Cincinnati fell to 4-2 (1-2 Big 12) on Saturday following their 45-42 loss to West Virginia.
The Bearcats racked up 622 yards of offense in the loss, led by JC French who had his strongest performance of the season. French completed 22 of his 30 passing attempts for a total of 389 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, wide receiver Malachi Henry led the Bearcats with 128 yards on his lone receptions. JV Gibson also hauled in seven receptions for 75-yards and a score. Isaiah Johnson also recorded his best game of the season, hauling in three receptions for 85 yards, including a 51-yard score late in the second quarter.
Cincinnati’s offense averaged nearly nine yards per play, as the Mountaineers defense entered Saturday as one of the worst defenses in all of college football.
The Bearcats racked up 138 yards on the ground in the first quarter alone but finished the day with a total of 223 rushing yards. Cole Tabb anchored the Bearcats offense yet again, as he recorded 118 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Tabb also starred in the passing game, where he was able to secure his third touchdown of the day. Tabb finished the day with a total of 169 yards and three touchdowns.
Tabb took over as the Bearcats lead running back in the second half after Gi’Bran Payne was ruled out with an ankle injury.
Despite the offense having so much success, the Bearcats fell short. West Virginia quarterback Micheal Hawkins diced up the Bearcats secondary for 464 yards and three touchdowns in the passing attack. However, like most Big 12 teams, Nate Woody and Cincinnati’s defense simply had no answer for the dual threat quarterback. Hawkins racked up 77 yards and two touchdowns on a game high 26 carries.
Hawkins biggest weapon of the day in DJ Epps finished the afternoon hauling in a game high eight catches for 163 yards and a score. Every time Cincinnati tested the Mountaineers defense, Hawkins found a way to respond and majority of the time it was to Epps.
Now for Cincinnati, they led the entire game up until the final drive of the game.
Max Fletcher did a great job on the final possession pinning the Mountaineers at their one-yard line for the potential game winning drive. However, Hawkins led the Mountaineers right down the field for the game winning field goal after a huge 47-yard gain to DJ Epps.
However, the Bearcats defense was depleted at that moment with the losses of nose tackle Josh Hough, Safety MJ Cannon, Linebacker Montay Weedon, defensive lineman Nathan Nunn, who all exited with injuries and did not return.
Worth noting, Linebacker Jonathan Thompson and safety Jasper Beeler also were dinged up in the loss but returned to the game.
However, for Cincinnati, you simply can’t allow a team to march down the field 99 yards including a huge 39-yard gain on 2nd and 10 inside of the Mountaineers 10-yard line. The Mountaineers then connected for another explosive two plays later to march inside the red zone.
Now for Cincinnati, their defense just ran out of gas down the stretch and Micheal Hawkins and company made them pay. The Mountaineers rattled off 24 fourth quarter points with 10 of them in the final three minutes of the game. A complete collapse from Cincinnati in a must win scenario for Scott Satterfield and the Bearcats.
They will now turn their focus to Texas Tech next week for the highly anticipated homecoming matchup.