TicketsCINCINNATI – Led by a stout defensive performance and 232 total yards and two rushing touchdowns from redshirt sophomore quarterback Brendan Sorsby, the Cincinnati football team cruised past Arizona State, 24-14, on Saturday in front of a sold-out Homecoming crowd at Historic Nippert Stadium.
The Bearcats, clad in all red uniforms, held the Sun Devils to their lowest point total of the season and improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12 Conference. Arizona State dropped to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the league.
"First of all, I just want to give a huge shout out to our fans, man, they came out," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "It was awesome to see when we busted onto the field, you see red everywhere in the stadium. Our guys look good in their uniforms, and the fans look great sitting up in the stands. 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."
Cincinnati started the game in a 7-0 hole after an opening drive 3-and-out led to 66-yard scoring drive for the Sun Devils. Sorsby tossed an interception on Cincinnati's second drive.
Safety Antwan Peek Jr. swung the momentum back the Bearcats' way, however, forcing a fumble on a rush by Sun Devils' star Cam Skattebo.
Sorsby and the Bearcats' offense took it from there. Sorsby completed 15 of his next 18 passes and tallied two rushing touchdowns following the pick as Cincinnati scored 24 straight points to take a commanding 24-7 lead into halftime.
Peek's forced fumble, his fourth of the season, gave Cincinnati the ball at the ASU 22-yard line. His father, Antwan Sr., holds the program record with seven forced fumbles in 2002.
"He's always put an emphasis on it ever since I started playing football, to punch it out whenever you can," Peek Jr. said. "I told him right away I needed to get that record. I already knew he had it, and that's something he's always told me my whole career. It's been a goal of mine to do that."
Two plays later, Sorsby knifed through the Sun Devils' defense for a 14-yard touchdown run to even the score, 7-7, with 7:26 left in the opening quarter.
After the Cincinnati defense stuffed a fourth-down screen pass attempt, kicker Nathan Hawks drilled a 46-yard field goal that gave the Bearcats a 10-7 advantage at 2:18 in the first quarter.
Cincinnati ended the first quarter with a monster third-down sack by redshirt sophomore Jonathan Thompson on ASU quarterback Jeff Sims, forcing the Sun Devils to punt.
Moments later, junior running back Evan Pryor darted through the middle of the defense for a 55-yard dash, and Cincinnati was off to the races, ahead 17-7, in the opening minutes of the second quarter.
The Bearcats tacked on another score, a 1-yard rush by Sorsby, with 1:55 remaining in the first half. UC had a chance to add to the scoring at the end of the half, but Hawks missed a 42-yard field goal.
After their opening 66-yard drive, the Sun Devils could only must 72 yards the rest of the first half.
"It was a hard-fought win for our guys today," Satterfield said. "It was a dogfight. We knew it was going to be that way. They pride themselves in being a physical team, as do we, and we wanted to be that way. We started out in the hole but after that, we woke up offensively and defensively and played a great first half. Everything was great.
"The defense did a great job. I'm really proud of how we keep getting more comfortable playing our defense, and we always want to take some time," Satterfield continued. "It's a new scheme. You have guys in new positions, and they're really coming through and understanding what we're trying to do. Tremendous amount of respect for [Cam] Skattebo, he's a load and to hold him to 75 yards, that is a great feat by our defense. On the other side of that, we have a pretty good running back as well, Corey [Kiner], rushed right at 100 yards, broke a lot of tackles, and I'm extremely proud of him."
After halftime, the teams traded punts before Skattebo completed an eight-play, 74-yard drive with a 2-yard score to bring the Sun Devils within 10, 24-14, at the 2:23 mark in the third quarter.
Cincinnati held the ball for the next seven minutes, but didn't score. The Bearcats converted a 4th-and-3 midway through the 14-play drive, but a pitch to wide receiver Tony Johnson was stuffed on 4th and goal from the 3-yard line.
Arizona State did not capitalize despite driving from its own 3-yard line into field goal range. After Arizona State quarterback Jeff Sims completed a 42-yard pass to Jordan Tyson, kicker Ian Hershey's 48-yard field goal was wide left.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati hits the road to face Colorado for a 10:15 p.m. ET kick on ESPN on Oct. 26 at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo.
