Cincinnati Bearcats Hang On To Defeat No. 14-Ranked Iowa State Cyclones
Finally! The Cincinnati Bearcats decided to show up and punch a ranked opponent right in the mouth. For the first time in the Scott Satterfield era, the Bearcats took down a top-25 team, slugging their way to a 38-30 victory over the No. 14 Iowa State Cyclones. Let’s be honest, after going 0-5 against ranked teams since the magical playoff run, fans were starting to wonder if this team had forgotten how to win the big ones.
The game at Nippert Stadium was a classic Jekyll and Hyde performance. In the first half, the Cincinnati offense was a runaway freight train, putting up 31 points and chewing up nearly 10 yards a play. In the second, they looked like they were trying to set a world record for most penalties. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby was a dual-threat dynamo, throwing for 214 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 64 yards and a score with his legs. Most importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over, a trend that’s becoming a welcome habit.
Cincinnati’s Ground and Pound Steals the Show
Forget finesse; this win was all about old-school, smash-mouth football. The first half was a masterclass in offensive line dominance. You could have driven a truck through the holes they were creating. Evan Pryor (111 yards, 2 TDs) and Tawee Walker (89 yards) ran like their hair was on fire, punishing a Cyclones’ front seven that was supposedly one of the best in the country.
Iowa State came into this game with a top-ranked run defense, having held opponents under 20 points in their first four games for the first time since the Nixon administration. Well, Cincinnati didn’t get the memo. They hung 216 rushing yards and three touchdowns on them in the first half alone. It was a beautiful sight to see. Offensive Line Coach Nic Cardwell has built an absolute buzzsaw, and on Saturday, they used it to slice and dice the Cyclones.
A Special Kind Of Mismatch
It wasn’t just the offense. For once, the special teams were, well, special. While Iowa State’s kicking game looked like something out of a comedy sketch (their freshman kicker is still searching for his first college field goal), Stephen Rusnak coolly knocked through his 18th straight. Max Fletcher boomed a punt that pinned the Cyclones inside their own one-yard line, a real field-flipper. Add in a couple of electrifying kick returns from Logan Wilson, and you have a recipe for a complete team victory. It is a far cry from the special teams disasters of last season, and it’s already paying dividends.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Cincinnati game without some heart-stopping moments. A whopping 12 penalties for 118 yards kept things a little too interesting, including a pass interference call so bad it should be investigated. But in the end, the Bearcats had built enough of a cushion to overcome their own mistakes and a battered, but still feisty, Iowa State squad. With UCF on the horizon, cleaning up the laundry on the field has to be priority number one. But for now, Cincinnati can savor a win that felt like more than just a number in the victory column—it felt like a statement.
