that the preseason favorite in the league, descending into despair, rescued its campaign precisely when all appeared to be lost.

This is the world of college football's most volatile BCS conference: With a chance to all but wrap up the Big East title and a third trip to a BCS bowl game in four years, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for Cincinnati. In a tough, back-and-forth game, the Bearcats battled with West Virginia, but were unable to come up with enough offense late in the game and fell by three points. The offense stalled because its primary weapon, quarterback Zach Collaros, was forced out of the game midway through the third quarter with what was later determined to be a fractured ankle. His replacement, Munchie Legaux, came off the bench and completed just 10 of 21 passes for 144 yards but also added 77 yards on the ground. Trailing 24-21 late in regulation, Legaux led the Bearcats into position to attempt a game tying field goal, but it was blocked, sealing the win for West Virginia and moving the Mountaineers back into contention for the Big East title. Cincinnati coach Butch Jones approached the final drive with extreme and - one could say - excessive caution for the Bearcats. By shrinking the playbook and going conservative, Jones essentially played for the tie. When UC's field goal was blocked, Jones had to confront the cold truth: He did not coach to win.

The victory came in an unlikely fashion for West Virginia. The Mountaineers are much more suited for shootouts and games that are higher scoring. Still, mired in a game where both teams moved the ball well between the thirty yard lines but didn’t have much to show for it, West Virginia was able to score late and block the game tying field goal to hold on for dear life. The offense was ineffective on the ground (it was held to just 32 yards rushing), but quarterback Geno Smith continued to flourish, scorching the Bearcats for 372 yards and a touchdown. His passing allowed the Mountaineers to control the ball and enjoy a rarity: a six minute advantage in the time of possession. West Virginia now needs just one more Cincinnati loss to move back into a tie for first place in the Big East.

We'll see if the Mountaineers can actually maintain their winning ways, however. Nothing good (or bad) seems to last very long in this corner of the college football cosmos.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer