By Anna Bella Ramirez

GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2024/11/20/UC_Football_Game_Notes_at_Kansas_State.pdf

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football team will face its final road test of the season on Saturday when it heads to Manhattan to face Kansas State. Kickoff at Bill Snyder Family Stadium is set for 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

The Bearcats are looking to stop a three-game losing skid that began on Oct. 26 at Colorado. Since then, they have dropped games vs. West Virginia on Nov. 9 and at Iowa State this past Saturday, Nov. 16. The most recent defeat, a 34-17 loss in Ames, was closer than the final score let on. It was a three-point game, 20-17, in the fourth quarter before the Cyclones scored a pair of late touchdowns. Cincinnati will have to put that game in the rearview mirror before heading to Kansas State this Saturday.

“Sunday, it was a little bit somber,” head coach Scott Satterfield said. “Everybody’s disappointed. Yesterday was a great bounce back from our guys. We met with the guys on Monday, our leadership group, and they were fired up, hungry to get back out on the field this week. We have another opportunity and that’s what you want. As I told them, if we’re 10-0, 5-0, 0-10, doesn’t matter this week. None of that matters.”

A bright spot from the Iowa State contest was UC’s 287 rushing yards, which constituted a season-best total. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby accounted for a career-high 143 yards on the ground and running back Corey Kiner added 120 yards on 18 carries. Kiner is approaching an important personal milestone with 903 rushing yards on the season; 97 more would give him back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns. Only four others have done that in program history, the last being Michael Warren in 2018-19.

The Wildcats are coming off back-to-back losses against teams Cincinnati beat earlier this season. K-State lost at Houston on Nov. 2, 24-19, and lost at home vs. Arizona State this past Saturday by a score of 24-14.

As the college football season wears on, however, it is becoming more apparent week after week that comparing wins and losses means little when it comes to predicting wins or losses.

“It’s so hard to look at any other week,” Satterfield said. “I don’t think you can do that this year in college football. What you do one week compared to the next week, it’s impossible. It’s matchups between the teams that are different. Some teams match up better with other teams. I think it’s also injuries, who’s playing, who’s not playing, and then it’s also where you’re playing and when you’re playing, whether it’s at home, or if it’s at night. All that stuff comes into play.”

Following Saturday’s game, Cincinnati closes out the regular season on Nov. 30 vs. TCU at Nippert Stadium. Game time and television designation have not been announced yet.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Brian Custer (play-by-play) and Rod Gilmore (analyst) on the call and Lauren Sisler reporting from the sidelines. The game will be broadcast on radio via 700 WLW and SiriusXM Channel 383 with Dan Hoard (pxp), Jim Kelly (analyst) and Tony Pike (sideline) on the call.

CINCINNATI CONTINUES ROAD SWING LOOKING TO GET BACK ON WINNING TRACK

• Cincinnati heads to Kansas State looking to stop a three-game losing streak after starting the season 5-2.
• The Bearcats rushed for 289 yards and trailed 20-17 with under five minutes remaining at Iowa State in their last game, but the Cyclones scored two late touchdowns en route to the 34-17 win. UC committed a season-high 13 penalties in the loss.
• QB Brenday Sorsby (143) and RB Corey Kiner (120) both reached the 100-yard mark for the Bearcats – the fourth time UC has had two different 100-yard rushers in the same game under head coach Scott Satterfield.
• A victory by Cincinnati on Saturday night will make the Bearcats 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.
• Cincinnati is facing a ranked team for the first time all season and its the first time UC has faced a ranked opponent on the road since opening the 2022 season at No. 19 Arkansas. The last time UC beat a ranked team on the road came in a 24-13 victory over No. 9 Notre Dame on Oct. 2, 2021 in South Bend, Ind.

