KANSAS CITY, MO – With Arrowhead Stadium packed full of red, the Nebraska Cornhuskers began their highly anticipated third season under Matt Rhule with a 20-17 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Scott Satterfield’s team tried to counter the red ‘Husker presence by playing in all-red uniforms with new red helmets. While stylish, UC suffered its first season-opening loss under Satterfield. UC’s only win will be financially, where they’re scheduled to get 75% of the Aug. 28 ticket sales and board the charter home with a minimum guarantee of $2.5 million.
Attendance for the Battle Sports Kansas City Classic at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium was 72,884.
“It was Cincinnati’s home game, but it didn’t feel like it, for sure,” Satterfield said. “It was one of the louder stadiums I’ve played a game in. It certainly affected us offensively. I think we had four false start penalties and had to go with a silent cadence. It definitely affected the game. Their crowd was good tonight.”
The Bearcats had one last drive to tie the game or take the lead. Starting from their own 9-yard line, they drove to the Nebraska 33. But a long pass to Caleb Goodie was intercepted in the end zone by Malcom Hartzog to preserve the win.
“Malcolm Hartzog doesn’t talk a lot, he just makes plays,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said.
Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola was 33-for-42 for 243 yards and two touchdowns to lead Nebraska and Emmett Johnson ran for 108 yards. UC’s Brendan Sorsby was just 13-for-25 passing for 69 yards but did run for 96 yards and had the Bearcats in position to win at the end of the game.
Nebraska outgained UC in total yardage 353-271. The Cornhuskers ran 78 plays to UC’s 55.
“We dominated time of possession, but Cincinnati came out and answered in the second half,” Rhule said.
In the first half, UC was outgained 197-81 yards. Defensively, Satterfield wasn’t happy that Raiola and Nebraska’s offensive coordinator, Dana Holgorsen, had nearly 40 minutes to make plays against UC’s 20:30, but was glad the Cornhuskers scored only 20 points despite having possession almost twice as long as the Bearcats.
“Definitely the loudest stadium I’ve ever played in,” linebacker Jake Golday said.
Cincinnati Bearcats football vs. Nebraska takeaways
1. Fans are still enamored with Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift
In a sluggish first quarter, UC led 3-0, but much of the focus was on Jason and Travis Kelce, who were on the field pre-game along with fellow UC teammate Bryan Cook, now a Chiefs teammate of Travis.
Travis Kelce’s new fiancée Taylor Swift was also there in a private box, where many of the game cameras were focused. Late in the game, the stadium cameras went to the box where Travis Kelce played to the crowd. Even though his Bearcats were losing, he still smiled for those in his NFL stadium.
2. Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson made himself known
Johnson rushed for 598 yards last year, but had several bursts in the game for Nebraska, sustaining drives. Johnson ran for 76 yards in the first half and was a reliable pass catcher. Johnson finished with 108 yards on 25 carries. He was also the most productive receiver for the ‘Huskers with seven grabs.
Golday led UC’s defense with 12 tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss, but gave hats off to Johnson.
“A great player, for sure,” Golday said. “We knew he was a great player coming in. He had a great game.”
3. New Cincinnati Bearcats receivers held in check by Nebraska
Passing was almost non-existent in the first half, with Sorsby throwing for just 20 yards. Cyrus Allen was the only UC receiver with two catches. It wasn’t better in the second half as weapons UC needs, like tight end Joe Royer and receivers Allen, Caleb Goodie and Jeff Caldwell, were shut down. Caldwell did not catch his first pass until there were nine minutes left in the game.
There really wasn’t much effective passing until UC needed to move the ball late. Allen had five catches, but newcomers Goodie and Caldwell were held to one apiece. Clearly, it wasn’t the debut anyone expected.
“We had great confidence coming into the game,” Satterfield said. “I think our receivers had a really great fall camp. You don’t know until the first time you play a game. This is a tough environment, maybe one of the toughest we’ll play in all year. We’ve got to get better when it’s loud like that. I still have a lot of confidence in those receivers.”
Said Sorsby of Nebraska’s pass defense, “They just did a good job all the way around. Whenever you have 69 yards passing, you’re either clearly not doing something right or they’re doing something really well. I think it was a combination of both. Props to those guys. We’ve got to figure it out.”
Tight end Royer was also heavily covered and limited to three catches for 11 yards. For the Bearcats to succeed, they have to stretch the field. Unfortunately, on this night, the longest pass play went only 14 yards.
“I don’t lose any confidence in the receivers,” Sorsby said. “I made some bad throws, some bad reads. There’s definitely still opportunities there. We’ve got to figure it out before we get to conference play. This is obviously a tough loss. We wanted to win, but it really doesn’t have anything to do with us getting to Dallas (Big 12 championship game). Our goal is still Dallas.”
4. Cincinnati Bearcats with late-half turnover, much like last season
In nine of their 12 games in 2024, UC gave up a score in the final minutes of the first half. With 1:06 left in the half, a Sorsby pass to Goodie was eventually ruled a fumble. That set up Raiola and the Cornhuskers in prime field position. Raiola’s touchdown pass to Nyziah Hunter made it a 10-point lead at the break at 13-3 as opposed to 6-3.
UC had that fumble, then the final pick on the pass meant for Goodie in the end zone near the end of regulation. Nebraska did not turn the ball over in the game.
“That’s the difference in the game,” Satterfield said. “Three-point game and the two turnovers proved to be the difference.”
The pre-halftime fumble resulted in seven points for the Cornhuskers leading to a familiar end. The last two seasons, the Bearcats have dropped eight games by eight points or less.
5. Cincinnati Bearcats rotate running backs
Scott Satterfield stuck to his guns and played every running back at least one series: Evan Pryor, Tawee Walker, Manny Covey and Chance Williams all got a shot. Pryor and Walker had spurts, but the drives involving Covey and Williams were short-lived and Max Fletcher would have to come on and punt.
Not surprisingly, quarterback Sorsby was UC’s most effective runner. Walker eventually got some yards in a fourth-quarter scoring drive, but the majority of the big runs went to Sorsby. Sorsby finished four yards shy of 100 and scored both of the Bearcats’ touchdowns. Walker had 53 yards on just seven carries.
“We’ll go back and see who gives us the best chance to win,” Satterfield said. “We’ve got confidence in a lot of those guys in the running back room.”
Next up for Cincinnati Bearcats
It’s a 3:30 p.m. kickoff for the Nippert Stadium opener vs. Bowling Green, Saturday, Sept. 6. The Falcons are now coached by former Ohio State and NFL running back Eddie George and hosted Lafayette Thursday night. Bowling Green won 26-7.
The teams haven’t played since 1994 when Bowling Green came to Nippert and rolled Rick Minter’s Bearcats 38-0 in his first year on the job. The Bearcats are 0-4 historically against Bowling Green which finished 7-6 last season after losing to Miami University in the MAC title game 28-12. UC won in Oxford vs. Miami last year, 27-16 to reacquire the Victory Bell.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 5 Cincinnati Bearcats football instant takeaways from opening loss to Nebraska
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
