Make it five in a row for the Cincinnati Bearcats as they downed the UCF Knights in their third straight noon kickoff, 20-11 on Saturday, Oct. 11. UC is unbeaten since its opening loss vs. Nebraska Aug. 28. A matinee crowd of 35,782 enjoyed the sluggish contest.
The Bearcats got out to a 17-3 halftime lead on the Knights, thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Brendan Sorsby to wide receiver Jeff Caldwell. Kicker Stephen Rusnak was perfect on the day with field goals of 32 and 24 yards, respectively.
Sorsby finished 12-for-21 for 191 yards and the two scoring tosses to Caldwell. Evan Pryor led the rushers with 48 yards, Sorsby had 36, and Tawee Walker 31.
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“We did not execute like we like on offense,” UC head coach Scott Satterfield said. “You guys know how we’ve been offensively the last four weeks and today it was not it. But, (I’m) proud of our defense and the way that they played. If it wasn’t for a couple fluke plays, they probably don’t get in the end zone.”
UCF was in danger of having its first game without a touchdown since a 44-3 loss to USF in 2015, but a late pass interference call gave quarterback Cam Fancher an easy path to the end zone.
Fancher finished 26-for-45 for 204 yards and had his fourth career 100-yard game on the ground with 108 yards.
UCF coach Scott Frost afterward said Fancher was starting all along with redshirt freshman Davi Belfort as backup. Last week’s starter, Tayven Jackson, was going to be emergency quarterback if needed. Jackson and UC’s Sorsby are former Indiana teammates.
UCF Knights chewed clock, lost game
UCF dominated time of possession in the second half, but didn’t have much to show for it. They went on a 17-play 9:02 drive in the third quarter that ended somehow in a punt after penalties. A late series was 19 plays covering seven minutes. They nearly doubled UC in plays, 90-48, and had the ball close to 40 minutes, with the Bearcats possessing the ball for 20:16.
“We had a lot of third downs to defend (18) and fourth downs (6) again,” Satterfield said. “That’s a lot. We had a couple PI calls on those fourth downs, then the fluke play that bounced off us and they caught it on a fourth down. I thought overall, our defense played really good.”
UCF outgained UC 413 yards to 306 and outrushed them 191-115. But UCF’s 11 points were a season low.
First for UCF’s Scott Frost
It’s the first loss to UC for UCF coach Frost, who beat the Bearcats and Tommy Tuberville in 2016 and spanked Luke Fickell’s first UC squad in 2017.
“Cincinnati is one of the better teams in the conference,” Frost said post-game.
UC now marches on to Stillwater and Oklahoma State next weekend at the top of the Big 12 standings at 3-0 in the league.
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Cincinnati Bearcats, UCF Knights in Big 12 standings
UC goes to 5-1 (3-0 Big 12) while UCF drops to 3-3 (0-3 Big 12). The Bearcats also take a 6-5 lead in the historical series, having won back-to-back games.
Cincinnati Bearcats in polls?
After finishing 26th in last week’s Associated Press poll and 28th in the US LBM coaches poll, the Bearcats are well-positioned to be ranked for the first time since Nov. 2022.
5 takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats vs. UCF Knights
1. Cincinnati Bearcats get on board first, but fail to reach 30
Since the 20-17 season-opening Nebraska loss, UC had scored 34, 70, 37 and 38 points. The UCF Knights’ defense held the Bearcats under 30 for the first time in five games.
Coming in, UCF had not allowed a first-quarter score. At 8:23 of the opening period, a Sorsby to Caldwell 40-yard fling ended that streak. UC went to halftime up 17-3, with UCF avoiding a scoreless half with a 45-yard Noe Ruelas field goal with 24 seconds left.
It was UCF’s largest deficit of the season at halftime.
“What we’ve shown is we can win in a lot of different ways,” Satterfield said. “Offense at Kansas lit up the scoreboard, and today we didn’t but the defense came through. Special teams have been solid throughout the season. I thought today was a very good output with Fletch (Max Fletcher) with four balls inside the 20-yard line, including the one there at the end on the two. Stephen (Rusnak) is knocking down field goals, guys are covering kicks, just really proud of how those guys continue to play at a high level.”
