JC French IV completed 21 of 24 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns as part of Cincinnati’s 690 total yards of offense in a 62-10 rout of visiting FCS opponent Western Carolina Saturday night.
Gi’Bran Payne went over 100 yards for a second straight week, running for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries for Cincinnati (2-0), which racked up 418 yards on the ground, 160 of which came in the third quarter. The Bearcats finished with eight rushing touchdowns from seven different players.
The Bearcats trailed briefly before taking a 14-10 lead and going on to score 48 unanswered points to roll to victory. Payne and Zylan Perry each had touchdown runs of 40 yards while Cole Tabb added a 36-yard scoring jaunt in the first half.
Quarterback Lex Thomas completed 23 of 32 passes for 165 yards and ran for a touchdown for Western Carolina (1-2), which totaled just 241 yards.
French, the fifth-year transfer quarterback from Georgia Southern, was nearly perfect in the first half, completing 17 of 18 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns while rushing six times for 44 yards. He also finished the game with 52 yards rushing on seven carries. He was pulled for backup Liam O’Brien late in the third.
Backed up to his own 15 with 1:44 remaining in the first half, French moved the Bearcats 85 yards down the field in 66 seconds, highlighted by a 50-yard bomb down the left sideline to JV Gibson that put the Bearcats in business at the WCU 3. Gibson wound up with five catches on five targets in the first half for 79 yards.
The Catamounts showed fight early in the game on offense, converting a fourth down at the Cincinnati 44 on their opening possession. That drive ended with a Bryan McCollum 33-yard field goal to give Western Carolina its only lead 6:03 into the game.
After Cincinnati took a 14-3 advantage, the Catamounts mounted a 75-yard drive in 11 plays, capped off by a 1-yard Thomas run to cut the margin to 14-10 with 6:23 left in the half.