Recap: Cincinnati 24 Arizona State 14

Dressed in their all-red uniforms, Cincinnati returned to Nippert Stadium Saturday for a noon kickoff against the Arizona State Sun Devils. 

Both teams entered Saturday coming off victories.

Cincinnati went on the road and defeated UCF, 19-13, while Arizona State won a home contest against Utah, 27-19.

With both teams still in contention for a berth in the Big 12 Championship game, Saturday's game had added meaning.

After Cincinnati took the opening kickoff and went three-and-out, Arizona State marched 66 yards on six plays in 3:06 to take a 7-0 lead with 10:35 remaining in the first quarter.

Cam Skattebo's two-yard touchdown run came two plays after Kyson Brown took a hand-off 29 yards off-tackle to the UC 8-yard line. 

On the next possession, Brendan Sorsby was picked off on a pass attempt down the sideline to Xzavier Henderson. Keith Abney was the recipient of Sorsby's fourth interception over the past three games. 

Needing a defensive stand, Antwan Peek Jr forced a fumble on the very next play, which was recovered by Kam Wilson, to set the Bearcats up with a 1st-and-10 from the ASU 22.

Two plays later, Brendan Sorsby called his own number and raced 14 yards for a touchdown to knot things up at 14 with 7:26 left on the clock in the first quarter. 

(Photo: Taylor Keeton / RiverfrontU )

Arizona State tried an aggressive approach on their next possession by attempting to pick up a 4th-and-3 from their own 47.

Jeff Sims tried to find his running back, Skattebo, on a pass out of the backfield but he was stopped for a six-yard loss by Jake Golday and Jordan Robinson.

On the first play after the turnover on downs, Brendan Sorsby connected with Joe Royer for an 11-yard gain. The play would stand but the Bearcat offense was sent back 15 yards after an unneccessary roughness penalty at the end of the play on the Bearcats 

Sorsby connected with Royer on the next play for a 14 yard pick up to gain some of the lost yardage back. 

The UC offense lost six yards on the next play on an attempted reverse from Kiner to Tony Johnson and the Bearcats would be forced to settle for a 46-yard Nathan Hawks field goal two plays later to extend the lead to 10-7 lead.

The first quarter ended on a great defensive play call as Jonathon Thompson applied pressure on a Jeff Sims roll out and forced him out of bounds to force the Sun Devil offense to punt on a 4th-and-17 from their own 41. 

With the Cincinnati offense taking over at their own 9-yard line to begin the second quarter, the Bearcats had an opportunity to make a statement.

Sorsby began the drive by completing three passes for 31 yards and Evan Pryor would finish the drive with a 55 yard-touchdown run to give the Bearcats a 17-7 lead.

Pryor took a handoff up the middle, made one cut at the second level, and then showed his speed to get by the final ASU defender that had an angle on the tackle. 

Six plays, 91 yards, 3:15.... Efficient. 

Cincinnati's offense would again be awarded great field position following a fourth down stop by Tyson Veidt's defense with 4:42 remaining in the half.

With ASU attempting a fourth-and-one at midfield, Dontay Corleone and Jared Bartlett got into the backfield and stopped Cam Skattebo for a one-yard loss. 

(Photo: Ryan Luster / RiverfrontU)

Following completions to Xzavier Henderson (15 yards) and Tony Johnson (17 yards), Corey Kiner took a handoff up the middle, broke two tackles, then carried an ASU defender to the one-yard line to give UC a first-and-goal at the two-minute warning.

Brendan Sorsby capped the five play, 50-yard drive off on the next play with a one-yard touchdown run. 

With 1:55 remaining in the half, Cincinnati had extended their lead to 24-7. 

After another defensive stop, UC had an opportunity to extend their lead.

Aided by a facemask penalty on the defense, the Bearcats drove to the ASU 24-yard line.

Nathan Hawks' came on with 0:17 seconds remaining in the half to attempt a 42-yard field goal, but his attempt sailed right and ASU was content with running out the clock to end the half. 

Both teams traded offensive possessions to open the third quarter with neither team having much success. 

