JC French IV ran for three touchdowns and threw for another in his Cincinnati debut as quarterback to lead the Cincinnati Bearcats past the Boston College Eagles 34-15 Saturday in Cincinnati.
French completed 10 of 14 passes for 77 yards for the Bearcats (1-0), who won their 25th straight home opener. Another transfer quarterback, Mason McKenzie, led Boston College (0-1) with 78 yards rushing on 20 carries, while completing 18 of 35 passes for 224 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Gi’Bran Payne finished with 108 yards rushing on 14 carries for Cincinnati.
Special teams played a big role in the first half as Cincinnati converted a fake punt that led to a touchdown and drilled a long field goal.
Cincinnati kicker Stephen Rusnak converted a 54-yard field goal with just more than eight minutes remaining in the first quarter for the first points of the game.
The biggest play came in the second quarter, with both offenses struggling badly to find any rhythm. With Cincinnati facing a fourth-and-5 at its own 39, Malachi Henry completed a 9-yard pass to punter Max Fletcher. Six plays later, French found JV Gibson for a 4-yard slant for a touchdown and a 10-0 Cincinnati lead.
Boston College appeared to score late in the first half when Brady Clough caught a pass near the goal line, lost the ball and recovered it in the end zone. Officials ruled the pass incomplete, though, and the call stood after review.
French led the Bearcats on a pair of touchdown drives to open the second half, with each capped by a quarterback keeper that put Cincinnati up 24-0.
Boston College finally broke through late in the third quarter, thanks in part to a roughing-the-passer call on third down. Evan Dickens ran in a 4-yard score, and McKenzie ran in the two-point conversion to make it a two-possession game heading into the fourth quarter. But Cincinnati held Boston College scoreless inside the 10-yard line on four tries, capping the red-zone stop with a sack of McKenzie on fourth down with 9:06 remaining in the game.
Cincinnati outscored Boston College 10-7 the rest of the way, with French adding his third rushing touchdown.
–Field Level Media
