TicketsCINCINNATI – Cincinnati will look to keep the good times rolling at home this Saturday when it faces Northwestern State at 3:30 p.m. at Nippert Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Cincinnati will host the Demons of Northwestern State for the third time in program history and the first time since 2013. UC has won both meetings, including a 66-9 decision at home in 2013. The 66 points are tied for ninth-most ever in a game in school history and are tied for third-most against an FCS opponent.
The Bearcats are coming off a 34-20 win vs. Bowling Green this past Saturday in their home opener. It was the 24th consecutive victory in a home opener for UC, which has not lost its first home game of the season since 2001.
Three first-half touchdowns from quarterback Brendan Sorsby propelled UC to a 21-3 halftime lead, and he added another touchdown on the ground in the second half. It was Sorsby’s fourth career game with at least four touchdowns, and his 333 passing yards gave him his third career game with at least 300 yards through the air. After throwing for just 69 yards vs. Nebraska in Week 1, the redshirt junior signal caller returned to form against the Falcons.
“It was nice to be able to throw a forward pass this week,” Sorsby said after the game. “It was probably a little bit exciting for the fans too. The goal coming into the week was to get our passing game going. We have weapons, I believe in myself. So really, at the end of the day, it was just about executing. And I think we did a good job of that today.”
Sorsby had plenty of time to throw thanks to the excellent play of the offensive line, which earned the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week award on Monday.
Senior wide receiver Cyrus Allen caught two of Sorsby’s touchdowns, and senior wide receiver Jeff Caldwell caught the other. Caldwell also made the play of the game at the start of the second quarter, making a one-handed snag on the sideline that left everyone’s jaws on the ground, including his quarterback.
“Obviously as a quarterback, you want to be able to just give your guys chances and they make plays for you,” Sorsby said. “Our guys did a really good job of that today. Jeff did an unbelievable job of catching that one. I don’t know how he did it.”
On the defensive side, redshirt senior linebacker Jake Golday led the team in tackles once again, tying his career high with 14 stops. He is tied for the national lead in tackles per game (13.0) and has one sack in each game, helping UC rank 11th in the country in sacks per game (3.5).
Golday and the defense held Bowling Green to under 100 yards rushing on Saturday and spent plenty of time in the backfield, collecting four sacks.
Northwestern State is 1-1 entering play on Saturday and is coming off a 66-0 loss at Minnesota. The Demons opened their season with a 20-10 win at home vs. Alcorn State and had two Southland Conference Players of the Week following the game. Linebacker Fernando Washington was named the league’s defensive player of the week and punter Cooper Evans won special teams player of the week.
SINGLE-GAME TICKET AND SEASON TICKET INFORMATION
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BROADCAST INFORMATION
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Shawn Kenney (play-by-play) and Jeff Woody (analyst) on the call. The game will be broadcast on radio via 700 WLW and SiriusXM Channel 113 or 199 with Dan Hoard (pxp), Jim Kelly (analyst) and Tony Pike (sideline) on the call.
BACK-TO-BACK AT NIPPERT STADIUM
- After securing its 24th straight home-opening victory on Saturday with a 34-20 win over Bowling Green, Cincinnati stays home at Historic Nippert Stadium for a second consecutive week when it welcomes Northwestern State, an FCS Southland Conference team located in Natchitoches, La., for a 3:30 p.m. matchup on ESPN+.
- Fans are encouraged to “Wear Black” and new ribbon boards, the family-friendly 513 stands, Nippert Market and throwback Rhine Room - among many Nippert Gameday improvements.
- The Driven Project will have a presence at Saturday's game. The Driven Project is a nonprofit organization that has one simple yet ambitious goal: to provide critically ill children with the best day of their lives through transformative ‘supercar therapy’ experiences where they take critically ill children in convoys of rare and exotic supercars, escorted by local police departments.
- Northwestern State defeated Alcorn State, 20-10, in their season-opener on Aug. 28, to secure their first victory in more than 1,000 days - since Nov. 5, 2022 and ending a 20-game losing streak. Northwestern State is coached by Blaine McCorkle (second season) and lost 66-0 at Minnesota last weekend. The Demons were outgained 484-42 against the Golden Gophers.
- UC captured its 24th consecutive home-opening victory on Saturday - a 34-20 win over Bowling Green.
- Cincinnati is 72-32-2 all-time against FCS competition.
- Six of the highest-scoring games in program history have come against FCS competition since 2000. That includes two 70+ point performances against Austin Peay in 2011 (72 points) and Southeast Missouri State in 2009 (70 points).
- Last season, the Bearcats rolled to a 38-20 victory over their FCS opponent, Towson, behind 383 passing yards and four total touchdowns from QB Brendan Sorsby in his debut. RB Evan Pryor rushed for 105 yards, including going 64 yards on his first touch at UC.
SORSBY’S FOUR TOUCHDOWNS LEAD UC PAST BOWLING GREEN
- QB Brendan Sorsby tossed three first-half touchdowns, including two to WR Cyrus Allen, as Cincinnati built a 21-0 early lead en route to a 34-20 victory over Bowling Green. Sorsby passed for 333 yards and added 40 yards and another score on the ground.
- First Team All-Big 12 TE Joe Royer tallied his first career 100-yard game (two catches, 104 yards), hauling in a 73-yard catch.
- WR Jeff Caldwell led UC with five receptions for 108 yards and his first score as a Bearcat.
- Led by transfer guard Taran Tyo (98% grade) and four-year starter Gavin Gerhardt, the Cincinnati offensive line did not allow a sack for a second straight game en route to Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week honors.
- Redshirt freshman CB Daniel James made his first career start in place of team captain Logan Wilson (injury), while senior LB Jack Dingle had a career-best 1.5 sacks and P Max Fletcher averaged 56.0 on two punts.
GOLDAY THE GREAT
- Senior LB Jake Golday is tied for the national lead with 13 tackles per game. He followed his 12-tackle, one-sack Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week performance against Nebraska with a 14-tackle, one-sack game against Bowling Green on Saturday.
- A former defensive end at Central Arkansas, Golday emerged among the Big 12’s best linebackers a year ago before battling injuries the last quarter of the 2024 season. Still, he collected All-Big-12 Honorable Mention accolades in 2024.
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 46-19 at Nippert Stadium and 90-31 since 2000.
- The Bearcats boast an all-time record of 361-200-13 (.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 668-616-50 (.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.
- The Bearcats 3-3-5 defense enters Year 2 under defensive coordinator Tyson Veidt. The defense is led by two-time All-America NT Dontay Corleone and a LB corps that includes two Bruce Feldman “Freaks” in Jake Golday (2025) and Jack Dingle (2024).
- 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.
- K Stephen Rusnak has made 14 straight FGs and is 3 for 3 in 2025 after making all 11 of his tries at Charlotte in 2024.