NCAA Game Summary - Cincinnati at Rutgers

Piscataway, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Brendan Kay threw for a career-high 405 yards and four touchdowns, as the Cincinnati Bearcats throttled Rutgers, 52-17, in American Athletic Conference play at High Point Solutions Stadium.

MeKale McKay (3 catches, 124 yards) caught three touchdown passes to help the Bearcats (8-2, 5-1 AAC) to their fifth straight win. McKay was one of three Cincinnati players to go over 100 yards receiving, joining teammates Anthony McClung (7-115) and Shaq Washington (6-123-1). Washington also threw a touchdown pass, while Chris Moore added a pair of TD catches and finished with 75 yards receiving. Jordan Luallen threw for a touchdown and ran for another in the victory.

The Scarlet Knights (5-4, 2-3) entered the day needing one more win to become bowl eligible. Instead, they were dominated on both sides of the ball. Paul James ran for 78 hard-fought yards on 19 carries, while Gary Nova completed only 18-of-38 passes for 170 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Cincinnati opened the game with a 10-play drive to set up a 30-yard field goal by Tony Miliano.

On the first play of the ensuing possession, Nova was intercepted by Cincinnati's Leviticus Payne at the Scarlet Knights' 36-yard line. Two plays later, Kay found McKay for a 24-yard touchdown pass to give the Bearcats a quick 10-0 lead.

Rutgers got on the scoreboard at the 3:22 mark of the first quarter on a 16- yard touchdown pass from Nova to Brandon Coleman.

However, Cincinnati responded with four unanswered touchdowns to go into the half up big. Kay and McKay hooked up again, this time for a 66-yard scoring strike just three plays after Coleman's TD grab.

The Bearcats then attempted an on-side kick and recovered it. They needed only four plays to tack on another first-quarter touchdown, as Washington found Moore for a 28-yard score to make it a 24-7 game.

Luallen scored on a nine-yard run at the 10:36 mark of the second quarter to push the Bearcats' lead to 31-7. Kay followed that up with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Washington with 4:16 to play until intermission.

Rutgers was unable to close the gap in the second half. A 14-yard TD pass from Kay to Moore represented the only scoring of the third quarter.

McKay caught a 34-yard touchdown from Luallen in the final frame, and Rutgers tacked on a late field goal and a touchdown to account for the final margin.

Cincinnati gained 422 of its 619 total yards in the first half.