Said Fletcher, “I’m trying to help this team win, so I’m confident in my abilities. If I need to go out there five times, I’m happy to do that.”
The redshirt junior punted five times with a long of 50 and an average of 41.2, but knocked four kicks inside the 20-yard line.
“That’s a big momentum shift,” Fletcher said.
2. Cincinnati Bearcats struggle with run game on both sides
UCF quarterback Fancher gave the Bearcats defense fits with his feet all afternoon, avoiding sacks and tackles. Fancher, who previously had 100-yard rushing games while at Marshall in 2023, was trouble almost every time he got loose.
Fancher played high school ball at Huber Heights Wayne.
“He was quick, man, you saw me get juked out there,” linebacker Jack Dingle said. “We knew all three (quarterbacks) could run. We didn’t know who we were getting. We knew they could run and just put an emphasis on tackling with leverage all week.”
Dingle had seven tackles, a half sack and a half tackle for loss. Safety Trevon Gola-Callard led UC with nine tackles.
UC’s running backs, who ran for 200 yards vs. Iowa State, were largely kept in check by UCF’s defense. UC slightly interchanged its offensive line, subbing in Xavier Lozowicki and Judea Milon at left guard and right tackle, respectively, in the first half.
UC would finish with just 23 running yards in the second half, but Big 12 wins don’t come with style points.
For the record, UCF also outrushed UC last year in Orlando 196-97, but the Bearcats still won the game 19-13.
“You just have to find a way to move the chains, find the rhythm,” Sorsby said. “We just had a lot of mistakes. Little mistakes here and there that throw off the whole play. We found a way to win. We still had an alright day as an offense and still found a way to put points up on the board.”
Said Satterfield,” Our offense is not going to be complacent after this one, I can promise you that. We did not play good. The guys know it. We’ll rip everybody. If we move forward in this conference, we’ve got to get better to where we don’t have a letdown like we did today, offensively.”
3. Cincinnati Bearcats receiver Jeff Caldwell with first multi-score game at UC
Caldwell had just three catches in the opening half, but two were for touchdowns, followed by a little “shimmy” for the crowd. Caldwell’s all-time best games came at Lindenwood, where he once had four touchdowns in four receptions. UCF’s defense only allowed UC’s Cyrus Allen and Joe Royer one catch each in the first half, freeing up Caldwell.
“I thought our energy coming out was kind of dead,” Caldwell said. “To bring a spark to the offense, getting the ball early was really important to me. I just feel I got lucky today with the play-calling.”
4. Cincinnati Bearcats had late-arriving crowd
Sure, there was a Queen Bee half-marathon in the morning, closing some roads, and perhaps some had other plans. Still, after a monumental Big 12 takedown of the No. 12 team in the country (Iowa State), the UCF game lacked the intensity of the previous weekend.
In a league dependent on home-field advantage, every edge is crucial. UC returns home Oct. 25 vs. Baylor, with the game time possibly determined early next week.
5. Cincinnati Bearcats honor Jim Kelly, Shawn Clark
In the first quarter, the videoboard posted a “Best Wishes” tribute to UC Hall of Famer and radio analyst Jim Kelly, who has stepped aside this season as he battles cancer. Later, UCF’s former offensive line coach Shawn Clark was honored. Clark died unexpectedly at age 50 last month. Clark was a teammate and colleague of Scott Satterfield at Appalachian State.
Next up for Cincinnati Bearcats
UC is in Stillwater next weekend, Oct. 18 at Boone Pickens Stadium for an 8 p.m. (Eastern) kickoff with the Oklahoma State Cowboys on ESPN2.
Offensive coordinator Doug Meacham is now the Cowboys’ interim head coach after Mike Gundy was dismissed. UC played Gundy’s Cowboys in 2023 and trailed just 10-7 at the half even with a missed field goal. Unfortunately, Ollie Gordon II ran for 271 yards that night and it was all-‘Pokes in the second half on their way to a 45-13 victory.
Oklahoma State lost to Houston 39-17 Saturday to drop to 1-5 (0-3).
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 5 instant takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats Big 12 home win vs. UCF Knights
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