The Bearcats, clad in all red uniforms, held the Sun Devils to their lowest point total of the season and improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12 Conference. Arizona State dropped to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the league.
"First of all, I just want to give a huge shout out to our fans, man, they came out," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "It was awesome to see when we busted onto the field, you see red everywhere in the stadium. Our guys look good in their uniforms, and the fans look great sitting up in the stands. 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."
Cincinnati started the game in a 7-0 hole after an opening drive 3-and-out led to 66-yard scoring drive for the Sun Devils. Sorsby tossed an interception on Cincinnati's second drive.
Safety Antwan Peek Jr. swung the momentum back the Bearcats' way, however, forcing a fumble on a rush by Sun Devils' star Cam Skattebo.
Sorsby and the Bearcats' offense took it from there. Sorsby completed 15 of his next 18 passes and tallied two rushing touchdowns following the pick as Cincinnati scored 24 straight points to take a commanding 24-7 lead into halftime.
Peek's forced fumble, his fourth of the season, gave Cincinnati the ball at the ASU 22-yard line. His father, Antwan Sr., holds the program record with seven forced fumbles in 2002.
"He's always put an emphasis on it ever since I started playing football, to punch it out whenever you can," Peek Jr. said. "I told him right away I needed to get that record. I already knew he had it, and that's something he's always told me my whole career. It's been a goal of mine to do that."
Two plays later, Sorsby knifed through the Sun Devils' defense for a 14-yard touchdown run to even the score, 7-7, with 7:26 left in the opening quarter.
After the Cincinnati defense stuffed a fourth-down screen pass attempt, kicker Nathan Hawks drilled a 46-yard field goal that gave the Bearcats a 10-7 advantage at 2:18 in the first quarter.
Cincinnati ended the first quarter with a monster third-down sack by redshirt sophomore Jonathan Thompson on ASU quarterback Jeff Sims, forcing the Sun Devils to punt.
Moments later, junior running back Evan Pryor darted through the middle of the defense for a 55-yard dash, and Cincinnati was off to the races, ahead 17-7, in the opening minutes of the second quarter.
The Bearcats tacked on another score, a 1-yard rush by Sorsby, with 1:55 remaining in the first half. UC had a chance to add to the scoring at the end of the half, but Hawks missed a 42-yard field goal.
After their opening 66-yard drive, the Sun Devils could only must 72 yards the rest of the first half.
"It was a hard-fought win for our guys today," Satterfield said. "It was a dogfight. We knew it was going to be that way. They pride themselves in being a physical team, as do we, and we wanted to be that way. We started out in the hole but after that, we woke up offensively and defensively and played a great first half. Everything was great.
"The defense did a great job. I'm really proud of how we keep getting more comfortable playing our defense, and we always want to take some time," Satterfield continued. "It's a new scheme. You have guys in new positions, and they're really coming through and understanding what we're trying to do. Tremendous amount of respect for [Cam] Skattebo, he's a load and to hold him to 75 yards, that is a great feat by our defense. On the other side of that, we have a pretty good running back as well, Corey [Kiner], rushed right at 100 yards, broke a lot of tackles, and I'm extremely proud of him."
After halftime, the teams traded punts before Skattebo completed an eight-play, 74-yard drive with a 2-yard score to bring the Sun Devils within 10, 24-14, at the 2:23 mark in the third quarter.
Cincinnati held the ball for the next seven minutes, but didn't score. The Bearcats converted a 4th-and-3 midway through the 14-play drive, but a pitch to wide receiver Tony Johnson was stuffed on 4th and goal from the 3-yard line.
Arizona State did not capitalize despite driving from its own 3-yard line into field goal range. After Arizona State quarterback Jeff Sims completed a 42-yard pass to Jordan Tyson, kicker Ian Hershey's 48-yard field goal was wide left.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati hits the road to face Colorado for a 10:15 p.m. ET kick on ESPN on Oct. 26 at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo.