Cincinnati shakes early mistakes as Pike's 2 part-time TDs doom WVU

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• SC Highlight Of The Night
• Speed Games: West Virginia vs. Cincinnati

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Cincinnati recovered WVU's onside kick with 0:39 left to secure the ball and a 24-21 win. Gameball goes to... Isaiah Pead. The Bearcats running back rushed for 175 yards and scored one TD. Stat of the game... 1. Cincinnati's run as the only FBS team to not lose a fumble ended in the first quarter. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	22	18
Total Yards	390	437
Passing	188	221
Rushing	202	216
Penalties	4-25	4-39
3rd Down Conversions	5-12	3-8
4th Down Conversions	0-1	0-0
Turnovers	0	2
Possession	34:23	25:37

Air/Ground Leaders
West Virginia Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Brown 17/25 188 1 0	Cincinnati Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Collaros 17/24 205 0 1 Pike 2/4 16 2 0
West Virginia Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Devine 25 88 0 11 Clarke 5 60 1 37	Cincinnati Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Pead 18 175 1 52 Collaros 10 44 0 14
West Virginia Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Starks 5 50 1 17 Sanders 4 42 0 21	Cincinnati Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Binns 5 62 1 14 Robinson 3 59 0 27

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				WVU	CIN
	TD	09:56	Armon Binns 10 Yd Pass From Tony Pike (Jake Rogers Kick)	0	7
	TD	03:19	Jarrett Brown 8 Yd Run (Tyler Bitancurt Kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER				WVU	CIN
	TD	08:05	Ryan Clarke 37 Yd Run (Tyler Bitancurt Kick)	14	7
	TD	05:26	Isaiah Pead 2 Yd Run (Jake Rogers Kick)	14	14
THIRD QUARTER				WVU	CIN
	TD	11:07	D.J. Woods 6 Yd Pass From Tony Pike (Jake Rogers Kick)	14	21
FOURTH QUARTER				WVU	CIN
	FG	02:08	Jake Rogers 38 Yd	14	24
	TD	00:39	Bradley Starks 3 Yd Pass From Jarrett Brown (Tyler Bitancurt Kick)	21	24

Photo Wire
	Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros throws against West Virginia in the third quarter during an NCAA college... (AP Photo/David Kohl) · View Photo · Photo Gallery

CINCINNATI -- Far from perfect, No. 5 Cincinnati was good enough to stay unbeaten. Now the Bearcats can try to run the table with their senior quarterback throwing the ball.

Tony Pike threw two touchdown passes in a cameo appearance Friday night, and the Bearcats overcame a self-destructive first half to beat West Virginia 24-21 for the best start in school history.

Cincinnati (10-0, 6-0 Big East) struggled offensively because of uncharacteristic mistakes -- a fumble, a dropped touchdown pass, a missed field goal and an interception -- all in the first half. In the clutch, the Bearcats were good enough in front of the biggest crowd in Nippert Stadium's history.

Fast Facts

• Cincinnati started a season 10-0 for the first time in school history and became the first FBS team to 10 wins this season.

• Isaiah Pead was the first Bearcat to rush for 100-plus yards in the first half in the last five seasons (Richard Hall did it twice in 2004).

• Cincinnati had 3 consecutive double-digit win seasons under head coach Brian Kelly. Prior to Kelly's arrival, Cincinnati had one season with double-digit wins (1951).

• The Bearcats' 31 wins over the last three seasons are tied with Florida, Texas, and Boise State for the most in the FBS over that span.

• Noel Devine became the fifth player in WVU history to rush for 3,000 yards in his career.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

"It's unbelievable how much winning can change a city and how much a city can rally behind you," said Pike, who was 2-of-4 for 16 yards and the two touchdowns.

A pair of sophomores who opened the season as backups led them through.

Isaiah Pead ran for a career-high 175 yards, and Zach Collaros threw for 205 yards in his fourth start for Pike, who is recovering from an injury to his non-throwing arm.

"We definitely shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times in the first half," said Collaros, who was 17-of-24. "We came back to the sideline and said, 'They're not stopping us. As long as we keep doing what we do and take care of business the way we have the last nine games, we'll be all right.'"

West Virginia (7-3, 3-2) took advantage of the mistakes to keep it close, but couldn't break through.

The Mountaineers wasted a chance with 5:23 left, going for it on fourth-and-8 from the Cincinnati 24-yard line. Jarrett Brown's pass into the end zone while under pressure fell incomplete.

"I was going for the win," coach Bill Stewart said. "It was going to be tough to stop them. We really hadn't stopped them all night. I couldn't go for the field goal. I figured the game would go to the end."

Pead cut across the field on a 43-yard run on the next play that put Cincinnati in position to take control. Jake Rogers' 38-yard field goal made it 24-14 with 2:08 left. Brown's touchdown pass against a soft defense cut it to 24-21 with 39 seconds left and West Virginia out of timeouts.

Cincinnati's Armon Binns recovered the onside kick to finish it off.

"Every loss hurts, but this is a very tough loss," fullback Ryan Clarke said. "This kind of loss really hits you."

Pike's return got the Bearcats going.

The senior quarterback damaged the plate in his left forearm a month ago, forcing the inexperienced Collaros to run the offense for the last four games. With a protective brace on his left arm, Pike got back on the field Friday and made an instant impact.

He completed Cincinnati's opening drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Binns on his first snap. He also came off the bench and finished the Bearcats' opening drive of the second half with a 6-yard scoring pass to D.J. Woods, a throw zipped between defenders that made it 21-14.

"You couldn't ask for anything better," Pike said. "I got a great ovation. You couldn't write a better script, coming in on the first play and throwing a touchdown."

Coach Brian Kelly figured it was a good spot for Pike because the Mountaineers wouldn't blitz Pike.

To throw a touchdown on the first pass?

"I don't know if anybody's ever done that before," Kelly said. "It was kind of crazy."

Brown played with a sprained foot and came up limping at times, but made enough important plays to keep it close. Noel Devine, the Big East's second-leading rusher, played with a sore ankle and ran for 88 yards. He was on the sideline getting his left ankle retaped during the Mountaineers' decisive drive that came up empty.

Cincinnati had been the only team in the Bowl Subdivision that hadn't lost a fumble this season. The streak ended when tight end Adrien Robinson coughed it up at midfield after a catch, setting up West Virginia's first score.

The Bearcats had another self-destructive drive in the second quarter, when Robinson dropped a pass in the end zone and Rogers then missed a field goal after a bad snap, keeping it tied.

Not for long. Clarke broke a 37-yard run on a third-and-short play, putting the Mountaineers up 14-7 midway through the second quarter. Cincinnati hadn't trailed since the third game of the season at Oregon State.

There were more Bearcat blunders to come.

Pead fumbled while diving over the pile and stretching the ball toward the goal line, with West Virginia recovering. The call was overturned on review, which indicated the ball crossed the goal line before he lost it.

Collaros forced a pass that was picked off just before the break for his first interception in his four starts, leaving it tied 14-14 at halftime.