Tabb runs for three touchdowns as Cincinnati beats Kansas State 31-26

Cole Tabb scored three rushing touchdowns and Cincinnati beat Kansas State 31-26 on Saturday night at Nippert Stadium. The Bearcats trailed by 10 points early and by seven at halftime, then leaned on Tabb to take control in the third quarter. His 14-yard scoring run with 3:28 left in the fourth gave Cincinnati an 11-point cushion that held up when the Wildcats scored late.

Kansas State made the sharper start. A field goal and a touchdown put the Wildcats ahead 10-0 before Cincinnati's JC French found Malachi Henry for a 39-yard touchdown. A 45-yard Bearcats field goal tied the game, but Avery Johnson hit Derrick Salley Jr. from four yards out before halftime. The Wildcats led 17-10 at the break despite Cincinnati having answered their first surge. ESPN's play-by-play records that scoring sequence and the second-half swing.

Cincinnati changed the game after the interval by running through Tabb. He scored from five yards out to tie it 17-17, then broke a 30-yard touchdown run to put the Bearcats in front 24-17. Kansas State cut the margin with a field goal, leaving the game at 24-20 entering the fourth. Tabb's third score stretched the lead to 31-20, a crucial margin because the Wildcats still had time for one more drive.

Johnson and the Kansas State offense did score again. Rodney Fields ran in from two yards with 1:15 remaining, but the two-point attempt failed. The Wildcats needed another possession to complete the comeback, and Cincinnati finished with the five-point win. Johnson threw for 292 yards and a touchdown; Salley caught seven passes for 140 yards. Kansas State generated 447 total yards, slightly more than Cincinnati's 436, yet did not regain the lead after Tabb's second score.

The Bearcats' ground game produced 271 yards, setting up Tabb's three touchdowns and giving French relief from having to win the game solely through the air. Gi'Bran Payne added 126 rushing yards on 16 carries, while French completed 8 of 13 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown. Cincinnati's strong rushing total mattered most across the middle of the game, when it turned a seven-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead. ESPN's final box score lists the individual and team totals.

The result came in Cincinnati's Big 12 opener, a home date the university had identified as a night game at Nippert Stadium. Kansas State's late touchdown made the final score close, but Tabb had already provided the separating points. Cincinnati's comeback relied on multiple backs and a decisive third quarter, then survived one final Kansas State push.