BEARCATS BUILDING A RESUME

• UC has the Big 12’s fifth-most efficient offense and 26th-best in the nation according to ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI).
• ESPN’s FPI rates Cincinnati as the 47th-best team in the country and gives the Bearcats a 67% chance of reaching six wins.
• The Bearcats’ best win was a 24-14 victory over Arizona State at Nippert Stadium on Oct. 19. The Wildcats (7-3 overall, 4-3 in Big 12) are currently ranked No. 25 in the Coaches Poll are two games out of first-place in the league.
• Cincinnati ranks fifth in the Big 12 in total offense (430.0 ypg).
• In conference-only games, UC ranks third in pass defense (201.71) and fourth scoring defense (24.3).
• DT Dontay Corleone, a 2022 All-American and 2024 Preseason All-Big 12 pick, ranks as the Big 12’s top interior defender (79.1) per PFF.
• RB Corey Kiner ranks sixth in the Big 12 in rushing (90.5) yards per game. He has 11 career 100-yard games, including four this season. He needs 97 yards to reach 1,000 for the season, making him the first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher for the Bearcats since Michael Warren in 2018-19. His 67 missed tackles forced this season rank second in the Power 4.
• Former walk-on safety Antwan Peek Jr. leads the Big 12 with four fumbles forced. He is the Big 12’s No. 1-rated safety per PFF (84.2). He is the son of UC Hall of Famer Antwan Peek Sr, who holds the single season (7) and career (17) records for forced fumbles.
• Joe Royer leads Big 12 TEs with 42 catches. Travis Kelce’s TE school record of 45 catches was set in 2012.

MATCHING UP WITH KANSAS STATE

• Ranked as high as No. 15 in the Coaches Poll, Kansas State has since lost back-to-back games to Houston and Arizona State – both teams that Cincinnati defeated in October. The Wildcats have the No. 1 rushing defense in the Big 12 (101.8).
• Led by RB DJ Giddens (1,128 yards and five TDs), KSU is averaging 202.9 rush ypg – No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 18 in the FBS.
• Like UC QB Brendan Sorsby, KSU signal-caller Avery Johnson is among the nation’s best dual threats. Johnson has completed 177-of-291 attempts for 2,190 yards and 17 TDs with nine interceptions. He has rushed for 412 yards and five scores.
• The matchup will feature players ranked 1-2 in the Big 12 in sacks with Kansas State senior DE Brendan Mott (8.0 sacks) a half sack ahead of Cincinnati senior LB Jared Bartlett (7.5).
• Kansas State ranks second in the Big 12 in sacks (2.6 per game) and third in TFLs (6.6 per game).
• KSU has the best fourth-down defense in the Big 12 (36.8%), while UC is converting 69.2% of its fourth down attempts (No. 4 in Big 12, No. 16 nationally). The Wildcats have scored TDs on a blocked punt, a punt return, a fumble recovery and an INT return.
• Cincinnati holds a 4-2 record all-time against Kansas State, picking up home-and-away sweeps in 1951-52 and 1965-66 before falling twice in 1995-96.

SORSBY DOES IT WITH HIS ARM AND HIS LEGS

• Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby has completed 207-of-316 attempts (65.2%) for 2,453 yards and 16 TDs with just five interceptions and added 335 rushing yards and eight TDs on the ground.
• Sorsby is the only Big 12 QB and one of three FBS players with 2,000 passing yards, 15 passing TDs and eight rushing TDs.
• Sorsby’s 478 total yards, including 426 passing 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.
• Sorsby is a two-time winner of the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week Award. He passed for 383 yards and recorded four total touchdowns in his Bearcats’ debut, a 38-20 victory over Towson on Aug. 31.
• In his last game, Sorsby rushed for 143 yards an one score in a 35-17 loss at Iowa State. It’s the second-best rushing performance by a Big 12 QB this season (Chriss, Houston, 152, also against ISU). It’s also the most rushing yards by a Bearcats’ QB since Desmond Ridder rushed for 179 against SMU in 2020.

COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS