By Cord Rankin
GAME NOTES
https://gobearcats.com/documents/2024/9/10/Game_3_vs_Miami_1.pdf
CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati football team will look to bounce back against historic rival Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio.
Despite 149 yards rushing from senior running back Corey Kiner and 298 yards and three touchdowns through the air by redshirt sophomore quarterback Brendan Sorsby, the Bearcats fell, 28-27, to the Pittsburgh Panthers at Nippert Stadium last Saturday. Cincinnati led by 21 against Pitt and did not allow the Panthers to reach the red zone until the end of the third quarter. Pitt ended the game by scoring 22 straight points, winning on a field goal by Ben Sauls.
Cincinnati quickly moved on from the tough defeat to focus on bringing the “Victory Bell” back to Clifton Heights. UC and Miami will play for the bell in the 128th meeting of the two schools. The rivalry is incredibly tied 60-60-7 with only one future matchup (2026, neutral site) currently scheduled.
The Bearcats have a lot to play for this weekend. Not only will they look to get the bad taste out of their mouths from last week’s loss to Pitt, the Bearcats will also look to avenge last season’s overtime loss to Miami (Ohio) at Nippert Stadium.
“I was disappointed, but now we have to move on because we have a big opponent this week in Miami,” Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield said. “This is the game that we’ve been talking about all year, all summer and all camp. We realize how big of a game this is. This is the 128th time playing them, and the record is 60-60-7. You can’t get any tighter than that. We have seen, read and heard about this series. We don’t know what the series is going to look like in the future. This game has even more importance for getting that bell back.”
Satterfield emphasized that the players are not hanging their heads because team leaders won’t allow it. Redshirt junior nose tackle Dontay Corleone, who returned from blood clots to tally six stops and a sack in the game, spoke to the entire team in the locker room after the Pitt game, while the 26-player Bearcat Leadership Council met on Sunday.
“We have a lot of ball left, we have a big game this week, obviously, against Miami, and this is what we’re all focused on,” Satterfield said. “It was a very difficult loss. Obviously, we lost by one point on a last second field goal, that sucks…We feel like we have a good football team. We have a connected football team. We have guys that have a lot of fight in them. And it was shown over the last two days here. So, we’re going to continue to battle, continue to go out there, and put a great product out there.”
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The game will be televised at 12 p.m. ET on ESPNU with Matt Schumacker (pxp) and Dustin Fox (analyst) on the call. Dan Hoard (pxp) and Jim Kelly (analyst) will call the game for 700 WLW on the radio with Tony Pike on the sideline and Mo Egger on the pregame show.
NATION’S OLDEST NON-LEAGUE RIVALRY RETURNS
Saturday marks the 128th meeting in the “Battle for the Victory Bell” between Miami (OH) and Cincinnati. The Bearcats and RedHawks are incredibly tied 60-60-7 all-time. Cincinnati had won 16 straight games until falling to Miami 31-24 in overtime at Nippert Stadium last season.
“Miami is coached well, and they play hard in all three phases,” Satterfield said. “They don’t give you anything, so you have to earn everything. It is also going to be different going and playing at their stadium. We’re looking forward to this game and looking forward to going and trying to get that bell back here to Cincinnati.”
The UC-Miami series is the oldest non-conference college football rivalry with the first game being played on Dec. 8, 1888. The only game scheduled between the two teams in the future is a 2026 neutral site game at Paycor Stadium.
The “Victory Bell” is a traveling trophy that the winner gets to keep until the next game.
The “Battle for the Victory Bell” is the nation’s oldest FBS non-league rivalry and second-oldest FBS rivalry overall. The first game, on Dec. 8, 1888, was the first college football game played in the state of Ohio. North Carolina and Wake Forest is the oldest rivalry, playing their first game on Oct. 18, 1888. They have only played each other 108 times.
The most-played rivalries in college football are: Wisconsin-Minnesota (132), Georgia-Auburn (128) and North Carolina-Virginia (128). Oregon-Oregon State has also been played 127 times entering the 2024 season.
MORE ON MIAMI-UC
- Defensive back Mehki Miller started his career at Miami, playing in 13 games for the RedHawks across the 2019-21 seasons.
