By: Jack Ritchie
In a sea of red in Nippert Stadium on Saturday, the Cincinnati Bearcats defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils in their first matchup as members of the Big 12 conference. It was a homecoming for the Bearcats after a long stint away from home, and it was one to remember as the Cats won 24-14.
After a quick punt by Cincinnati on their opening drive of the game, the Sun Devils took their first possession of the game all the way down for an opening score to lead 7-0 with 10:35 left in the first. The Bearcats, who have been a dominant team in the first half all season long, were quick to respond. After a fumble by ASU, Brendan Sorsby scored on a 14-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7. Five minutes later, Nathan Hawks drilled a 46-yard field goal to put Cincinnati up 17-7 with two remaining in the first quarter.
Later, in the second quarter, Ohio State transfer running back Evan Pryor scored on a 55-yard touchdown run, his fourth of the season. Sorsby then scored his second rushing touchdown of the day to go up 24-7 with two minutes remaining in the first half. Arizona State scored on a Cam Skattebo touchdown, who scored twice. He was the one positive takeaway from ASU’s offense as overall as a unit they struggled.
However, Cincy’s defense was the focal point to the victory on Saturday. The Bearcats defense held Arizona State to 4-12 on third downs. The most impressive stat line from Saturday’s Win for the defense was the turnovers forced. This included two turnovers on downs, one fumble, and two missed goals. Coach Satterfield said in his postgame interview, “We had some new guys in some new positions, so it was great to see the defense step up and understand what we are trying to do.”
Arizona State started backup quarterback Jeff Sims instead of injured starter Sam Leavitt. Leavitt suffered an injury during the second quarter of the Utah game. Cincinnati held Sims to a 52% completion percentage and 155 yards through the air. The defensive line also sacked Sims twice.
Even though Cincinnati’s passing offense wasn’t as efficient as usual, as Sorsby threw for 206 yards. Sorsby was averaging 287 yards a game going into Saturday’s game, but he did more of his damage on the ground, running for 26 yards and two touchdowns. Even though Sorsby’s numbers don’t pop off the stat sheet, Satterfield still had high praise for his quarterback. “Sorsby was good again today. We had a problem getting the ball down the field like the deep ones, but he was very efficient getting underneath and getting chunk plays and first downs.”
Cincinnati improves to (5-2) overall and has its biggest game up to this point next week in Boulder. Colorado (5-2) is led by two top NFL draft prospects, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. A win against some of the best talent in not only the conference but the whole nation would change the dynamic of the season. Next week’s game will be a 10:30 kickoff on ESPN on Saturday.
(Image from Cincinnati.com)