Cincinnati 38, Houston 31: Mike Boone rushed for three touchdowns and Gunner Kiel passed for a pair of scores as the host Bearcats held on to capture a share of the American Athletic Conference title.

Kiel completed 15-of-24 passes for 190 yards for Cincinnati (9-3, 7-1 AAC) before leaving with cramps in the third quarter. Munchie Legaux came on to complete 10-of-14 passes for 158 yards – engineering a pair of third-quarter scoring drives – while Boone scored on runs of 5, 1 and 6 yards.

Greg Ward Jr. completed 27-of-45 passes for 360 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Cougars (7-5, 5-3), marching Houston from its 5 to the Cincinnati 11 before his fourth-down pass at the goal line fell incomplete on the game’s final snap. Kenneth Farrow rushed 19 times for 138 yards and a touchdown for Houston, whose defense came in ninth in FBS at 17.8 points per game.

Kiel found Alex Chisum for an 8-yard touchdown with 9:13 remaining in the first half to put the Bearcats ahead 14-7 and, after Kyle Bullard’s 27-yard field goal with 2:45 to go brought Houston within 14-10, Kiel hit Shaq Washington from 12 yards out with 33 seconds left to send Cincinnati into halftime ahead 21-10. Legaux took over on the opening drive of the second half when Kiel cramped up and Boone capped the 11-play march with his 1-yard run to extend the advantage to 18 points.

Ward broke loose on a 40-yard touchdown run with 5:43 to go in the third, but Boone scored from 6 yards out with 15 seconds left in the period to make it 35-17. Ward fired an 89-yard touchdown pass to Markeith Ambles and hit Demarcus Ayers from 26 yards out with 5:27 to go to bring the Cougars within 38-31 before adding runs of 13 and 25 yards on the final drive before throwing three incompletions from the 11 in the final 13 seconds.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Boone opened the scoring with his 5-yard run with 10:01 left in the opening quarter, but the Cougars answered when Farrow’s 9-yard TD capped a 75-yard drive with 6:14 left in the period. … The Bearcats finished tied with Memphis and UCF atop the conference standings. … Houston’s streak of 34 consecutive games with at least one forced turnover ended.