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BOX SCORE
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The few thousand fans who stuck it out to the
astonishing end stormed the field and reveled in the moment.
Down by 17 points entering the fourth quarter, Cincinnati took
advantage of one break after another to beat Southern
Mississippi (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 24 AP) 27-24 on Saturday.
|  | | QB Jeff Kelly fumbled the ball after being sacked by Cincinnati's Kirk Thompson -- one of 5 Southern Miss turnovers in the second half. |
Deontey Kenner threw two touchdown passes in a 61-second span
and Jonathan Ruffin -- a Lou Groza Award finalist -- made both of his
field-goal attempts for the Bearcats' sweetest win of the season.
"There's jubilation in our locker room," coach Rick Minter
said. "With where we've been, we're on the mountaintop right
now."
Cincinnati (74, 5-2 Conference USA) won five of its last six
games to get in line for one of the conference's four bowl berths.
The Bearcats were waiting to see where they're headed.
"That's the only euphoria missing in that locker room, to know
where we're going," Minter said. "We'll be gracious to go
anywhere."
While the Bearcats and their fans lingered on the field and
hugged, Southern Miss (7-3, 4-2) stood on the sideline stunned for
a few minutes, shed a few tears and then walked off slowly.
The Golden Eagles let a 24-7 lead get away by fumbling three
times and throwing a pair of interceptions, deciding a ragged game
filled with controversy, penalties and mistakes.
Offensive lineman Billy Clay was still wearing his white No. 55
jersey and still fighting back tears 25 minutes after the game.
"I don't know. This is my last year -- it is for a lot of us,"
the senior said. "There were a lot of things we were still
fighting for -- 10 wins, getting into the Top 10 maybe. We had a lot
to play for. That hurts bad. It looked like we let up."
More accurately, they fumbled around.
After a pair of Cincinnati fumbles helped Southern Miss score a
pair of touchdowns in a 41-second span for a 24-7 lead, the Golden
Eagles let it get away.
Dewayne Woods' fumble set up Deontey Kenner's 8-yard touchdown
pass. On the next play, Jeff Kelly couldn't find anyone open and
wound up fumbling. Moments later, Kenner threw a 15-yard touchdown
pass to Tye Keith and Cincinnati sensed that things had changed
dramatically.
"When our defense got us that first (fumble), I said that we
had the momentum," Keith said.
Ruffin's 41-yard field goal tied it at 24, and Gerry Ruff
intercepted Kelly at the 50 with 2:26 left to set up the winning
kick.
Ruffin hit a 31-yard attempt with 45 seconds left. The Bearcats'
29th field goal of the season matched UCLA's record from 1984.
Southern Miss botched a lateral on the kickoff return, leaving
the Golden Eagles on their 23. After Kelly ran twice, his last pass
was picked off by Ruff as time ran out.
Southern Miss had turned the game and grabbed the momentum late
in the first half with a little trickery -- a fake punt that led to
a long-winded dispute.
Tight end Bobby Garner threw to linebacker Joe Henley for a
29-yard gain, but the officials initially ruled that linebacker
Terrell Paul was downfield illegally.
Southern Miss called a timeout to argue its case and the
officials changed the call, ruling Paul was an eligible receiver.
Minter and his assistants came onto the field screaming about the
reversal.
Southern Miss also got back its timeout, though the change
wasn't reflected on the scoreboard.
It became another point of contention when Southern Miss got to
the 1 and called a timeout with 11 seconds left even though the
scoreboard indicated it had none left. Kelly threw a touchdown pass
to Woods on the next play for a 10-3 lead.
Minter and the Bearcats assistants encircled back judge Gerry
Bram along the sideline, waving their arms angrily and holding up
four fingers as they argued that Southern Miss had gotten an extra
timeout.
That sequence seemed to take the fight out of the Bearcats, who
quickly fell behind in the third quarter and seemed to be
down-and-out until Southern Miss got sloppy.
"It's very disappointing," Henley said. "Everybody's quiet.
We just want to get dressed and get out of here."
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Southern Mississippi Clubhouse
Cincinnati Clubhouse
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