Mauk gets Bearcats to 10-win mark, knock off Southern Miss
Monday, December 24th, 2007The Bearcats used two words to ground Southern Miss in the Papajohns.com Bowl on Saturday night: Ben Mauk.
Mauk completed 30-of-52 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns as No. 22 Cincinnati defeated Southern Miss 31-31 in the second annual Papajohns.com Bowl on Saturday.
The win was Cincinnati’s 10th of the season, marking only the second time the Bearcats recorded 10 wins in a season, in school history. The only other time Cincinnati previously won 10 games in a season was 1951.
Mauk was named the game’s most valuable player, becoming only the third quarterback to pass for over 3,000 yards at Cincinnati. The loss for Southern Miss (7-6) was a tough pill to swallow. It was the final game for head coach Jeff Bower guiding the Golden Griffins, after having spent 17 seasons at the helm at his alma mater.
Southern Miss started the bowl game off on a good note, taking an early 7-0 lead on a Jeremy Young 10-yard touchdown strike to Shawn Nelson. Their early lead, however, would be short lived.
The Bearcats stormed back, scoring 21 unanswered points. Two touchdown passes from Mauk to Dominick Goodman (14 yards, 5 yards) and a 29-yard pass to Earnest Jackson put Cincinnati on top 21-3.
Mauk essentially ended the game in the third quarter, putting the Bearcats up 28-14 with a 10-yard strike to Antwuan Giddens.
Jeremy Young finished the day 18-of-32, passing for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he was intercepted three times, all three by Cincinnati’s DeAngelo Smith. Damion Fletcher gashed the Bearcats run defense, rushing for 150 yards on 22 carries. Entering the game, the Bearcats were holding their opponents to just over 100 yards rushing per game.
The Bearcats get the Big East off on the right foot in this bowl season. Next up for the Big East, UConn will clash with Wake Forest in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 29th at 1 p.m.