TicketsCINCINNATI – A host of transfers starred in their Bearcats' debuts at Historic Nippert Stadium on Saturday as the Cincinnati football team routed Towson, 38-20, in front 37,654 in the 2024 season opener.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brendan Sorsby accounted for four touchdowns (two passing and two rushing) in the first half as Cincinnati extended its home-opener win streak to 23 straight.
Sorsby, a transfer from Indiana, finished with 383 passing yards and two scores on 22-of-31 passing. He added two rushing touchdowns. He threw for the most yards since Gunner Kiel threw for 386 on Nov. 14, 2015.
He was one of 34 players to appear in a game for the Red and Black for the first-time ever.
"Congrats to our guys in the locker room on getting a win," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "That is an awesome start to the season. It's not something we ever take for granted, to be able to get out here and get a win. We had a great start to the game, got out offensively and was hitting on all cylinders. It's hard to maintain that throughout the game but I still think the overall offense did some good things. We played a lot of guys….Two big plays defensively that we gave up as well. And then the other two big plays in my mind were the two overzealous plays that we had on the quarterback. You have to be careful. We all know that. So, you take away those three or four plays there and it could have been a different game.
"Overall, proud of our guys but we still have a lot of work to do as we head into week two."
Redshirt junior running back Evan Pryor, an Ohio State transfer, took his first carry as a Bearcat 64 yards for a touchdown on UC's first play of the second half. He led Cincinnati with 105 yards rushing on just four carries.
Classmate Joe Royer, a fellow transfer from the Buckeyes, finished with five catches for 89 yards, both career-high totals.
Fifth-year receiver Xzavier Henderson led Cincinnati with seven receptions for 101 yards and one score, marking his fifth career 100-yard game and fourth as a Bearcat.
On defense, transfers Jared Bartlett (West Virginia) and Josh Minkins (Louisville) led UC with six stops apiece. Bartlett, a middle linebacker in his fifth season, made two TFLs. Minkins, a fifth-year safety, added three pass breakups.
The Bearcats started fast with Sorsby completing 4-of-4 passes on the game-opening drive, including a 49-yard completion to senior slot receiver Aaron Turner. Sorsby capped the seven-play, 75-yard season-opening drive with a 2-yard touchdown to put the Bearcats in front 7-0 less than four minutes into the contest.
Sorsby tossed two touchdowns before the end of the first quarter, finding Henderson for a 42-yard score and redshirt junior Sterling Berkhalter on a 61-yard touchdown – his first as a Bearcat – to give Cincinnati a 21-3 lead heading into the second quarter.
Cincinnati All-America punter Mason Fletcher's first attempt of the season went 51 yards and pinned Towson back at its own 7-yard line, but quarterback Carlos Davis found wide receiver Jaceon Davis for a 76-yard touchdown to make the score 21-10.
Sorsby extended the Bearcats advantage to 28-10 when he called his own number for a 12-yard touchdown on a third down red zone play.
Towson used a 28-yard leaping grab by John Dunmore to bring the visitors within two scores, 28-17, at halftime. The Tigers drilled a 33-yard field goal to open the second half to cut the Cincinnati lead to 28-20 with 10:10 left in the third quarter.
Pryor's 64-yard touchdown a 36-yard field goal from Carter Brown later in the third quarter gave Cincinnati the 38-20 lead it needed to secure the victory.
Sanks Becomes First True Freshman to Start Season Opener since 2015
Freshman safety/star Jiquan Sanks started the game at safety, making him the first true freshman to start a season opener since eventual Super Bowl champion Marquise Copeland in 2015. He finished with four tackles.
"He kind of turned heads when he got here and as we put him in and started playing we're like, 'man, he just keeps showing up, keeps making plays,'" Satterfield said. "We're rotating about three or four guys at his position, and as we went through camp, he just kept being the more solid player in the run and pass. And I really believe, like those freshmen that played today, we had several that played, they'll see some big jumps in how much better they'll get from week one to week two to week three, just because they've never played. That experience they're going to be able to get, he'll grow so much off of that and it's great to see him go out there and produce like he did. And I think he's got to get a bright future head up for sure."
Up Next
Cincinnati will host Pittsburgh in the River City Rivalry matchup next Saturday, Sept. 7 at 12 p.m. at Nippert Stadium. The game will air on ESPN or ESPN2.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brendan Sorsby accounted for four touchdowns (two passing and two rushing) in the first half as Cincinnati extended its home-opener win streak to 23 straight.
Sorsby, a transfer from Indiana, finished with 383 passing yards and two scores on 22-of-31 passing. He added two rushing touchdowns. He threw for the most yards since Gunner Kiel threw for 386 on Nov. 14, 2015.
He was one of 34 players to appear in a game for the Red and Black for the first-time ever.
"Congrats to our guys in the locker room on getting a win," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "That is an awesome start to the season. It's not something we ever take for granted, to be able to get out here and get a win. We had a great start to the game, got out offensively and was hitting on all cylinders. It's hard to maintain that throughout the game but I still think the overall offense did some good things. We played a lot of guys….Two big plays defensively that we gave up as well. And then the other two big plays in my mind were the two overzealous plays that we had on the quarterback. You have to be careful. We all know that. So, you take away those three or four plays there and it could have been a different game.
"Overall, proud of our guys but we still have a lot of work to do as we head into week two."
Redshirt junior running back Evan Pryor, an Ohio State transfer, took his first carry as a Bearcat 64 yards for a touchdown on UC's first play of the second half. He led Cincinnati with 105 yards rushing on just four carries.
Classmate Joe Royer, a fellow transfer from the Buckeyes, finished with five catches for 89 yards, both career-high totals.
Fifth-year receiver Xzavier Henderson led Cincinnati with seven receptions for 101 yards and one score, marking his fifth career 100-yard game and fourth as a Bearcat.
On defense, transfers Jared Bartlett (West Virginia) and Josh Minkins (Louisville) led UC with six stops apiece. Bartlett, a middle linebacker in his fifth season, made two TFLs. Minkins, a fifth-year safety, added three pass breakups.
The Bearcats started fast with Sorsby completing 4-of-4 passes on the game-opening drive, including a 49-yard completion to senior slot receiver Aaron Turner. Sorsby capped the seven-play, 75-yard season-opening drive with a 2-yard touchdown to put the Bearcats in front 7-0 less than four minutes into the contest.
Sorsby tossed two touchdowns before the end of the first quarter, finding Henderson for a 42-yard score and redshirt junior Sterling Berkhalter on a 61-yard touchdown – his first as a Bearcat – to give Cincinnati a 21-3 lead heading into the second quarter.
Cincinnati All-America punter Mason Fletcher's first attempt of the season went 51 yards and pinned Towson back at its own 7-yard line, but quarterback Carlos Davis found wide receiver Jaceon Davis for a 76-yard touchdown to make the score 21-10.
Sorsby extended the Bearcats advantage to 28-10 when he called his own number for a 12-yard touchdown on a third down red zone play.
Towson used a 28-yard leaping grab by John Dunmore to bring the visitors within two scores, 28-17, at halftime. The Tigers drilled a 33-yard field goal to open the second half to cut the Cincinnati lead to 28-20 with 10:10 left in the third quarter.
Pryor's 64-yard touchdown a 36-yard field goal from Carter Brown later in the third quarter gave Cincinnati the 38-20 lead it needed to secure the victory.
Sanks Becomes First True Freshman to Start Season Opener since 2015
Freshman safety/star Jiquan Sanks started the game at safety, making him the first true freshman to start a season opener since eventual Super Bowl champion Marquise Copeland in 2015. He finished with four tackles.
"He kind of turned heads when he got here and as we put him in and started playing we're like, 'man, he just keeps showing up, keeps making plays,'" Satterfield said. "We're rotating about three or four guys at his position, and as we went through camp, he just kept being the more solid player in the run and pass. And I really believe, like those freshmen that played today, we had several that played, they'll see some big jumps in how much better they'll get from week one to week two to week three, just because they've never played. That experience they're going to be able to get, he'll grow so much off of that and it's great to see him go out there and produce like he did. And I think he's got to get a bright future head up for sure."
Up Next
Cincinnati will host Pittsburgh in the River City Rivalry matchup next Saturday, Sept. 7 at 12 p.m. at Nippert Stadium. The game will air on ESPN or ESPN2.