Desmond Ridder threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns and No. 5 Cincinnati routed Temple 52-3 on Friday night for its 23rd straight home victory.

Jerome Ford ran for a career-high 149 yards and two scores to help the Bearcats (5-0, 1-0 American) avoid a letdown after their big victory at Notre Dame last week.

The home streak is the second-longest in the country, behind Clemson at 31. Temple is the last team to beat the Bearcats at Nippert Stadium, edging them 35-24 in 2017.

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Temple (3-3, 1-1) has played Cincinnati tough in recent years with the previous three meetings decided by a combined 20 points, including a 15-13 victory by the Bearcats in the last meeting in 2019.

The Bearcats figured to get off to a fast start against Temple, which was outscored 50-7 in the first quarter through the first five games.

They took advantage of a Temple mistake when Jadan Blue's muffed punt was recovered by Ja'von Hicks at the 13. Two plays later, Alec Pierce caught a 9-yard touchdown pass for a 10-0 lead. Pierce had six catches for 93 yards.

Ford had an 8-yard touchdown run to help the Bearcats build a 17-3 lead at halftime.

On the first snap of the second half, Ford found a gaping hole and sprinted 75 yards for a touchdown that made it 24-3.

Temple muffed another punt and the Bearcats cashed in with Tyler Scott's 38-yard catch-and-run touchdown that made it 31-3.

D'wan Mathis who threw for 614 yards and five touchdowns in Temple's previous two games, was held to 120 yards passing with an interception. He was sacked five times.

The Owls’ only points came on a career-long 55-yard field goal by freshman Rory Bell. It was the longest field goal by a Temple kicker since Don Bitterlich hit from 56 yards against Akron in 1975.

UP NEXT

Temple: At South Florida on Oct. 23.

Cincinnati: Hosts Central Florida on Saturday, Oct. 16.