Loading

Bearcats Return to Nippert to Host No. 14/12 Iowa State

The University of Cincinnati football team returns home this Saturday to host No. 14/12 Iowa State at Nippert Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon on ESPN2.

Watch on ESPN2 Game Notes (PDF)
Bearcats Return to Nippert to Host No. 14/12 Iowa StateBearcats Return to Nippert to Host No. 14/12 Iowa State
Cara Brotherton

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football team returns home this Saturday to host No. 14/12 Iowa State at Nippert Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon on ESPN2.

The Bearcats are coming off a thrilling, come-from-behind 37-34 win at Kansas. Redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Sorsby led Cincinnati on a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive in the final minutes of the game to seal the victory and extend the winning streak to three.

The game was full of fireworks, with both teams combining for exactly 1,200 yards of offense, but it was a defensive play that proved to be the difference in the end.

“Both offenses were in a really good rhythm,” head coach Scott Satterfield said after the game. “But, as we know, a lot of times the game comes down to turnovers. I thought the play of the game was Antwan Peek Jr. knocking that ball out on the one-yard line. To me, that was the difference in the game.”

Peek’s forced fumble was the fifth of the season for Cincinnati, which ranks third in the Big 12. A year after leading the conference in forced fumbles, UC continues to force the ball out of its opponents’ hands week after week.

Sorsby’s game-winning drive came after the Bearcats had several big plays called back due to penalties. The signal caller remained focused during the final drive, however, and helped lead UC on its first game-winning drive in the final two minutes of a game since the 2020 AAC Championship victory vs. Tulsa.

“I thought he did a good job of holding his composure and moving on to the next play,” Satterfield said. “That’s hard to do. Human nature can take over and it’s easy to get frustrated, but he did a great job. It could have affected him on that last drive. I’m so proud of the guys for being able to finish the game off like we did.”

Iowa State is 5-0 this year and is 2-0 in Big 12 play, having defeated Kansas State and Arizona. The Cyclones are led by experienced starting quarterback Rocco Becht, who ranks among the nation’s active leaders in career passing yards and passing touchdowns. One of the most discipline teams in the country, Iowa State ranks second nationally in fewest penalties per game and third in fewest penalty yards per game.

The nationally ranked Cyclones are the first Top 25 team to visit Nippert Stadium since Sept. 23, 2023 when No. 16 Oklahoma came to town for UC’s first-ever Big 12 Conference Game. Cincinnati has won three of its last five home games against ranked opponents.

BROADCAST INFO

The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and Roy Philpott (play-by-play) and Sam Acho (analyst), and Taylor Davis (sideline) will have the call. The game will be broadcast on radio via 700 WLW and SiriusXM Channel 381 with Dan Hoard (pxp), Jim Kelly (analyst) and Tony Pike (sideline) on the call.

CINCINNATI WELCOMES IOWA STATE TO NIPPERT STADIUM

  • The Cincinnati football team is coming off a massive 37-34 come-from-behind victory at Kansas where QB Brendan Sorsby solidified himself as one of the country’s top signal callers this season as he passed for 388 yards and two scores while adding 52 yards on the ground at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. He led a 10-play, 75-yard game-winning drive with 1:45 left in which he converted a 4th-and-10 pass to junior receiver Noah Jennings that set up a Tawee Walker TD run. Senior receiver Cyrus Allen had a career day with 11 receptions and 128 yards as UC totaled 603 yards.
  • The Bearcats open the Big 12 with a 1-0 record and bring a three-game winning streak - their first since 2022 - back home to Historic Nippert Stadium to welcome the No. 14/12-ranked Iowa State Cyclones, who are 5-0 and coming off a 39-14 win over Arizona. The Cyclones are led by QB Rocco Becht (seven passing TDs, five rushing TDs) and stout defense that is allowing just 14.2 ppg (No. 18 in the nation) and leads the Big 12 with six interceptions.
  • Cincinnati will stripe the stadium red and black to welcome the first ranked opponent at Nippert Stadium since No. 16/14 Oklahoma came to UC on Sept. 23, 2023 for Cincinnati’s first-ever home Big 12 game.
  • The night before the game, WWE will host Friday Night SmackDown at Heritage Bank Arena. It is one of four Friday Night SmackDown events taking place the night before a Big 12 game as part of a multi-faceted partnership between the two organizations. WWE personality Angelo Dawkins, who is from nearby Fairfield, will be in attendance at the game on Saturday.
  • All-American DT Dontay Corleone has not played over the last two games after suffering at an injury versus Bowling Green. He was listed as questionable ahead of the Kansas game. Iowa State’s two-time all-conference DT Domonique Orange was knocked out of the Arizona game. If both return for Saturday it will be a matchup of two of the Big 12’s top interior defenders.

THE LAST TIME WE PLAYED ON OCTOBER 4...

  • Cincinnati will play on Oct. 4 for the first time in six years - since a then-unknown freshman cornerback named Ahmad Gardner had a game-altering pick-six of QB Dillon Gabriel in the third quarter to lead unranked Cincinnati past No. 18 UCF for a 27-24 victory at Nippert Stadium. The win snapped the Knights’ 19-game conference winning streak and propelled Gardner, who became known simply as “Sauce,” and the Bearcats to the top of the AAC and the Group of 5 from 2019 to 2021.

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 47-19 at Nippert Stadium and 91-31 since 2000.
  • The Bearcats boast an all-time record of 362-200-13 (.641) 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 670-616-50 (.520).

SORSBY RATED PFF’S NO. 1 QUARTERBACK

  • QB Brendan Sorsby is PFF’s No. 1-rated starting QB (92.2) through five weeks and ranks sixth in the country in Total QBR (87.2).
  • He has completed 74 of 107 attempts for 1,043 yards and 10 touchdowns with one interception to go along with 227 yards and four scores on the ground. In the first half, Sorsby has been even better, completing 46 of 61 passes (75.4%) for 632 yards and nine scores for a nation’s best 211.4 first-half efficiency rating.
  • The last three games: Since throwing the interception on his last pass attempt in the season-opening 20-17 loss to Nebraksa, Sorsby has been incredible. Over the last three games, he has completed 61 of 82 pass attempts (74.4%) for 974 yards and 10 touchdowns with no turnovers. He collected Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week following the NW St and Kansas victories.
  • Sorsby at home in 2025: He has completed 32 of 39 passes (82%) for 586 yards and eight TDs for a passer rating of (275.96 - best home passer rating in the country).
  • Sorsby at Nippert Stadium: He has completed 157 of 224 passes (70%) for 2,100 yards and 16 TDs with just three INTs over eight career games at Nippert Stadium.

NEWS AND NOTES

  • Led by sixth-year senior, four-year starter and three-time team captain Gavin Gerhardt, the Cincinnati offensive line has allowed just one sack through four games (tied for No. 1 nationally) and ranks first in the Big 12 and tied for fourth nationally in TFLs allowed (12.0). The O-Line was named the Big 12 O-Line of the Week for a second time following the Kansas win.
  • Senior LB Jake Golday (9.0 tackles per game, No. 2 in the Big 12) was one of three Bearcats on Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freaks” List, joining WR Jeff Caldwell and Corleone. Fellow senior LB Jack Dingle was on the list in 2024.
  • Led by Golday, Cincinnati’s defense ranks No. 18 in the country in yards per play allowed (4.14).
  • K Stephen Rusnak has made 17 straight FGs and is 6 for 6 in 2025 after making all 11 of his tries at Charlotte in 2024. He is the only kicker in the country to be perfect in 2024 and 2025. He was named Big 12 Special Teams POTW on Monday.