Battle of the Cats, Wildcats defeat Bearcats 30-24

The Bearcats fell to 7-3 (5-2 Big 12) on Saturday, falling to Arizona 30-24, and now take a back seat with hopes of making it to the Big 12 Championship.

Final Stats.

The Bearcats were outgained 475-344 on Saturday as Noah Fifita and the Wildcats were just too much to handle for the Bearcats' defense on Saturday.

Cincinnati’s offense was led by Tawee Walker, who recorded 119 yards on 12 carries.

Brendan Sorsby finished the afternoon going 15-28 with two interceptions through the air but was able to rush for 35 yards and a touchdown as well.

Wide receiver Jeff Caldwell had a great day for the wideouts and saw an uptick in his targets with Caleb Goodie being out due to injury. Caldwell finished the day hauling in five catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.

“For us, we just didn’t make enough plays today.” Scott Satterfield told reporters. “Bottom of the line, when you come out six points short, we just didn’t make enough plays. Uncharacteristically, we had some drops, and we missed tackles. They ended up 8-16 on third down. Meanwhile, on our side, we went just 3-12 on third down and hit a low and played behind the sticks. I thought our special teams group played well enough to give us a chance to win this game.”

Special teams had their best day of the season, with the likes of Max Fletcher and Stephen Rusnak. However, they also gave Cincinnati a chance to win this game, between the missed field goal in the first quarter and a block from Logan Wilson. Cincinnati was in a great position to capitalize on those crucial errors from Arizona but failed to convert.

Cincinnati's defense was led by Jake Golday who finished with a game high 13 tackles, while Mikah Coleman racked up a season high eight tackles, sack and 2.5 tackles for loss.

How it Happened

The Bearcats' first offensive drive of the game began with an interception from Brendan Sorsby, as Jay’Vion Cole stepped in to make the play. Two plays later, Ismail Mahdi scampered outside for a 27-yard touchdown, giving the Wildcats an early 7-point lead just sixty seconds in.

Brendan Sorsby and the offense responded right away after a huge 3rd-and-seven completion to tight end Joe Royer moved the chains. The very next play, Tawee Walker exploded for 39 yards down the right side of the field to move the Bearcats into Wildcat territory. Freshman running back Zion Johnson got in on the action after a 21-yard gain set the Bearcats up in the Red zone. Brendan Sorsby called his own number for a 4-yard score to cap off the 6-play drive and tie the game at 7 with 11:07 remaining in the first quarter.

Cincinnati’s defense came away with a huge defensive stand on the ensuing possession, setting up the offense to march down the field for a five-play drive highlighted by a huge 54-yard run from Walker that moved the team into Wildcat territory.

Two plays later, Sorsby connects with Jeff Caldwell for his fourth touchdown of the season. Cincinnati then led the Wildcats 14-7 with 6:34 left in the first quarter.

Arizona then marched right down the field with hopes of tying this game. However, Jalen Hunt came away with a huge sack on third down to set up the field goal attempt. Now, for Arizona, they failed to convert after Logan Wilson jumped through the gap untouched and forced the field goal wide left.

Special teams came through again for Cincinnati, as the Wildcats continued to have miscues in that aspect. Once again, Fifita marches the Wildcats downfield, but comes away empty-handed, yet again. This time, Logan Wilson came through untouched and blocked the Wildcats' 34-yard field goal attempt. But, for Cincinnati, their offense was unable to put points on the board after both blunders.

The Bearcats controlled a 14-10 lead over the Wildcats at the half. Despite their offense going ice cold down the stretch, following the two special teams blunders from Arizona. However, Cincinnati racked up 184 yards of offense, with 150 of those coming on the ground. Meanwhile, failed to put up just 14 points in the first half after two costly turnovers from Brendan Sorsby, which was the first time since early 2024 with multiple interceptions.

Arizona rattled off an 11-play, 68-yard drive to cut the deficit to one, after a 25-yard field goal from Michael Salgado-Medina to make this a 14-13 game with 9:42 left in the third quarter.

Arizona marched back after Mason Fletcher pinned the Wildcats down at the two-yard line following a three-and-out. The Wildcats capped off a six-play, 99-yard drive, which was highlighted by a 50-yard touchdown from Kendrick Reescano.

Just like that, Cincinnati trailed 20-14 after the Wildcats scored 13 unanswered points.

Cincinnati responded with a twelve-play drive, after Sorsby found Cyrus Allen for a thirty-yard gain on third down, with defenders in his face. That was a turning point for the Cincinnati offense. However, they had to settle for the field goal from Stephan Rusnak.

Meanwhile, Brendan Sorsby appeared to get twisted up on a designed run and was evaluated by the Bearcats' medical staff before later returning.

Noah Fifita would connect with freshman wide receiver Gio Richardson for a 15-yard touchdown to extend the Wildcats' lead to double digits. A nine-play drive that was capped off with the dagger touchdown, as Fifita continued to slice this Bearcats' defense like he has done all afternoon. That gave the Wildcats a 27-17 lead with 10:53 to play.

Cincinnati responded with a crucial touchdown drive, capped off by a one-yard run from Zion Johnson, for his first career touchdown. A drive that was started with a 33-yard completion to Jeff Caldwell to move the ball across midfield. A few moments later, this was a three-point game with just over six minutes to play.

Arizona tacked on a field goal in the final minutes of this one, setting up Cincinnati with a chance to march down the field and win the game in the final ninety seconds. Meanwhile, the Bearcats' offense went ice cold after an early offensive pass interference penalty pushed them back into the ten-yard line. From there, the game was out of reach as Cincinnati had no answers for the Wildcats' stifling defense.

UP NEXT

The Bearcats (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) will be back at Nippert Stadium next week as they welcome in ranked BYU with an opportunity to play spoiler on the line. Worth noting the time for this game is still to be determined and should be announced tomorrow at some time.