Game Preview: Nippert at Night returns Saturday as Cincinnati hosts TCU

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football team returns home for its final regular season game of the season this Saturday, hosting TCU at 6 p.m

UC brings an overall record of 5-6 into Saturday’s game and TCU is 7-4. It’s Senior Day for the Bearcats, where 29 student-athletes are expected to be honored before the game. It will also be UC’s Military Appreciation game.

However, once the ball is kicked, all the attention is on the Horned Frogs.

“We have a great chance against TCU this week,” head coach said Scott Satterfield said. “They are a hot team at the moment. They score a lot of points and have won four of their last five games. I believe they have scored at least 34 points in every game this year with the exception of the Utah and Houston games. games. They have a very talented team, their wide receivers are outstanding. We have to do a great job defensively to contain this offense.

TCU ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring (34.6) and has the league’s best passing attack (327.2). Wide receivers Jack Bech (6-2) and Savion Williams (6-5) give quarterback Josh Hoover two big and talented targets that the Bearcats will have to keep in check on Saturday.

“You don’t want to give up on the big plays and against this offense,” Satterfield said. “They’re definitely very capable of making big plays, they have four players putting up for 500 yards. This is where they make it difficult, because at some point during the game you are simply selected as single. They’ll be one-” on one, and they can beat you. So we have to do a good job to stay at the top and not leave them behind.

At 5-6, Cincinnati needs one more win to earn bowl eligibility for the 13^Th Times in the last 17 seasons. A win would also snap a four-game losing streak for the Bearcats, who have faced three of the conference’s best teams on the road during that time: Colorado (October 26), Iowa State (November 16), and Kansas State (November 23).

A home game under the lights of Nippert Stadium could be just what the Bearcats need to end the regular season on a high note.

“It’s hard to put it into words,” Satterfield said. “Of course we know how big that would be, right? I think whenever you can go into an off-season with a win, it’s kind of a springboard for the momentum you need for the off-season. You can’t really put it into words, like.” That would be great, if you could bring guys in in the next three to four weeks, then you’ll definitely have a much better feeling.

TRANSFER INFORMATION

Saturday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Richard Cross (play-by-play) and Barrett Brooks (analyst) on the phone. The game will be broadcast on radio on WLW 700 and SiriusXM Channel 113 or 200 with Dan Hoard (pxp), Jim Kelly (analyst) and Tony Pike (sideline).

CINCINNATI HONORS 29 SENIORS AGAINST TCU FOR NIPPERT IN NIGHT GAME

• Cincinnati hosts TCU for the first Nippert at Night game of the 2024 season. The finale will serve as Senior Night and the Bearcats will honor 29 seniors, including four scholarship players, who have spent their entire college careers at UC:DE Eric Phillips (Cincinnati native, sixth grader), WR Evan Prater (Cincinnati native, fifth grader), LT John Williams (Bolingbrook, Illinois, native, fifth grader) and Fr Mason Fletcher (Melbourne, Australia, fourth year).
• In ESPN’s Football Performance Index, Cincinnati is the 53rd best team in the country with the 34th most efficient offense.
• Cincinnati opened the season 5-2 but has lost four straight games, including a 41-15 loss at Kansas State last Saturday. RB Corey Kiner ran for 140 yards and surpassed 1,000 yards for the second straight year, and WR Tony Johnson caught two touchdowns from the QB Brendan Sorsbybut the Bearcats found themselves in a 20-0 hole that they couldn’t get out of on the road.
• In conjunction with the year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Nippert Stadium’s dedication, Saturday’s military appreciation will include elements from Jimmy Nippert’s military service at Culver Military Academy and an infantry lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1917 and 1918.
• Cincinnati (2021) and TCU (2022) are the last two current Big 12 teams to reach the College Football Playoff.
• The Bearcats’ Big 12 wins include victories over Houston (31-0) and UCF (19-13) – both teams that defeated TCU earlier this season.
• Released last week, Cincinnati’s 97% Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for football in the NCAA’s latest GSR report ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 4 in FBS, behind only Air Force, Clemson and Northwestern.

Note the horned frogs

• TCU has won four of five games, including a 49-28 victory over Arizona on Senior Day in Fort Worth, Texas, last weekend.
• TCU is led by QB Josh Hoover, who ranks second in the Big 12 in passing (3,485 yards) and has thrown 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Horned Frogs feature several productive receivers, led by Jack Bech (59 receptions, 1,007 yards) and Savion Williams (10 total rushing and receiving touchdowns). TCU ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring (34.6 ppg).
• Cincinnati and TCU have played each other three times and faced each other as Conference USA opponents every year from 2002 to 2004. The Bearcats won their last meeting 21-10 in 2004 when QB Gino Guidugli threw a touchdown pass to TE Brent Celek and RB Richard Hall rushed for 143 yards at Nippert Stadium.
• The first-ever matchup between the Bearcats and Horned Frogs took place in the 2002 season opener. UC trailed 29-14 in the fourth quarter but prevailed 36-29 in overtime. The victory began a winning streak in the home opener that continues to this day. Guidugli passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns with four interceptions and had the game-winning 14-yard rushing touchdown.

CINCINNATI’S RESUME

• The Bearcats’ best win was a 24-14 win over Arizona State at Nippert Stadium on Oct. 19. The Sun Devils (9-2 overall, 6-2 in the Big 12) are currently ranked 14th in the AP and are tied for the first time in the Big 12.
• Cincinnati ranks fifth in the Big 12 in total offense (424.9), sixth in rushing (181.45) and seventh in passing (243.5).
• DT Dontay Corleonea 2022 All-American pick and 2024 All-Big 12 Preseason All-American, is the Big 12’s best interior defender (78.8), according to PFF.
• RB Corey Kiner ranks sixth in the Big 12 in rushing (94.8) yards per game. He has 12 100-yard games in his career, including five this season. His 1,043 yards this season made him the first consecutive 1,000-yard rusher for the Bearcats since Michael Warren in the 2018-19 season. His 74 missed tackles ranked him first in the Big 12, first in the Power 4 and third in the FBS this season.
• Former accessible security Antwan Peek Jr. leads the Big 12 with four forced fumbles. He is the Big 12’s fourth-best safety according to PFF (84.2). He is the son of UC Hall of Famer Antwan Peek Sr., who holds the single-season (7) and career (17) records for forced fumbles.
• Joe Royer leads Big 12 TEs with 43 catches. Travis Kelce’s TE school record of 45 catches was set in 2012.

SORSBY DOES IT WITH HIS ARM AND LEGS

• Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby completed 228 of 355 attempts (64.2%) for 2,653 yards and 18 touchdowns with just six interceptions and added 354 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
• Sorsby is the only Power 4 quarterback with 2,500 passing yards, 15 passing TDs and eight rushing TDs. He is also the only FBS quarterback with a passing performance of over 425 yards and a rushing performance of over 125 yards.
• Sorsby’s 478 total yards, including 426 passing yards on the road at Texas Tech on Sept. 28, are the most by a Big 12 player in a single game this season. He finished the 44-41 loss with four touchdown passes.
• Sorsby is a two-time winner of the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week Award. He passed for 383 yards and recorded four total touchdowns in his debut with the Bearcats, a 38-20 win over Towson on August 31.
• He ran for 143 yards at Iowa State – the fifth-best rushing performance by a UC QB in school history. Six of his eight rushing TDSs this season have come at Nippert Stadium.