On ASU's second offensive possession, they were able to march 74 yards in 8 plays to cut the Cincinnati lead to 24-14 with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter.

The drive consisted of seven runs for a total of 51 yards with the drive also being aided by a 15-yard defensive pass interference call on Ormanie Arnold.

Cam Skattebo broke two tackles in the backfield on 2nd and 2 and took it in for the score.

Cincinnati was able to advance all the way down to the ASU 3-yard line on their next drive but could not convert on third or fourth down, turning it over on downs.

Corey Kiner had previously extended the drive by picking up 18 yards on a 4th-and-3 attempt at the ASU 28 but the Bearcats did not attempt a run in either situation, when they had a chance to put the game away with a touchdown. 

It would not matter. 

Arizona State drove to the Bearcats' 30-yard line with 5:58 remaining but Ian Hershey's 48-yard field goal attempt was wide left.

With the offense driving and in field goal range just before the two-minute warning, a 3rd-and-4 snap went over Brendan Sorsby's head for a 10-yard loss, forcing one final punt and stop by the defense. 

Arizona State took over at their own 20 with 1:50 remaining on the clock, down 24-14.

Jeff Sims moved the ball down to the Bearcat 23-yard line over the next 1:20 but Ian Hershey missed a 41-yard field goal attempt to end any chance at an onside kick and potential game-tying drive.

Brendan Sorsby came on with :30 seconds on the clock, took one knee, and the Bearcats walked off the field celebrating a 24-14 homecoming win over Arizona State.

Cincinnati Head Coach Scott Satterfield told the media during the post-game that the atmosphere in Nippert Stadium was exactly what college football is about.

"It was loud today. It was a great atmosphere, great college football, perfect weather for Homecoming. When you look up what you think a game may be in college football, this is it right here. It doesn't get any better than this."

With the win, the Bearcats improve to 5-2, 3-1 in the Big 12. 

Key Stats and Notes:

- It was another impressive performance by the defense against one of the best running backs in the country. Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo entered Saturday ranking third in the country in all-purpose yards (170.5). Skattebo was limited to 76 yards on 17 carries and 33 yards on 4 receptions. Antwan Peek Jr led the UC defense with 9 tackles and a forced fumble.

 - Quarterback Brendan Sorsby shook off an early interception and finished the game 23-of-31 for 206 yards and one touchdown on the ground. After the interception, Sorsby completed eight consecutive passes. Sorsby spread the ball around to seven different receivers with Xzavier Henderson leading the way with 8 catches for 67 yards. 

- Offensive lineman Dartanyan Tinsley returned to the starting lineup and his presence was noticeable in the run game. The Bearcats rolled up 191 yards on the ground as Corey Kiner finished with 99 yards on 22 carries. Kiner became the 15th player in program history to surpass the 2,000 career yards mark during today's game.  Evan Pryor added 67 yards on four carries. The Cincinnati offense finished just shy of 400 total yards of offense (397).

 - Cincinnati's linebackers have really shined lately. Jonathon Thompson finished second on the team in tackles with 8, while Jared Bartlett and Jake Golday both had seven tackles. A big reason for the improved linebacker play during the Bearcats' two game win streak has been the consistent play up front, led by defensive tackle Dontay Corleone. 

Final Thoughts:

You can slowly see this team's confidence growing week to week. The Bearcats have now led at halftime in 6-of-7 games this season with the only exception being a 24-24 tie at Texas Tech.

UC has now missed a field goal attempt before the half in three straight games. Cincinnati's two losses are by one point and three points. Consistency in the kicking game will have to get better over the final five games if UC wants to seriously challenge for a spot in the Big 12 Championship game. 

The defense has progressively gotten better since being carved up by Texas Tech and Tahj Brooks. They are flying to the ball and getting pressure on the quarterback. 

Offensively, we saw the run game return to what was expected at the beginning of the season. Staying healthy over this final five game stretch will be paramount. 

Up Next:

Cincinnati at Colorado Saturday October 26th 10:30 pm kickoff