Bowl Eligible, No. 24 Bearcats rough up Cowboys on the road, 49-17

The No. 24 Cincinnati Bearcats traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Could the Bearcats get their sixth win and become bowl eligible for the first time under the Scott Satterfield era?

The Bearcats struck first with a Brendan Sorsby 26 yard touchdown toss to Cyrus Allen making it 7-0. The Cowboys answered with a Logan Ward field goal from 33 yards out, 7-3. The Bearcats allowed 69 yards on the drive, but they answered fast with an Allen 14 yard run to push the lead to 14-3. The next drive the Cowboys scored on a 6 yard touchdown run by Sam Jackson V to cut the score to 14-10. Answering again with a Joe Royer 27 yard reception from Sorsby to push the lead back to 11, 21-10. The Cowboys had the ball inside the red zone, but on 4th and 1, Antwan Peek Jr stopped Sesi Vailahi to get the offense the ball back. With the ball on their 6 yard line, Sorsby led the Bearcats on a 94 yard drive capped with a 12 yard touchdown pass to Allen, pushing the lead to 28-10.

The Bearcats had a great half on offense 305 yards total and four touchdowns. Sorsby went 14-of-19, 207 yards and three touchdowns. Allen had two catches for 38 yards and two touchdowns and two rushes for 17 yards and a touchdown. Royer had three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. The leading rusher has been Evan Pryor for 54 yards on six carries. 

The only bad thing in the first half has been the play of the defense, Rodney Fields Jr has 110 yards on 14 carries.

After the Bearcats went three and out on their first drive the Cowboys answered fast with a Fields Jr 20 yard touchdown to cut the lead back down to 11, 28-17. The Bearcats didn’t make anything happen on their next offensive drive, the Cowboys were driving down the field and on a third and 1, Jackson V received a bad snap that led to a punt. The next drive Sorsby had two big plays on third down one to Noah Jennings and the other to Jeff Caldwell that led to a 1 yard touchdown run by Sorsby to push the lead to 18, 35-17 early in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys were in the red zone when Matthew McDoom intercepted Jackson taking it back for a touchdown pushing the lead to 25, 42-17. It was the Bearcats first interception of the season and their first defensive touchdown of 2025. The 100 yard return is now the longest in the schools history. The next drive Logan Wilson was able to recover a bad snap which led to a Manny Covey 9 yard touchdown pushing the score to 49-17.

Sorsby finished 20-of-29, 270 yards and three touchdowns, 13 yards on six carries and a touchdown. 

Now sitting at 6-1 and 4-0 in the Big 12, they will face Baylor at Nippert Stadium for homecoming at 4 pm next Saturday.