By Cord Rankin

GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2024/11/12/UC_Football_Game_Notes_at_Iowa_State.pdf

WATCH TUESDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE WITH COACH SATTERFIELD AND PLAYERS

https://youtu.be/H0ZiEBV6vx0

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football team will face a stiff test this weekend when it heads to Ames, Iowa to take on Iowa State. Kickoff from Jack Trice Stadium is set for 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX.

The Bearcats will look to get back in the win column after back-to-back losses at Colorado on Oct. 26 and vs. West Virginia last Saturday. UC trailed WVU, 24-7, in the second half before storming back and pulling within three, 24-21. However, three costly turnovers, including two that turned into defensive touchdowns for the Mountaineers, proved to be the difference. In a league as good as the Big 12, mistakes like that almost always prove costly in the end.

“What I talked about postgame is I felt like we did a lot of things good enough to win the game,” head coach Scott Satterfield said. “Turnovers, obviously, were a difference, and 17 points off the turnovers and 14 were directly points. It’s hard to get over that. I think every week in the Big 12 Conference there are tough battles. No matter who you are playing, these teams are all good enough to beat you, and you can’t beat yourself.”

Cincinnati will be visiting an Iowa State team that is also looking to snap a two-game losing skid. The Cyclones were ranked as high as No. 9 in the AP poll just a few weeks ago, but back-to-back losses against Texas Tech and Kansas have left them unranked.

The similarities don’t stop there, as UC and ISU have put together similar offensive resumes to date. Cincinnati is averaging 438.6 yards per game and Iowa State is averaging 439.6 yards per game.

“If you look at their offense and our offensive stats, they’re identical,” Satterfield said. “It looks like there’s a six-play difference out of nine games, there’s maybe a 10 or 11-yard difference in total offense. We’re 30th in the country. They’re 29th. It is amazing, the parallels offensively. Then obviously defensively, when you think about two of the similar defenses. It’s almost like you’re looking at a mirror when you’re looking at these two teams.”

Defensively, the Bearcats have some familiarity with the Cyclones’ personnel thanks to first-year defensive coordinator Tyson Veidt. Veidt came to Cincinnati this year after spending eight successful years at Iowa State. Under his tutelage, the Cyclones led the Big 12 from 2016-23 in several categories: Scoring Defense (23.2), Total Defense (354.7), Yards Per Play Allowed (5.3), Rushing Yards Allowed (133.4), and Yards Per Carry Allowed (3.8).

In its first year under Veidt, the Cincinnati defense has improved in several categories compared to a year ago. After allowing an average of 30.0 points per game in 2023, UC’s scoring defense is down to 22.2 this season, and its 12 turnovers forced are just one behind last year’s total of 13 with three games left to play in the regular season.

Veidt’s defense has been led by All-American defensive tackle Dontay Corleone, former walk-on star safety Antwan Peek Jr., and a trio of transfers in linebacker Jared Bartlett, linebacker Jake Golday, and safety Derrick Canteen. Corleone (80.4) and Peek (87.0) are the top-ranked players at their respective positions according to PFF, and Golday (85.4) ranks second.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday’s game will be broadcast on FOX with Tim Brando (play-by-play) and Devin Gardner (analyst) on the call and Josh Sims reporting from the sidelines. The game will be broadcast on radio via 700 WLW and SiriusXM Channel 384 with Dan Hoard (pxp), Jim Kelly (analyst) and Tony Pike (sideline) on the call.

CINCINNATI TRAVELS TO AMES TO FACE IOWA STATE

• Cincinnati heads to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State at MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium. Both teams will look to bounce back from two-game losing streaks.
• Cincinnati is coming off a tough 31-24 home loss to West Virginia in which the Bearcats outgained the Mountaineers 435 to 248 and held a 24-10 edge in first downs, but turned the ball over three times, including a second-quarter pick-six and a fourth-quarter scoop-and-score. Workhorse RB Corey Kiner had a career-high 25 carries for 91 yards and TD in the loss, while backfield mate RB Evan Pryor caught an 80-yard touchdown and finished with 100 receiving yards and 118 total yards on nine touches.
• With a win, Cincinnati (5-4 overall, 3-3 in the Big 12) will become bowl eligible for the sixth time in seven years. UC has played in 22 bowls all-time, including the 2021 Goodyear Cotton Bowl in the CFP Semifinals and 2020 Peach Bowl.
• The Bearcats fell, 30-10, to the Cyclones at Nippert Stadium in the first-ever matchup between the two teams in 2023.

