Cincinnati Bearcats Football: Isaiah Pead Leads Bearcats to Liberty Bowl Victory

The Big East offensive player of the year showed up yesterday in a big way for the Cincinnati Bearcats as they defeated Vanderbilt 31-24 to win the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Isaiah Pead carried the ball 28 times for 149 yards and his touchdown with just under two minutes to go gave Cincinnati a 10-point lead and put the game out of reach.

The win helped the Bearcats finish 10-3, only the fifth 10-win season in the history of the program and the third for this group of seniors.

Cincinnati knew they would have to rely heavily on Pead coming into the game with their team leader and senior quarterback Zach Collaros coming back from a broken ankle.

It couldn't have worked out more perfectly for Pead and the Bearcats as he came back from an apparent hamstring injury toward the end of the third quarter to put the game away with the cutback touchdown. 

The cutback is something that Pead has mastered over his four years in Cincinnati.

His great vision and ability to make people miss in the open field is something Cincinnati has not seen from a running back in a long time.

Pead finished the season with 1,239 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. The best single season of his career and a year that will likely help vault him into the NFL. 

With 319 yards receiving on 39 receptions and three touchdowns, Pead totaled 15 touchdowns on the year.

He finishes his career as one of the great running backs the University of Cincinnati has ever seen.

His 3,288 career yards rank him third all-time at Cincinnati and his 33 career touchdowns are something to take note of.

Pead also averaged 6.0 yards per carry for his entire four-year career. No Bearcats running back has ever put up numbers like that.

Succeeding at the next level is now something Pead can concentrate on.

Cincinnati will have to find a way next season to replace Pead.

He will certainly be missed, but he will be known forever as one of the guys who helped put Bearcat football on the map.