Cincinnati Hosts Bowling Green in 2025 Home Opener on Saturday

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football team hosts Bowling Green this Saturday in its home opener. The Bearcats and Falcons will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET at Nippert Stadium.

In anticipation of another exciting season of Cincinnati Football, the athletic department announced several changes and improvements to the gameday experience at Nippert Stadium. For a comprehensive list of everything new this season, please visit this link.

The first of seven home games at Nippert Stadium this season will pit the Bearcats against the Falcons for the fifth time ever. BGSU owns a 4-0 record in the all-time series, with all four meetings coming in the early 1990’s.

Cincinnati will be looking to bounce back from last Thursday’s 20-17 loss vs. Nebraska in Kansas City. UC had the ball in the final minutes of the game with a chance to win, but an interception with 39 seconds remaining sealed the Cornhuskers’ victory. For head coach Scott Satterfield, nothing good can come of letting a loss like that linger. He had his team back the next day to review film and start working on how to attack the Falcons.

“We came back in on Friday,” Satterfield said. “Once we got back that afternoon, and went over that game, kind of put it to bed and moved forward to BG.”

Positives from the Nebraska game include the resiliency of the defense and the play of the offensive line. Cincinnati’s defense spent nearly one-third of the game on the field, but held Nebraska to just 20 points. The O-line did not allow a sack all night and allowed zero negative rushes.

If a few potential turnovers had gone Cincinnati’s way, the end result may have been different.

“Defensively, I thought they played very solid, they played hard,” Satterfield said. “They didn’t give up any big plays. Nebraska had the ball for 40 minutes and I thought we did an outstanding job with that. Obviously we would like to get off the field a little bit more on third downs. The other thing would be they had the ball on the ground a couple times and Logan [Wilson] had an opportunity for a pick-six in that game. We have to take advantage of those opportunities defensively so we can try and win the turnover margin, that was huge for us, obviously the difference in the game.”

The Bearcats will enjoy three weeks at home before hopping on a plane again to open Big 12 play at Kansas on Saturday, Sept. 27. Following Saturday’s game against Bowling Green, UC will host Northwestern State on Saturday, Sept. 13 before its first bye weekend on Saturday, Sept. 20.

SINGLE-GAME TICKET AND SEASON TICKET INFORMATION

University of Cincinnati football season and single-game tickets for the 2025 season are now on sale.

All UC fans are encouraged to purchase single game tickets through Account Manager. Visit this link to sign in/sign up to Bearcats Account Manager, which will help avoid any additional fees when purchasing tickets. Read our FAQs HERE on how to sign in/sign up for Bearcats Account Manager. Please contact the Bearcats Ticket Office at 877-CATS-TIX for more information.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with James Westling (play-by-play) and Leger Douzable (analyst) on the call. The game will be broadcast on radio via 700 WLW and SiriusXM Channel 106 or 198 with Dan Hoard (pxp), Jim Kelly (analyst) and Tony Pike (sideline) on the call.

CINCINNATI RETURNS TO NIPPERT TO HOST BOWLING GREEN IN HOME OPENER

• Cincinnati returns to Historic Nippert Stadium on Saturday to host Bowling Green at Carson Field at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
• Fans are encouraged to “Wear White” and enjoy new ribbon boards, the family-friendly 513 stands, Nippert Market and throwback Rhine Room - among many Nippert Gameday improvements.
• Prior to the coin flip, Cincinnati will hold a moment of silence to honor and remember Jeremiah Kelly, an early-enrollee freshman offensive lineman from Avon, Ohio, who tragically died in April. Cincinnati will don “JK 58” patches and helmet stickers all season.
• The Bearcats have won 23 straight home openers dating back to a 36-29 overtime victory over TCU in 2002.
• Bowling Green is coached by 1995 Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, in his first season at the helm.
• The Bearcats are coming off a heartbreaking 20-17 loss to Nebraska at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night, Aug. 28. QB Brendan Sorsby rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns, but Nebraska secured an interception with 34 seconds left. Led by LB Jake Golday (12 tackles), Cincinnati’s defense held Nebraska to 353 total yards, despite being on the field for 39:30.

NIPPERT STADIUM: OUR HISTORIC HOME

• UC has played at the same site since 1901, making Carson Field the second-oldest playing site in the nation for college football - behind only Penn’s Franklin Field. Arch Carson, as team captain, helped start football at UC in 1885 and in 1901 as physical director at UC, he led the construction of the field. In 1915, brick and concrete structure replaced wooden stands.
• On Nov. 8, 1924, the completed stadium was dedicated as James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium with a capacity of 12,000.
• The stadium was named in honor of team captain Jimmy Nippert who died a month after sustaining a spike wound injury during the season-ending clash with Miami (Ohio). His grandfather, James N. Gamble of Procter and Gamble funded the completion.
• Today, Nippert Stadium holds just over 38,000 seats, features more than 1,000 club-level seats and over 50 suites, and sits as a bowl below the surface at the center of campus. The “Wrigley Field of college football” provides a unique homefield advantage.
• Since the start of 2015, Cincinnati is 45-19 at Nippert Stadium and 89-31 since 2000.
• The Bearcats boast an all-time record of 360-200-13 (.640) at Nippert Stadium since its dedication on Nov. 8, 1924.
• Cincinnati, which started playing football in 1885, is in its 138th season and owns an all-time record of 667-616-50 (.519).

SETTING THE STAGE

• QB Brendan Sorsby returned to UC after passing for 2,813 yards and 18 touchdowns to go along with 447 rushing yards and nine scores - the most by a Big 12 QB - 2024. He was rated the 20 QB in the nation by The Athletic prior to the season.
• Sorsby completed 13 of 25 passes for 69 yards in the season opener, but rushed for 96 yards and two scores - his fourth multiple rushing touchdown game of his career. Sorsby leads the Big 12 in rushing (96 ypg) through Weeks 0 and 1.
• He has rushed for at least 90 yards in three of his last four games, dating back to last season.
• The Bearcats 3-3-5 defense enters Year 2 under defensive coordinator Tyson Veidt, and looked sharp versus Nebraska. Led by two-time All-America NT Dontay “The Godfather” Corleone and a LB corps that includes two Bruce Feldman “Freaks” in Jake Golday (2025) and Jack Dingle (2024), UC held Nebraska to 4.5 yards per play on Thursday night.
• Corleone and fourth-year starter Gavin Gerhardt are just the third and fourth three-time team captains in school history.
• Sorsby and seventh-year cornerback Logan Wilson (2 PBU vs. Nebraska) are the other team captains.
• First Team All-Big 12 TE Joe Royer returned after breaking Travis Kelce’s TE school record with 50 receptions in 2024.
• Led by Gerhardt, the Bearcats’ OL did not allow a sack or a negative rushing play against Nebraska. UC rushed for 202 yards on a Nebraska rush defense that allowed just 101 ypg in 2024 (No. 8 nationally).
• Cincinnati brought in 39 new scholarship players in 2025, including 21 transfers - led by All-Sun Belt CB Matthew McDoom, FCS All-Americans WR Jeff Caldwell and LT Joe Cotton, and kicker Stephen Rusnak (perfect 11 of 11 on FGs at Charlotte in 2024).

NOTING THE FALCONS

• The Bearcats have never beat the Falcons. BGSU holds a 4-0 mark, winning in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 38-0 in 1994. The 38-0 loss was UC’s first home shutout since 1972.
• Bowling Green is led by quarterback Drew Pyne, who is playing at his fourth FBS school. He made stops at Missouri, Arizona State and Notre Dame before joining BGSU.
• BG defeated Lafayette, 26-7, on Aug. 28. Cameron Pettaway returned the opening kickoff 98 yards to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead 15 seconds into the game. Pyne finished 12 for 18 for 109 yards. Kicker Jackson Kleather drilled four field goals, including a 56-yarder.
• Pyne has a part of arguably the biggest victory in UC history - the 24-13 win on Oct. 2, 2021, in South Bend, Ind. Pyne threw a 32-yard touchdown pass that brough the Irish within four points, 17-13, with eight minutes left in the game, but Desmond Ridder answered with QB keeper touchdown on the next UC drive. Pyne came of the bench to finish with 143 yards on 9 of 22 pass attempts.
• Cincinnati is 105-94-11 all-time against the current MAC, including 61-60-7 versus Miami (Ohio).