CYCLONES OPENED 7-0, BUT HAVE LOST TWO STRAIGHT

• Iowa State QB Rocco Becht ranks third in the Big 12 in passing (266 ypg), one spot above UC QB Sorsby (265.2 ypg). The reigning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year also has 16 TDs and has thrown seven INTs.
• The Cyclones began the season 7-0 for the first time in school history but dropped games to Texas Tech and Kansas.
• ISU is second in the Big 12 in turnover margin (+8) and No. 17 overall in the nation.
• Cincinnati defensive coordinator Tyson Veidt served on Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell’s staff as associate head coach and linebackers coach from 2016 to 2023, helping install the unique 3-3-5 defense that has led Iowa State to the top of every defensive metric in the conference. UC also now runs the 3-3-5 defense.
• The Cyclones are first in the Big 12 and ninth overall in pass defense (163.1) and second in scoring defense (18.8). Teams are completing just 51% passing per game against ISU.

PLENTY OF TOP PERFORMANCES FROM THE BEARCATS THIS SEASON

• QB Brendan Sorsby’s 478 total yards on the road at Texas Tech on Sept. 28 are the most by a Big 12 player in a single game this season. He finished with four touchdown passes in the 44-41 loss.
• K Nathan Hawk’s first game as the starting placekicker came on the road at Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 14. He drilled a 55-yard field goal and a 51-yarder in a 27-16 win. His 55-yarder is the longest by a Big 12 kicker this season.
• The Cincinnati defense became the first team to shut out an FBS opponent when it routed Houston 31-0 on Sept. 21.
• Sorsby is the only Big 12 QB and one of eight FBS players with 2,000 passing yards, 15 passing TDs and five rushing TDs.
• S/Star Antwan Peek Jr. is the Big 12’s top-ranked safety (88.4) according to PFF. He has four forced fumbles this season, which is tied for the most in the nation. His father, Antwan Peek, a 2023 UC Hall of Famer and NFL veteran, holds the school records with seven forced fumbles in a season (2002) and forced fumbles in a career (17).

HOMETOWN HERO KINER PROVIDES THUNDER, TRANSFER PRYOR IS THE LIGHTNING

• Senior RB Corey Kiner needs just 217 yards to become the fourth Cincinnati running back to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, joining Michael Warren (2018-19), Isaiah Pead (2010-11), Reggie Taylor (1984-86) and James Bettis (1980-81).  His 783 rushing yards and 87.0 ypg both rank No. 7 in the Big 12 this season.
• Kiner has forced 59 missed tackles, which ranks first in the Big 12 and No. 2 in the P4 behind Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty (90).
• The former Ohio Mr. Football at Roger Bacon High School ranks 12th in school history with 2,192 career yards at UC. He needs six yards to move into Top 10 in Bearcats history.
• Evan Pryor is averaging 8.8 yards per rush this season, which ranks first in the Big 12 and first in the Power 4. Pryor has three rushing TDs of 50+ yards one 80-yard touchdown reception. His four 50+ TDs are tied for fourth-most in the nation.

BEARCATS BUILDING A RESUME

• UC has the Big 12’s third-most efficient offense and 21st-best in the nation according to ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI).
• ESPN’s FPI rates Cincinnati as the 43rd-best team in the country and gives the Bearcats a 78% chance of reaching six wins.
• In conference only games, UC ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring defense (22.67), third in pass defense (196.3) and fourth in total defense (359.8). LB Jared Bartlett is second in the Big 12 with 6.5 sacks.
• Jake Golday, a Central Arkansas transfer, rates as the Big 12’s second-best and the nation’s ninth-best P4 linebacker (85.3) per PFF.
• DT Dontay Corleone, a 2022 All-American and 2024 Preseason All-Big 12 pick, ranks as the Big 12’s top interior defender (80.5).
• Joe Royer leads Big 12 TEs with 40 receptions. He also has 468 yards and three TDs. Travis Kelce’s TE school record of 45 catches set in 2012.

COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS