TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football team will look to win its 22nd straight home opener and head coach Scott Satterfield aims to win his debut at the helm of the Bearcats this Saturday when EKU travels to Nippert Stadium for a 3:32 p.m. ET kick.
UC, which joined the Big 12 on July 1, has sold out of tickets for the 12th consecutive game at home and will ring in its first season in its new Power 5 conference by welcoming a formidable Colonels squad that advanced to the FCS playoffs a year ago and beat an FBS team in Bowling Green last season.
"I'm as excited as I've ever been for a first game and to come out and coach in this environment, in this stadium, man it's going to be awesome," Satterfield said. "I love everything about it. I love the size, it's not 100,000 seat stadium, but it's right on top of you. The opponent hopefully will feel smothered and make it more difficult for them to do things and move the ball offensively. I know our players will feed off of the excitement and the atmosphere and it's just really inspirational to those guys and they'll continue to bring it every play."
EKU is led by senior quarterback Parker McKinney, a preseason FCS All-American, who passed for 3,956 yards and 33 touchdowns in 2022. The Colonels are expected to feature an explosive offense after averaging 36.9 points per game and eclipsing 40 points six times last season.
"We are facing one of the better passing teams at the FCS level last year," Satterfield said. "A quarterback that has a great opportunity at the next level…I think it's certainly going to be a test for our defense. If you give this quarterback time, he can pick you apart. We have to be able to create some pressure there and get him off his spot in that pocket and make him move his feet a little bit."
There may not be a team more prepared to pressure the quarterback than Cincinnati, which boasts one of the nation's top defensive lines, featuring preseason first team All-American Dontay "The Godfather" Corleone, all-conference defensive end Jowon Briggs and seniors Eric Phillips and Malik Vann.
"I think they're going to be hard to block," Satterfield said. "I think (Jowon) Briggs is playing the best ball of his career right now. We haven't played a game yet this year, but I think he will go out and make plays. Those guys will impact games."
Corleone, Briggs, quarterback Emory Jones and center Gavin Gerhardt were named captains by their peers on Sunday – the start of game week.
"It was an amazing feeling," said Jones. "There's no better feeling than to know your guys have your respect and that they look to you to be at your best at all times."
Gerhardt, a redshirt junior from Xenia, Ohio, is the only returning starter on offense, but Satterfield found plenty of veteran playmakers in the transfer portal this offseason.
Led by Jones, a sixth-year quarterback who started at Florida in 2021 and Arizona State in 2022, the Bearcats will employ an exciting, fast-paced and balanced attack. In addition to Jones, Cincinnati added 22 other transfers, including wide receivers Dee Wiggins (Louisville, Miami), Braden Smith (Louisville), Xzavier Henderson (Florida), Aaron Turner (UConn) and Donovan Ollie (Washington State), who all started at their previous schools.
Said Satterfield, "I want to make sure we're putting a great product on the field that's going to be very competitive and it's going to make some plays that the people are going to be excited about and cheer loud and go back and tell their friends, 'man, you got to come to a game – it's unbelievable.' So that's, that's what we have to do as coaches and players and keep them excited about coming back."
BROADCAST INFORMATION, INCLUDING ONE-HOUR PREGAME RADIO SHOW The game will be televised live on ESPN+ with Ryan Leaf (analyst), Noah Reed (pxp) and Shan Sparks (sideline) on the call. Dan Hoard (pxp) and Jim Kelly (analyst) will be joined by Tony Pike (sideline) for the radio broadcast on 700 WLW (which will cut away for the Reds at 5:40 p.m.) and WEBN. The radio show will now feature a one-hour pregame show hosted by Mo Egger.
NIPPERT IMPROVEMENTS From parking to pastrami and seatbacks to Cincy Light, Historic Nippert Stadium and Cincinnati Athletics have made several improvements to the gameday experience, which can be found HERE.
WATCH TUESDAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE
HOME COOKIN' Satterfield is looking to become the third straight Bearcats' head coach to win his UC debut and the sixth straight to win his first home game at Cincinnati. Cincinnati has won 21 consecutive home openers - a streak that started with a 36-29 overtime win over TCU on Sept. 2, 2002 - exactly 21 years ago. The Bearcats have won 31 of their last 32 home games.
UC lost its last game at Nippert Stadium, a 27-24 defeat to No. 18 Tulane, to end the 2022 regular season. The loss snapped UC's 31-game home win streak - the 19th-longest home winning streak in college football history. Since 2013, Cincinnati has won 81% of its games at Nippert Stadium (51-12).
UC 2-0 ALL-TIME VERSUS THE COLONELS Cincinnati is 2-0 all-time against EKU and 9-0 against current United Athletic Conference teams. The Bearcats opened the 2008 season with a 40-7 win at Nippert Stadium versus EKU and had a 31-0 win against the Colonels to open the 2006 season.
QB Dustin Grutza started both games, collecting BIG EAST Player of the Week honors after throwing for 296 yards and three TDs against EKU in 2008. The Colonels are led by QB Parker McKinney, an FCS preseason All-American. He led Eastern Kentucky to the FCS Playoffs in 2022 after passing for 3,956 yards and 33 TDs.
Satterfield coached Louisville to a 30-3 win over EKU in 2021 and a 42-0 victory in 2019 - his first win with the Cardinals. Current Cincinnati slot receiver Braden Smith had a 49-yard punt return TD for the Cardinals vs. EKU in 2021.
BEARCATS RETURN TWO ALL-AMERICANS, INCLUDING THE GODFATHER Cincinnati returns a pair of Associated Press Third Team All-Americans in redshirt sophomore nose tackle Dontay Corleone and junior punter Mason Fletcher.
The pair is on the 2023 All-Big 12 preseason team. Corleone, nicknamed The Godfather, burst on the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2022, finishing as the nation's highest-graded defensive player (93.8) by Pro Football Focus. His 94.7 run grade from PFF was the best mark since Micah Parsons in 2019.
YOU'VE GOT TO PUNT IT UP Fletcher is arguably the nation's best punter. The Melbourne, Australia native was a Ray Guy Award finalist in addition to collecting AAC Special Team Player of the Year honors in 2022. Fletcher's 46.3 average ranked fourth nationally and is the best 2022 average among returning punters in college football. He booted 14 punts of 50+ and tallied 29 punts inside the 20 and 12 inside the 10. His 84-yarder at SMU set a UC record.
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UC, which joined the Big 12 on July 1, has sold out of tickets for the 12th consecutive game at home and will ring in its first season in its new Power 5 conference by welcoming a formidable Colonels squad that advanced to the FCS playoffs a year ago and beat an FBS team in Bowling Green last season.
"I'm as excited as I've ever been for a first game and to come out and coach in this environment, in this stadium, man it's going to be awesome," Satterfield said. "I love everything about it. I love the size, it's not 100,000 seat stadium, but it's right on top of you. The opponent hopefully will feel smothered and make it more difficult for them to do things and move the ball offensively. I know our players will feed off of the excitement and the atmosphere and it's just really inspirational to those guys and they'll continue to bring it every play."
EKU is led by senior quarterback Parker McKinney, a preseason FCS All-American, who passed for 3,956 yards and 33 touchdowns in 2022. The Colonels are expected to feature an explosive offense after averaging 36.9 points per game and eclipsing 40 points six times last season.
"We are facing one of the better passing teams at the FCS level last year," Satterfield said. "A quarterback that has a great opportunity at the next level…I think it's certainly going to be a test for our defense. If you give this quarterback time, he can pick you apart. We have to be able to create some pressure there and get him off his spot in that pocket and make him move his feet a little bit."
There may not be a team more prepared to pressure the quarterback than Cincinnati, which boasts one of the nation's top defensive lines, featuring preseason first team All-American Dontay "The Godfather" Corleone, all-conference defensive end Jowon Briggs and seniors Eric Phillips and Malik Vann.
"I think they're going to be hard to block," Satterfield said. "I think (Jowon) Briggs is playing the best ball of his career right now. We haven't played a game yet this year, but I think he will go out and make plays. Those guys will impact games."
Corleone, Briggs, quarterback Emory Jones and center Gavin Gerhardt were named captains by their peers on Sunday – the start of game week.
"It was an amazing feeling," said Jones. "There's no better feeling than to know your guys have your respect and that they look to you to be at your best at all times."
Gerhardt, a redshirt junior from Xenia, Ohio, is the only returning starter on offense, but Satterfield found plenty of veteran playmakers in the transfer portal this offseason.
Led by Jones, a sixth-year quarterback who started at Florida in 2021 and Arizona State in 2022, the Bearcats will employ an exciting, fast-paced and balanced attack. In addition to Jones, Cincinnati added 22 other transfers, including wide receivers Dee Wiggins (Louisville, Miami), Braden Smith (Louisville), Xzavier Henderson (Florida), Aaron Turner (UConn) and Donovan Ollie (Washington State), who all started at their previous schools.
Said Satterfield, "I want to make sure we're putting a great product on the field that's going to be very competitive and it's going to make some plays that the people are going to be excited about and cheer loud and go back and tell their friends, 'man, you got to come to a game – it's unbelievable.' So that's, that's what we have to do as coaches and players and keep them excited about coming back."
BROADCAST INFORMATION, INCLUDING ONE-HOUR PREGAME RADIO SHOW The game will be televised live on ESPN+ with Ryan Leaf (analyst), Noah Reed (pxp) and Shan Sparks (sideline) on the call. Dan Hoard (pxp) and Jim Kelly (analyst) will be joined by Tony Pike (sideline) for the radio broadcast on 700 WLW (which will cut away for the Reds at 5:40 p.m.) and WEBN. The radio show will now feature a one-hour pregame show hosted by Mo Egger.
NIPPERT IMPROVEMENTS From parking to pastrami and seatbacks to Cincy Light, Historic Nippert Stadium and Cincinnati Athletics have made several improvements to the gameday experience, which can be found HERE.
WATCH TUESDAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE
HOME COOKIN' Satterfield is looking to become the third straight Bearcats' head coach to win his UC debut and the sixth straight to win his first home game at Cincinnati. Cincinnati has won 21 consecutive home openers - a streak that started with a 36-29 overtime win over TCU on Sept. 2, 2002 - exactly 21 years ago. The Bearcats have won 31 of their last 32 home games.
UC lost its last game at Nippert Stadium, a 27-24 defeat to No. 18 Tulane, to end the 2022 regular season. The loss snapped UC's 31-game home win streak - the 19th-longest home winning streak in college football history. Since 2013, Cincinnati has won 81% of its games at Nippert Stadium (51-12).
UC 2-0 ALL-TIME VERSUS THE COLONELS Cincinnati is 2-0 all-time against EKU and 9-0 against current United Athletic Conference teams. The Bearcats opened the 2008 season with a 40-7 win at Nippert Stadium versus EKU and had a 31-0 win against the Colonels to open the 2006 season.
QB Dustin Grutza started both games, collecting BIG EAST Player of the Week honors after throwing for 296 yards and three TDs against EKU in 2008. The Colonels are led by QB Parker McKinney, an FCS preseason All-American. He led Eastern Kentucky to the FCS Playoffs in 2022 after passing for 3,956 yards and 33 TDs.
Satterfield coached Louisville to a 30-3 win over EKU in 2021 and a 42-0 victory in 2019 - his first win with the Cardinals. Current Cincinnati slot receiver Braden Smith had a 49-yard punt return TD for the Cardinals vs. EKU in 2021.
BEARCATS RETURN TWO ALL-AMERICANS, INCLUDING THE GODFATHER Cincinnati returns a pair of Associated Press Third Team All-Americans in redshirt sophomore nose tackle Dontay Corleone and junior punter Mason Fletcher.
The pair is on the 2023 All-Big 12 preseason team. Corleone, nicknamed The Godfather, burst on the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2022, finishing as the nation's highest-graded defensive player (93.8) by Pro Football Focus. His 94.7 run grade from PFF was the best mark since Micah Parsons in 2019.
YOU'VE GOT TO PUNT IT UP Fletcher is arguably the nation's best punter. The Melbourne, Australia native was a Ray Guy Award finalist in addition to collecting AAC Special Team Player of the Year honors in 2022. Fletcher's 46.3 average ranked fourth nationally and is the best 2022 average among returning punters in college football. He booted 14 punts of 50+ and tallied 29 punts inside the 20 and 12 inside the 10. His 84-yarder at SMU set a UC record.
QUICK HITS ...
- QB Emory Jones is expected to start for a third P5 school (Florida, Arizona State) and is a team captain for a second time.
- He has 48 career total TDs. UC is the fifth-winningest program in FBS since 2018 (53-11, 83%) and the 14th-winningest program since 2013 (86-41, 68%).
- The Bearcats went to back-to-back NY6 Bowls from 2020-21 and are the only G5 team to advance to the CFP (2021).
- Cincinnati is 659-599-50 (.523) all-time and is playing its 136th football season in 2023 (since 1885, one of 10 oldest in FBS).
- The Bearcats have advanced to 22 bowl games, including five straight.
- UC returns only one starter on offense: center Gavin Gerhardt, who started all 13 games in 2022.
- Fifth-year senior Jowon Briggs is married and just had his third child on Friday, Aug. 25, with his wife, Nyjae. He was a First Team All-AAC defensive tackle in 2022. A Cincinnati native, he started his career at Virginia before transferring to UC in 2021.
- Defensive Coordinator Bryan Brown's Louisville defense led the nation with 50 sacks in 2022.