FRISCO, TX – In the past three seasons, the Cincinnati Bearcats football team has been picked 13th in the Big 12 media gathering in Arlington, 14th in Las Vegas and 11th in an unofficial media poll last year.
Cincinnati is in a familiar spot as a USA Today poll has the Bearcats at No. 13 again this year.
UC head coach Scott Satterfield has 46 new players. He has gone from three wins to five to seven last year. However, the Bearcats lost five straight games to end 2024 and five more to end 2025.
Gone is quarterback Brendan Sorsby, perhaps a blessing as the Bearcats could have been associated with the gambling issues that prevented him from taking an official snap at Texas Tech.
Brendan Sorsby still making headlines away from Big 12
The NCAA sent a letter of inquiry to the University of Cincinnati on the Sorsby case, with details coming out July 8. UC sources called it a formality and maintain there was no knowledge of impermissible gambling by Sorsby while he was with the Bearcats.
The Enquirer asked Scott Satterfield about it during his main podium time and he declined to comment.
Later, in separate conversations with The Athletic, Satterfield mentioned Texas Tech had made contact with Sorsby before the 2025 season ended. The Enquirer confirmed he was asked the question and answered.
Texas Tech later said they were not aware of any impermissible contact with Sorsby. Regardless, UC’s Oct. 24 Homecoming game vs. Texas Tech at Nippert Stadium will mean something to both teams.
Cincinnati Bearcats 2026 football schedule
UC has a favorable start this season, as they don’t leave Cincinnati until October, opening with home games against Boston College, Western Carolina, the Miami RedHawks at TQL Stadium and Kansas State at Nippert Stadium.
However, a difficult slate awaits in November when they’ll have road games at Houston, Iowa State and BYU to get through, as well as Colorado, which visits Nippert Stadium with “Coach Prime” Deion Sanders.
“It’s going to be tough for sure,” Satterfield said. “It’s hard to go on the road in this league and win. Especially if you have to go all the way out west, especially if you’re playing at night with a late kick, those are all factors. We’ve got to find a way to win. We want to be mindful of how we need to finish in November this year. What it does mean is in the month of September, we’ve got to play great football.”
Bearcats coach Scott Satterfield discusses move away from Higher Ground training camp
UC made it known on July 6 that they would be ending their 27-season relationship with Higher Ground in West Harrison, Indiana. The Bearcats have been inside the Sheakley Indoor Performance Facility for a little over a year. The facility cost $134 million to build and the Bearcats will save $250,000 by not toting their equipment and staff across state lines.
“It’s tremendous what it does for our players,” Satterfield said of Sheakley. “The recovery aspect with the cold tub, hot tub, it’s hard to walk away from that building. I know for sentimental reasons, Higher Ground’s an awesome place and it served a great purpose during a time when we didn’t have the facilities we needed. It was great to get away, but this building is so nice and our administration has put a lot of money into this building.”
Satterfield said the Bearcats would continue to go outside on the adjacent field at Sheakley, as well as hold occasional practices and scrimmages at Nippert Stadium to get acclimated to weather and game conditions.
What will Cincinnati’s offense look like this season?
The fourth-year coach describes quarterback JC French as having great maturity as Georgia Southern’s all-time leading passer. He likes his accuracy and his ability to throw the deep ball. He says he’s become more vocal as a leader.
Gone are receivers Cyrus Allen and Jeff Caldwell, but Satterfield likes French’s 2026 targets. He says JV Gibson is similar to Cyrus Allen who went from Louisiana Tech to Texas A&M before racking up touchdowns for the Bearcats and becoming a fifth-round Chiefs draft pick.
Gibson was successful at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, then was at Oklahoma, but was UC’s standout receiver of the spring.
“I think he’ll do some really great things,” Satterfield said. “Cade Wolford is a big-play threat. Gio (Giyahni Kontosis) is just a dog. He’s got a linebacker’s mentality playing wide receiver. We’ll probably play seven or eight guys in that receiving room.”
Satterfield mentioned Gavin Grover at tight end, as well as Ka’Maurri Smith. Running back-wise, La Salle High School’s Gi’Bran Payne is back, transferring from Notre Dame and Zion Johnson returns as a possible starter. Stanford transfer Cole Tabb could also be a factor and he expects to play several running behind his decorated offensive line.
New defense will debut under coordinator Nate Woody
“It will be different,” Satterfield said. “It’s going to be more 3-4, more pressure on both sides and mixing up the coverages on the back end. We want to be a more aggressive defense and create havoc and more turnovers. We were not very good at creating turnovers the last two years.”
UC’s defensive issues in 2025 affected their offensive minutes. Satterfield said they had the ball offensively less than anyone in the country as they couldn’t get it back due to the defense.
“We were Top 10 in the country in yards per play, top three in rushing yards per play and we didn’t give up many sacks,” Satterfield said. “We did a lot of great things. Hopefully, we can continue and just get the ball more.”
New UC Bearcats QB JC French
French says he brings experience and knowledge to the Bearcats. Asked who could be a receiving star this season, French agreed with Satterfield that Oklahoma transfer Gibson could make some spectacular grabs this fall.
“He’s going to be one to watch,” French said. “He’s been working his tail off and has made huge strides.”
The head coach and quarterback also see running back Payne having success.
“He can have a breakout year,” French said. “That room is deep and they’re going to get their fair share of carries.”
Cincinnati Bearcats legacy Antwan Peek Jr.
Peek Jr. has gone from Indian Hill High School walk-on and son of former NFL player Antwan Peek to making a name for himself. He will play the CAT position – a hybrid nickle/safety role in the 3-4 defense – and looks to be chasing quarterbacks this year, much like his father did for the Bearcats and as a pro.
“I like it more, being able to be close to the line of scrimmage and rush the quarterback more,” Peek Jr. said. “It makes it a lot easier knowing that my dad played a similar spot. He’s been giving me a lot of tips and pointers.”
Peek Jr. asked to move from free safety to the CAT and predicts a successful season.
“I’m a little faster than these offensive linemen and the offensive line has given me a lot of tips and pointers what to do as well,” Peek Jr. said.
UC Preseason All-American offensive lineman Evan Tengesdahl
The UC offensive line gave up just eight sacks last season and Tengesdahl thinks they can do it again.
“It’s definitely doable,” he said. “We definitely want to improve on that. We did a lot of good things last year. We want to fix our imperfections from last year. That’s a big emphasis to get 1% better and fix those things that we slacked on last year.”
Tengesdahl will play guard with Joe Cotton at tackle next to him on the left side. Both were Big 12 Preseason First Team players. Though he can play center, Taran Tyo will take on that role.
On the right will be some combination of Xavier Lozowicki and Aiden Pastoriza at guard and Nolan Latulippe and Judea Milon at tackle.
UC will roll with Taran Tyo providing leadership at center
Tyo is a prototypical “country boy” who just returned from a vacation where he was hunting hogs. In his high school days in Greenville, Ohio, he showed hogs at the county fair. He now steps into the center shoes of Gavin Gerhardt, a seventh-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in April.
“Gavin’s not here anymore,” Tyo said. “I’m moving inside. Somebody’s got to fill that gap where he was so good. That’s where me, Evan and Joe come in. We’re kind of like a trio that takes care of everything.”
Those three and others are big advocates of the promotion of offensive line coach Nic Cardwell to co-offensive coordinator along with quarterback coach Pete Thomas.
“There’s not many coaches that you’d say you’d do something so far with, but I would do that with Cardwell,” Tyo said. “We’re going to line up every down and mess somebody up. That’s his mindset.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: New faces, similar spot for Bearcats in Big 12 football rankings
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
