NCAA Game Summary - Eastern Michigan At Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH -- Dustin Grutza threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a third to lead the Cincinnati Bearcats past the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 28-26, at Nippert Stadium.
Grutza completed 17-of-26 pass attempts for 176 yards for Cincinnati (1-0). Grutza also rushed for 49 yards on seven carries.
Eastern Michigan (0-1) was led by quarterback Matt Bohnet who completed 22- of-33 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. Bohnet was the Eagles leading rusher with 65 yards on ten carries.
Grutza drew first blood for the Bearcats when he threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Antwuan Giddens to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.
The Eagles answered with a 20-yard field goal by Andrew Wellock which cut Cincinnati's advantage to 7-3 with 5:59 left in the opening frame.
Cincinnati pushed its edge to 14-3 when Grutza connected with Greg Moore on a 38-yard touchdown toss late in the first quarter.
Eastern Michigan was up to the challenge as they closed out the first half with 17 unanswered points. Bohnet threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Eric Deslauriers, Tim Conner scored on a four-yard scamper and Wellock booted a 38- yard field goal to give the Eagles a 20-14 advantage with 1:44 left in the stanza.
The Bearcats scored 14-straight points to open the second half. Grutza scored on a 21-yard touchdown scamper and Bradley Glatthaar found the end zone on an 11-yard scoring run to give Cincinnati a 28-20 lead with 13:13 left to play in the fourth quarter.
Conner responded for the Eagles with a 33-yard touchdown run that was followed by a failed two-point conversion attempt which cut the Bearcats' advantage to 28-26 with 10:59 left in the ball game.
Cincinnati had 469 total offensive yards in the contest while it held the Eagles to 316 total yards.