By Bane Rossi
The Bearcats rank 10th in the country in rushing and 18th in rush defense
October 26, 2023
CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati football team heads to Stillwater, Okla., to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT local kick) at Boone Pickens Stadium.
The Bearcats (2-5, 0-4) will be facing a Cowboys (5-2, 3-1) team that is winners of three straight.
UC split its previous two road games, defeating Pitt, 21-21, on Sept. 9, and falling at BYU, 35-27, on Sept. 29.
Cincinnati will be looking to channel its performance against Pitt in an effort to end a five-game losing streak.
The Bearcats fell to Baylor, 32-29, last Saturday at Nippert Stadium. UC trailed by 15 entering the fourth quarter and fought back to have the ball with a chance to win or tie at the end.
“We’re not going to give in, we’re going to keep fighting,” first-year head coach Scott Satterfield said. “I know our players are very proud of their resilience on Saturday. We were down 15 in the fourth quarter, and they didn’t blink. They continued to play, unlike the week before. So that’s growth of a team to keep fighting, keep playing and give us a chance to win. We were down three there on the last drive and had a chance to go but didn’t get it done. So, that is encouraging part with the energy that we had about that.
“We’re going to look forward now to Oklahoma State. We’re going to carry that energy that we had into this game against an outstanding football team.”
The Cowboys are led by running back Ollie Gordon, who rushed for 282 yards and four touchdowns in Oklahoma State’s come-from-behind 48-34 win at West Virginia last Saturday.
Gordon leads the Big 12 in rushing touchdowns (eight) and ranks second in the league in rushing yards (116.6).
The OSU rushing attack will clearly be a tough test for Cincinnati’s rush defense – which ranks first in the Big 12 (94.0 rush yards allowed in four conference games).
The Bearcats’ front seven has been the strength of the team, anchored by preseason All-America nose tackle Dontay “The Godfather” Corleone and fifth-year senior and reigning all-conference first-team selection Jowon Briggs.
UC held Baylor to just 80 rushing yards last weekend, while rattling off 288 rushing yards of its own behind a career-best 103 yards and two touchdowns from redshirt sophomore running back Myles Montgomery and 129 yards from fellow back Corey Kiner.
“We wanted to be able to lean on our running backs in that game, and we did,” Satterfield said. “Those guys, they responded. Both guys getting over 100 yards. It was great to see…We have to get more of that from our running backs. It takes pressure off the offense. It takes pressure off really everybody quite honestly, in an offensive system. If you can turn and hand the ball off and those guys can go, make plays. The offensive line did a really nice job of blocking up front along with our tight ends on Saturday. Those guys did a good job of hitting the hole and making them pay. Anytime you can get two backs over 100 yards, it’s a good day.”
The Bearcats will be looking for a good night on Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.
ON THE AIR
TV: ESPN2
Roy Philpott (PxP), Roddy Jones (Analyst), Taylor McGregor (Sideline)
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Satellite: SiriusXM 380
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WATCH WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCES
Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield, running back Myles Montgomery and offensive guard Luke Kandra met with the media on Tuesday.
CINCINNATI FACES OKLAHOMA STATE FOR FOURTH TIME
Cincinnati will travel to Stillwater, Okla., to face Oklahoma State on Saturday for the fourth time ever and first matchup since 1983. The Bearcats won 22-9 in their only game in Stillwater – the 1959 season opener.
In that game, UC led 8-0 in the fourth quarter when Oklahoma State recorded a safety. However, the Bearcats recovered a fumble on the Cowboys’ ensuing possession and then used an 11-play, 52-yard drive to take a 15-2 lead.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer story on the 1959 matchup, reporter Dick Forbes wrote: “Cincinnati’s Bearcats in their first out-of-town opening assignment since 1954, blasted favored Oklahoma State of the Big Eight almost out of Lewis Stadium today with a 22-9 victory before 20,000 sun-drenched fans.”
Sixty-Two years after the 1959 contest, Cincinnati (fourth) and Oklahoma State (fifth) entered conference championship week ranked 4-5 in the second-to-last College Football Playoff Rankings in 2021. UC won the AAC Championship over Houston (UC plays the Cougars Nov. 11) and a spot as the first-ever G5 team in the CFP Semifinals. OSU fell 21-16 to Baylor in the 2021 Big 12 Championship Game.
BEARCATS HAVE FOUND SUCCESS ON 2023 ROAD TRIPS
Two of Cincinnati’s best performances this season have come on the road. Led by a career-high 153 rushing yards from Kiner, the Bearcats grinded past the Panthers at Pitt, 27-21, on Sept. 9.
Cincinnati’s last road game was a 35-27 loss at BYU in which the Bearcats outgained the Cougars 498 to 295, but threw a pick-six and had a special teams turnover.
In two road games in 2023, Cincinnati is averaging 434.5 total yards and 229.0 rushing yards, while allowing opponents’ just 278.5 total yards and 76.5 rushing yards. Kiner has 230 rushing yards and one TD on 39 carries over two road games.
LAST GAME: UC RUSHES FOR 288, BUT COMEBACK FALL SHORT TO BAYLOR
Cincinnati rushed for 288 yards, but fell to Baylor, 32-29, at Historic Nippert Stadium last Saturday.
Trailing 29-14 entering the fourth quarter, the Bearcats made it a one-score game, 29-21, on a 1-yard Myles Montgomery TD.
The Bearcats added a 6-play, 75-yard drive to make it a three-point game, 32-29, with 5:03 remaining. Cincinnati forced a Baylor punt as the Bearcats took over at the 6-yard line with 2:19 remaining. The Bearcats gained 36 yards on the first three plays, but the final effort came up short as the 4th-and-11 pass attempt fell incomplete.
Montgomery finished with 103 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, while Kiner tallied his third 100-yard game of the season, rumbling for 129 yards on 15 totes. DB Deshawn Pace finished with a career-best 11 tackles and 2.5 TFLs.
KANDRA RATES AS BIG 12’S SECOND-BEST OFFENSIVE GUARD
Redshirt junior right guard Luke Kandra has cemented himself as one of the top guards and one of the top linemen in the Big 12 in his first season back home. He has not recorded a penalty and has allowed only one sack this season.
The Cincinnati native transferred to the Bearcats this season following three years in the Louisville program. He was named to The Athletic’s Midseason All-Transfer Team on Oct. 20.
Kandra’s 77.6 PFF grade ranks No. 2 among all Big 12 guards (behind Cooper Beebe, 83.6) and ranks as the sixth-best grade of any P5 guard in the country.
He ranks among the top five offensive linemen overall in the Big 12, according to PFF, too.
QUICK NOTES
All 11 offensive starters in the season opener were starting their first game ever for UC. C Gavin Gerhardt is the only returning offensive starter for the Bearcats. He did not start Game 1, but he has started the last six contests.
The Cincinnati wide receiver room returned just one scholarship receiver in redshirt junior Chris Scott.
After the 2022 season, Cincinnati had 15 players enter the transfer portal and leave the program and another 17 either graduated or declared for the NFL Draft. The Bearcats brought in 23 college transfers for this fall.
Cincinnati is 661-604-50 (.522) all-time and is playing its 136th football season in 2023 (since 1885, one of 10 oldest in FBS).
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