Re’Shaun Sanford II rushed for 126 yards and the go-ahead touchdown Saturday, enabling No. 17 Houston to hold off visiting Cincinnati 31-24.
Sanford burst 51 yards off the left side with 5:10 left in the game to snap a tie and allow the Cougars (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) to bounce back from a 21-13 loss to Utah on Oct. 24. Quarterback Conner Weigman was 17 of 24 passing for 227 yards with a pair of scoring strikes, plus a rushing touchdown.
Quarterback JC French IV hit 19 of 30 passes for 217 yards with two touchdowns for the Bearcats (5-4, 2-4). He also rushed for a 1-yard score with 6:21 remaining in the game, briefly tying the score at 24.
However, French ended Cincinnati’s last chance by tossing a backward lateral at the 39 that Zylan Perry couldn’t scoop up. Christian Brathwaite recovered for Houston at the Cougars’ 39 and Houston then ran out the final 2:11 with two first downs on the ground.
The Cougars outgained the Bearcats 468-379, with Makhi Hughes adding 90 yards on 12 carries.
Houston controlled the first quarter, ripping off 72- and 67-yard touchdown drives that ended the same way — via Weigman finding Amare Thomas. The first one was an 8-yard connection that capped a 12-play drive.
After Cincinnati went 3-and-out, it was Weigman and Thomas hooking up again on a 31-yard touchdown for a 14-0 advantage at the 6:23 mark of the first quarter.
The Bearcats finally mustered some pushback with a 13-play, 77-yard march that chewed up 7:02. French cashed it in by finding Cole Tabb for a 17-yard scoring strike on the second play of the second quarter.
Another lengthy drive by Cincinnati resulted in a 28-yard field goal by Stephen Rusnak with 5:55 remaining in the half, chopping the deficit to 14-10. However, the Cougars responded when Weigman scored on a 2-yard run with 2:30 left in the half, finishing off a 75-yard drive. That made it 21-10 at the break.