The University of Cincinnati remained in the hunt for college football's Big East title with a 28-20 win over reeling Louisville on Friday. Quarterback Tony Pike threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns for the No. 22-ranked Bearcats moved half a game ahead of idle West Virginia and No. 21 Pittsburgh in the conference title race. Cincinnati beat West Virginia last week and host Pittsburgh next weekend. Dominick Goodman caught nine passes for 134 yards and a touchdown and John Goebel ran for 77 yards and a score for the Bearcats. Pike, who took over the quarterback job when Dustin Grutza suffered a broken leg, completed 19-of-33 passes in soggy conditions before getting knocked out in the fourth quarter Enter Grutza, who hadn't played since early September. If he was rusty, he didn't show it. Grutza quickly led the Bearcats on a five-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that gave them a 28-20 lead. The key play was a 24-yard pass to Goodman on 3rd-and-5 that moved the ball to the Louisville 43-yard line. Goebel did the rest, zipping 37 yards up the left side on the next play before going in from the 6-yard line for the score. It was more than enough to hold off the mistake-prone Cardinals, who have lost three straight for the first time since 1997. Hunter Cantwell threw for 204 yards and a touchdown but was caught on an attempted fourth-down sneak at the Louisville 35 with less than 4 minutes to go. Cincinnati couldn't extend the lead as Jake Rogers missed his third field goal of the game, but it didn't matter as the Bearcats forced Cantwell into four straight incompletions to beat their rivals for just the second time in 11 tries. – AP __