- 2023 Matchup: Cincinnati rushed for 275 yards and had a pair of 100-yard rushers (Ryan Montgomery and Emory Jones) and WR Xzavier Henderson had 12 receptions for 140 yards, but Miami QB Brett Gabbert passed for 237 yards and three scores and also rushed for 75 yards to lead the RedHawks to the OT win.
- Miami finished 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the MAC in 2023, facing Toledo in the MAC Championship Game and Appalachian State in the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
- Miami fell to Northwestern, 13-6, in Week 1 in Evanston, as LB Matt Salopek made 10 tackles. Salopek had 18 tackles against UC last season. The RedHawks had a Week 2 bye.
- Cincinnati RB Corey Kiner has scored a TD against Miami the last two seasons.
- The last time UC played in Oxford the Bearcats scored 18 points in the fourth quarter in a 21-17 comeback victory that was sealed on a Malik Clements pick-six. Cincinnati has won six straight in Oxford. UC’s last loss in Yager Stadium was a 44-16 defeat in 2005.
SORSBY IMPRESSES THROUGH TWO WEEKS
Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby leads the Big 12 in QBR (83.3) and ranks seventh in the nation and third in the Big 12 in passing yards (340.5 per game).
The Denton, Texas, native tied his career-best with his third career three-touchdown passing game versus Pitt. He finished with 298 yards and three scores on 22 of 38 passing. Most impressive, he tossed a 52-yard dime to wide receiver Jamoi Mayes, placing the ball right in the bread basket a few yards before the endzone.
“We’ve put it behind us,” Sorsby said of the Pitt game. “We’re on to Miami and it’s a game that we feel good about. We want to go and ring the bell, that’s one of our team goals so we’re going to go do it. Obviously, everybody was disappointed about the game on Saturday and the outcome of it, but we’re not going to let it define us. It’s one game. It’s early on in the year. So, we’re going to move on and find a way to put it behind us.”
He has completed 44 of 69 passes for 681 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions through two weeks. His 681 yards in his first two games are the most in a Bearcat’s first two games since Gunner Kiel passed for 689 in 2014.
The Lonestar State product has passed for 339 yards in the first quarter this season – the most in the country by 59 yards. He is 14 of 18 (78%) for 339 yards and four touchdowns in the first quarter through two weeks.
He has 534 yards (second-most in the nation) and four touchdowns in the first half through two games.
Sorsby dazzled with 323 passing yards and four total touchdowns before halftime in his Bearcats debut. The Indiana transfer started seven games and passed for 15 TDs for the Hoosiers in 2023.
He collected Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors for Week 1 after passing 383 yards and two scores. He led UC to 683 yards – the most in the Big 12 and fifth-most in the nation in Week 1, and the 10th-most in a single game history in UC history.
GET TO KNOW THE BEARCATS
- UC returned its entire starting offensive line from a season ago as LT John Williams, LG Dartanyan Tinsley, C Gavin Gerhardt, RG Luke Kandra (All-American), and RT Deondre Buford are back for the 2024 season. The unit started its 13th straight game last Saturday. UC ranked fifth in the nation in rushing in 2023 (217.1 ypg) and RB Corey Kiner rushed for 1,047 yards a year ago. UC and Oklahoma State were the only two Big 12 teams to return their entire starting O-lines and a 1,000-yard rusher.
- Kiner’s top rushing performances have come vs. Pitt (153 yards – 2023, 149 – 2024). He has seven career 100-yard games.
- Tight end Joe Royer leads all Big 12 tight ends in receptions (eight) and receiving yards (138).
- P Mason Fletcher is averaging 48.5 per punt over two games. Four of six punts this season have gone for 50+ and three of six punts have been downed inside the 20. He was a Ray Guy Award finalist and All-American in 2022, and HM All-Big in 2023.
AN ELITE PROGRAM BY THE NUMBERS
- Cincinnati, which started playing football in 1885, is in its 137th season and owns an all-time record of 663-609-50.
- 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the dedication of James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium. (See page 11 for more)
- Cincinnati is 57-21 (.731) since the start of the 2018 season, which ranks among the Top 15 best FBS records during the stretch.
- Cincinnati (2021) was the first G5 team and one of just 15 teams to make the College Football Playoff in the four-team era (2014-23) and one of just two current Big 12 teams (TCU, 2022) to make it. UC was the only non-Power Five program to ever earn a CFP berth in the four-team format.
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