CINCINNATI — With the Big East championship already in hand, No. 16 Cincinnati turned its final home game into a ho-hum win that matched a school record.
Tony Pike threw a pair of touchdown passes, and the Bearcats’ senior-laden defense had its way Saturday, setting up a 30-10 victory over Syracuse in the Orange’s final game under coach Greg Robinson.
The Bearcats (10-2, 6-1) are headed to a BCS bowl — likely the Orange or Sugar — for the first time in their history. They clinched the spot when West Virginia lost at Pitt on Friday, taking the drama out of the last home game a day later.
The Bearcats tied the school record with their 10th win, the second straight season they’ve reached the mark. Cincinnati has a game left in Hawaii before heading to its bowl.
The Orange (3-9, 1-6) are headed for an offseason of change. Syracuse went 10-47 in Robinson’s four seasons, including 3-25 in the Big East. He was fired on Nov. 16, effective the end of the season, and the Orange responded by rallying in the fourth quarter to beat Notre Dame 24-23 in South Bend last week.
The Orange wanted to give Robinson a noteworthy send-off in Cincinnati, trying to end a season with back-to-back wins for the first time in six years. Instead, the send-off was as grim as the season.
Cam Dantley, who led two late touchdown drives in South Bend, was back to his pre-Irish form. Early in the fourth quarter, the senior quarterback was 1-for-15 for 5 yards with an interception that set up one of Cincinnati’s touchdowns.
Pike took advantage of a defense that gave a lot of cushion, conceding the short pass. Pike, playing with a plate and six screws in his broken left (non-passing) forearm, finished 28-of-44 for 272 yards. Penalties held the Bearcats back — 10 in all, for 107 yards.
The penalties forced Cincinnati to settle for three field goals by Jake Rogers, who had missed five in a row coming into the game. He connected from 45, 38 and 45 yards.
Fans hurled oranges onto the field after every score, despite warnings over the public address system. Another barrage of citrus hit the field as the clock ran out.
It was a most unanticipated day in Cincinnati.
When the Big East accepted the Bearcats in November 2002, league officials raved about Bob Huggins’ basketball program but didn’t even mention the football team. Huggins’ team seemed to have a much better chance of contending for a title when Cincinnati entered the league in 2005.
Instead, Huggins was ousted, the basketball program has struggled, and the football team has won a title in coach Brian Kelly’s second season.
The Bearcats overcame a lot to get it. Senior quarterback Dustin Grutza broke his lower right leg in the second game, and Pike broke his arm in the fourth. A redshirt freshman got them through the next two games. With his forearm wrapped in a protective cast, Pike has started the past six games, getting better as he went along.
With the game in hand, Grutza came in for Cincinnati’s final drive and handed off on every play.
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