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Ridder runs, passes No. 19 Cincinnati past No. 16 SMU, 42-13

Desmond Ridder ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 126 yards and a score to help No. 9 Cincinnati beat No. 16 SMU 42-13 on Saturday night in a showdown of unbeaten teams.

Cincinnati (4-0, 2-0 American) played its first game since Oct. 3. The Bearcats had an open date the following weekend and then had their scheduled Oct. 17 home game against Tulsa moved to Dec. 5 because of positive COVID-19 cases at Cincinnati and the quarantining of athletes at the school.

Ridder completed 13 of 21 passes. He had scoring runs of 15, 32 and 91 yards, and threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Josh Whyle to open the scoring.

Gerrid Doaks ran for 105 yards on 20 carries, with touchdown runs of 1 and 35 yards.

Shane Buechele threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Rashee Rice, and Chris Naggar kicked field goals of 26 and 22 yards for SMU (5-1, 2-1). The Mustangs fell short of opening with six straight wins for the second straight season.

THE TAKEAWAY

Cincinnati: The Bearcats joined Houston and Tulsa with 2-0 records atop the conference. With Saturday’s loss by No. 8 Penn State, the Bearcats are in position to move up at least one spot in The Associated Press poll to match their highest ranking of the season.

SMU: Top receiver Reggie Roberson Jr. and No. 1 running back TJ McDaniel were lost for the season to injury in the Oct. 3 win against Memphis. The Mustangs were able to make up for their absences last week in a 37-34 overtime win at Tulane but not against the Bearcats.

UP NEXT

Cincinnati : Hosts Memphis next Saturday.

SMU: Hosts Navy next Saturday.

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25