Cincinnati 54, East Carolina 46: Andrew Gantz drilled a go-ahead 47-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining as the host Bearcats rallied past the Pirates to move into a first-place tie atop the American Athletic Conference.

Cincinnati held a 11-point advantage with less than five minutes to go after Gunner Kiel threw his fourth touchdown pass, but East Carolina needed just over a minute to close the gap to five before the Bearcats fumbled on a fourth-down play in their own territory. The Pirates scored again with 1:02 left to pull ahead 46-45, but allowed the Bearcats to cover 35 yards on seven plays in 47 seconds to set up Gantz’s winning kick.

Kiel was responsible for four turnovers but threw for a career-high 436 yards and four touchdowns for Cincinnati (6-3, 4-1 AAC), which added a fumble recovery for a touchdown as time expired to account for the final score and pulled even with Memphis atop the conference. Shane Carden finished with 418 yards passing and three total touchdowns (one rushing) while Justin Hardy recorded a season-high 15 catches for 181 yards.

Marquez Grayson and Hardy scored within a span of 1:31 to give East Carolina (6-3, 3-2) its first lead at 20-17 with 7:36 left in the second quarter, but Kiel’s second touchdown throw four plays later put the Bearcats back in front. Short scoring runs from Rodriguez Moore (2 yards) near the end of the first half and Mike Boone (3) on the first possession of the third quarter stretched Cincinnati’s advantage to 38-20, but Breon Allen answered with a 40-yard sprint and Hardy’s second TD catch early in the fourth quarter closed the gap.

The Bearcats countered with Mekale McKay’s 36-yard score on a fourth-and-six play with 4:47 left before Carden needed just over a minute to rally the Pirates with his 7-yard toss to Cam Worthy. Cincinnati attempted to run the clock out by trying to convert on fourth-and-2 at its own 33, but Kiel fumbled and the Pirates used a pass-interference call on a fourth-down play moments later before Carden ran it in from 2 yards out to give East Carolina a one-point lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: East Carolina (333) and Cincinnati (393) combined for 726 of their 1,158 total yards in the first half. … The Bearcats have scored at least 34 points in five straight contests in the same season for the first time since 2007. … Hardy (346 career receptions) moved within three catches of the all-time FBS record held by former Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles (349, 2008-11).