Neil's Defensive Game Balls from Cincinnati's 49-17 victory over Oklahoma State

The Bearcats motto of bend doesn't break was on full display on Saturday night. As the Bearcats defense buckled up when they needed it the most down the final stretch silencing the Cowboys en route to their sixth straight victory.

A lot to unpack on the defensive side of the ball following the game on Saturday night. Now, it wasn't pretty at times for the Bearcats, especially in terms of the rush defense to say the least. The Cowboys racked up 228 yards on the ground last night behind a stellar performance from freshman running back Rodney Fields, who finished with a game high 161 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. For Tyson Veidt and the Bearcats defense, that was the most rushing yards they have allowed all season, with the previous being 190 yards in their win over Central Florida two weeks ago.

Now, for Cincinnati, their defense prevailed at the end of the day as they won the turnover margin 2-0. However, for the Bearcats, they were able to finally snag their first interception of the season along the way. Matthew McDoom secured the Bearcats first interception as it was only a matter of time before the Bearcats got their hands on one. The other turnover was a Logan Wilson fumble recovery on a wild snap that would eventually result in a Bearcats touchdown two plays later.

Oklahoma State did rack up 377 yards of total offense and for Cincinnati, that just simply was unacceptable heading into this contest with how poor Oklahoma State's offense was heading into this contest. There was a lot of things that could be cleaned up as the team now quickly prepares for their upcoming match for Baylor, but it should be noted that Cincinnati continued to rotate guys along the defensive line. Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati's All-American Nose Tackle, only played 23 snaps in the win on Saturday.

Check out Neil's Defensive Players of the game.

Matthew McDoom, cornerback

Now, it was only a matter of time for McDoom to secure his first interception of the season. This one came at a huge moment in the game as the Cowboys were driving deep in the redzone, before McDoom jumped the route in the end zone and took it back 100-yards for the score, Which, is the longest interception return in program history.

"I have been waiting for that play for quite some time," Scott Satterfield said. "It is actually pretty funny, because as soon as Matthew caught that pass, someone on our headsets was saying how McDoom was going to go score. This is all while McDoom is back in the endzone. There whole team was on the other side of the field, but man McDoom can really run. He has been a kickoff return guy with great speed, he tip-toed down the sideline and then was gone. That was a long time coming. Hopefully we can get a few more of those."

Despite finishing with zero tackles on the evening, McDoom came away with arguably the biggest play of the game on Saturday night.

"That has been past due. I was glad I was able to go make a play for our defense," McDoom told reporters. "Now we have to go out there and a stack these up now that we have the first one. The whole team was on the defensive backs about we haven't had an interception this season. All of us looked and said one of us has to go get one, whoever it is we are going to be pretty hyped for them. I am happy the coaches knew what I was thinking when the ball was in my hands. I knew I had to go be a playmaker, that is what we play for."

Tre Gola-Callard, safety

The veteran safety continues to be a bright spot for Cincinnati on the defensive side of the ball. Gola-Callard led the team in tackles with six, while also recording a tackle for loss and pass break up in the win over Oklahoma State. He has been setting the tone early for this defense. Gola-Callard has simply solidified his spot there on the outer part of the defense to say the least. Seems like Gola-Callard is around the ball just about every play, which is a great sight to see.

Logan Wilson, cornerback

Wilson continues to make plays for the Bearcats. Despite only recording two tackles in the Bearcats victory, Wilson also recorded a pass breakup and TFL, along with a fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter. Which, it is worth noting, that the Bearcats were able to put the game away and score two plays later following the fumble recovery to really put this game out of reach.