On senior day the Pirates welcomed Cincinnati. The Bearcats came in ranked 4th in the country. Making this the first ever game featuring a group of five team that was ranked in the top four in the college football playoff rankings. The Bearcat defense showed why they are ranked so high by holding a Pirate offense that is was averaging 446.9 yards a game to just 282 yards.
Early there was a lot of excitement before the scoring started. On ECU’s first possession Royor Ryan blocked a Jonn Young Punt which lead to a missed field goal by Bearcats kicker, Alex Bales. ECU answered with a 12 play 56-yard drive that ended in the reining AAC special teams player of the week Owen Daffer hitting a 35-yard field goal to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead. The Bearcats quickly answered when Desmond Ridder hit Leonard Taylor for a 44-yard touchdown pass, that started a 21-0 run to end the half. The Bearcats lead 21-3 at the break. The big story of the first half was Pirate receivers had no receptions on four targets.
After a 3rd quarter that only saw a Pirate field goal. Arquon Bush blocked a Daffer field goal attempt, and Ahmad Gardner returned it 60-yards for a Bearcat score early in the 4th. The Bearcats bleed out the clock for the remainder of the game and held on to win 35-13.
For Cincinnati they hope to be the first group of five team to make the college football playoff. They play Houston next week in the AAC championship game and a win would go a long way in accomplishing that goal. But in the end it’s still up the the committee. The Pirates despite a disappointing loss still have a game to play as well. ECU will play in a bowl game for the first time since the 2014 season. The who what when where is yet to be announced, but according to Pirate linebacker Aaron Ramseur the Pirates still have unfinished business.