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Game Recap
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Ben Mauk and No. 20 Cincinnati spoiled Jeff Bower's farewell. Mauk passed for 334 yards and four touchdowns and DeAngelo Smith intercepted three passes Saturday, leading the Bearcats to a 31-21 win over Southern Miss and its outgoing coach in the Papajohns.com Bowl. The victory gave Cincinnati (10-3) its second 10-win season and first since 1951, while virtually assuring a spot in the final rankings for the first time. Full story | GameCenter | Glog
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Key Players
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Ben Mauk, Cincinnati, QB |
| In his final college game, the quarterback shook off three interceptions to throw for 334 and four touchdowns, including two first-half scores to Dominick Goodman. |
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Damion Fletcher, Southern Miss, RB |
| The sophomore running back had a game-high 155 yards on 29 carries and also had seven receptions for 50 yards in the loss. |
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Notes
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Cincinnati: Cincinnati improved to 6-4 overall in bowl games ... Ben Mauk became only the third Bearcats player to have a 3,000-yard passing season ... With two more interceptions against Southern Mississippi, Cincinnati created 41 turnovers this season.
Southern Mississippi: Jeff Bower, who coached his first game at Southern Mississippi in 1990, coached his final game after 15 winning seasons ... The Eagles fall to 8-8 all time in bowl games.
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Quotable
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"I really wish we could have gotten that onside kick. If we could have got that, we would have had great momentum. I thought we had a great chance to get that. It looked like it went right under one of our guy's legs."
-- Former Southern Miss head coach Jeff Bower
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Cincinnati celebrates after beating Southern Miss in the Papajohns.com Bowl. (AP)
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