East Carolina 48, UC 34

Sunday, November 14, 1999
East Carolina 48, UC 34
Kenner injured; will miss finale

BY KEVIN BRAFFORD
Enquirer contributor

UC QB Deontey Kenner is carried off on a stretcher.
(AP photo)

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GREENVILLE, N.C. — It didn't take long to know this wasn't going to be Cincinnati's day. It took just 2:47. That's when East Carolina's Keith Stokes scored on a 94-yard punt return.
The stunned Bearcats never recovered and fell 48-34 to the No.24 Pirates, a result that took an even somber turn when junior quarterback Deontey Kenner was taken off the field in a stretcher midway through the third quarter.
Kenner was driven into the grass by East Carolina's Chris Howell after releasing a pass. He complained of pain in the back of his skull and was taken to Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where neck and cervical X-rays were negative. He was held overnight for observation and additional testing.
He's expected to return to Cincinnati today. When he does, he'll do so with his right thumb in a cast, that courtesy of the same play. It'll keep him out of next Saturday's season finale at Nippert Stadium against Memphis (4-6, 3-2).

Robert Cooper passed 1,000 yards.
(AP photo)

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The game against the Tigers will represent the Bearcats' (3-7, 0-5) last chance for a Conference USA win. The loss to the Pirates (8-2, 4-2) was UC's sixth in its last seven games.
“They just did a better job than we did,” said UC coach Rick Minter. “They're more talented than we are. That was evident.”
The Bearcats had been within a play or two of winning each of their other C-USA games. That wasn't the case this time. East Carolina, still stinging from being upset by Alabama-Birmingham, followed Stokes' return by scoring on four of its next five possessions — and missing a field goal on the fifth.
“I thought our execution offensively in the first half was very good,” East Carolina coach Steve Logan said. “We built on the momentum of the punt return.”
By halftime, the Bearcats trailed 31-9, with one of the few bright spots being Kenner's 27-yard touchdown pass to LaDaris Vann with 2:58 to play in the second quarter.
The Pirates played the half without having to punt, and amassed 462 yards through a combination of rushing, passing and returns.
Most damaging were the 203 return yards and most surprising was that 131 of those came after UC punts.
The Bearcats came into the game ranked No.1 in the country in net punting at 41.0 yards per attempt.
“That set the tone,” Minter said of the punt return TD.
Minter had watched his special teams shut down Wisconsin's Nick Davis and Alabama-Birmingham's Rodregis Brooks, both among the nation's punt return leaders.
The Bearcats scored twice in the final 2:07 to make the margin respectable. Senior David Bertucci, who replaced Kenner, was on the field enough to throw 23 times in a quarter and a half. He completed 11-of-23 for 139 yards.
“We were trying to get him as many plays as we could,” Minter said. “The comeback showed a little heart and character on our part.”
Vann also showed something. He caught seven passes for 107 yards and added 176 on a school-record eight kickoff returns.
Senior running back Robert Cooper achieved a couple of milestones with his 87 yards rushing on 19 attempts. His first 5 yards gave him 2,500 for his career, just the fifth player in UC history to reach that mark.
And his end-game total put him at 1,041 for the year; he's the first Bearcat to eclipse 1,000 in a single season since David Small in 1993.
Cincinnati ....... 3 6 10 15—34
East Carolina ....... 14 17 10 7—48
First Quarter
ECU—Stokes 94 punt return (Bayes kick), 12:13.
ECU—Burns 8 pass from Garrard (Bayes kick), 7:36.
Cin—FG Judge 44, 3:23.
Second Quarter
ECU—Floyd 4 pass from Garrard (Bayes kick), 13:50.
ECU—Wilson 8 run (Bayes kick), 9:23.
Cin—Vann 27 pass from Kenner (kick failed), 2:58.
ECU—FG Bayes 34, :26.
Third Quarter
ECU—Chappell 62 pass from Garrard (Bayes kick), 13:10.
Cin—FG Judge 33, 9:04.
Cin—Mays 1 run (Judge kick), 6:14.
ECU—FG Bayes 31. 2:43.
Fourth Quarter
ECU—Wilson 24 run (Bayes kick), 8:56.
Cin—Cooper 1 run (Judge kick), 2:07.
Cin—Vann 31 pass from Bertucci (Mays rush), :58.
A—33,912.
CIN ECU
First downs ....... 30 26
Rushes-yards ....... 34-126 45-244
Passing ....... 304 237
Comp-Att-Int ....... 29-57-3 19-30-0
Return Yards ....... 193 243
Punts-Avg. ....... 6-37.3 2-36
Fumbles-Lost ....... 0-0 3-1
Penalties-Yards ....... 3-36 5-52
Time of Possession ....... 33:33 26:27
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Cincinnati, Cooper 19-87, Mays 9-45, Wize 2-14, Bertucci 2-(minus 9), Kenner 2-(minus 11). ECarolina, Henry 16-95, Wilson 15-87, Garrard 8-29, Alston 2-23, Stokes 1-16, team 3-(minus 6).
PASSING—Cincinnati, Kenner 18-32-1-165, Bertucci 11-23-2-139. ECarolina, Garrard 15-23-0-197, Alston 4-7-0-40.
RECEIVING—Cincinnati, Smikle 8-66, Vann 7-107, Coppola 5-63, Collins-Baker 4-24, Keith 3-42, Cooper 2-2. ECarolina, Chappell 3-81, Harris 3-50, Burns 3-25, Powell 3-22, Stokes 3-20, Floyd 2-17, Henry 1-14, Wilson 1-8.

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