Playing with a soft cast protecting his broken left forearm, junior Tony Pike had one of his finest games Thursday, throwing a pair of touchdown passes and steadying Cincinnati’s offense in a 24-10 victory over No. 24 South Florida.

Pike was sharp in his second game back since he broke his non-passing arm, which is held together by a plate and six screws. A black wrap covered the removable cast that hides a 4-inch scar from the operation and softens the blows. He took several rattling hits and hung in there until the middle of the fourth quarter.

Cincinnati (6-2, 2-1 Big East) looked back to normal with an experienced quarterback running the no-huddle, spread offense again.