TicketsCINCINNATI – The No. 24-ranked University of Cincinnati football team will bring its five-game winning streak to Stillwater, Okla. this weekend when it faces Oklahoma State on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The battle between the Bearcats and Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium will be televised on ESPN2.
UC will take the field as a ranked team for the first time since the 2022 season after entering the AP and AFCA U.S. LBM Coaches’ Polls at No. 24. The Bearcats have won in a variety of ways this season, most recently topping UCF by a score of 20-11 this past Saturday.
After four terrific offensive performances in a row, UC’s defense carried the load in the win against the Knights. The Bearcats held UCF scoreless in the first quarter, the first team to do that this season, and kept them out of the end zone until the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby threw two first-half touchdowns to Jeff Caldwell to help build an early lead, but those were Cincinnati’s only touchdowns of the game. For a high-powered unit, Sorsby knows that his side of the ball is capable of producing more.
But when the offense wasn’t having its best performance, the way the defense stepped was one of the biggest stories of the day.
“I mean, if it wasn’t for our defense who knows how the game goes,” Sorsby said. “But as an offense we need to help them out. We can’t have three drives of no scoring and expect our defense to do everything. It’s the Big 12 we can’t just hope to get lucky we need to deliver. But props to our defense. They played really well today for us.”
Trevon Gola-Callard (nine) and Jonathan Thompson (eight) led UC in tackles last Saturday and the defense as a whole logged five tackles for loss and eight pass breakups. The Bearcats forced a fumble as well and, while they’re still waiting on their first interception of the year, their performance against UCF suggests that’s likely to come sooner rather than later.
“We defended a lot of snaps today and only gave up 11 points,” head coach Scott Satterfield said after the game. “I think we'd love to create a couple more turnovers in there. We did win that today, we got a fumble, had a couple balls tip that we probably could have had an opportunity to get our hands on. It was probably the best we've done with that, so far this year. I think I can remember at least four right now we had our hands on it, close to picking it off.”
Oklahoma State has lost its last five games, including Big 12 contests against Baylor, Arizona, and Houston. OSU and Cincinnati have met four times before, with the Cowboys holding a 3-1 edge in the all-time series.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and Mike Monaco (play-by-play) and Kirk Morrison (analyst) will have the call and Dawn Davenport will be reporting from the sidelines. The game will be broadcast on radio via 700 WLW and SiriusXM Channel 385 with Dan Hoard (pxp) and Tony Pike (analyst) on the call.
BEARCATS CAN BECOME BOWL ELIGIBLE WITH WIN AT OKLAHOMA STATE
- The Cincinnati football team will look to extend its win streak to six games on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET when it faces the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. The Bearcats can become bowl eligible for the first time since 2022 with a win.
- UC improved to 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Big 12 following Saturday’s 20-11 victory vs. UCF at Nippert Stadium.
- Cincinnati jumped out to a 17-0 lead as QB Brendan Sorsby zipped a pair of TD passes to WR Jeff Caldwell. The Bearcats were the first team to score a point on the Knights in the first quarter this season.
- The Bearcats vaulted into the Top 25 at No. 24 in both the Associated Press Poll and the U.S. LBM AFCA Coaches’ Poll on Sunday.
- Cincinnati is ranked for the first time since Nov. 20, 2022 when it was No. 24 in the AP Poll and No. 21 in the Coaches Poll heading into the regular season finale against Tulane that year.
- The Bearcats improved to 5-1 or better for the sixth time in eight years with the win, and a victory on Saturday can vault Cincinnati to bowl eligibility for the 15th time in 20 years. Cincinnati has been to 22 bowl games all-time, including the 2020 Peach Bowl and 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinals at the Cotton Bowl Classic.
- Cincinnati enters the game with heavy hearts, mourning the loss of UC Hall of Famer, Jim Kelly, Jr., who played wide receiver for the Bearcats from 1972 to 1975 and served as the color analyst for the official Cincinnati football radio broadcast for 35 years, including the first three games of the 2025 season.
SORSBY IS RANKED AMONG NATION’S BEST QUARTERBACKS
- Sorsby, a Denton, Texas native, is the Big 12’s highest-rated QB by PFF (90.6) and Total QBR (84.1), ranking third and 10th nationally in the metrics. He has 19 total TDs (14 passing, five rushing) against just one turnover - in the season opener.
- He is a two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, claiming the awards after the Northwestern State and Kansas games.
- This season, he has a five-touchdown first quarter vs. Northwestern State, a game-winning come-from-behind TD drive on the road at Kansas, the nation’s highest single-game QBR this year (99.8, NW ST), two 300-yard games and four three-total-TD games.
- In his only other true road game of the season, Sorsby had 440 total yards and two TDs passing at Kansas.
- His best career game was on the road, too. He had 478 total yards and four TDs in a 44-41 shootout loss at Texas Tech in 2024.
- Sorsby leads the Big 12 in yards per completion (14.63) and ranks third in the nation and Big 12 in points responsible (19.0).
- He has passed for 1,448 yards and 14 TDs with one INT to go along with 327 yards and five scores on the ground.
- Sorsby has thrown eight touchdowns and holds a 197.21 rating in the first quarter this season.
CINCINNATI BUILDING A RESUME
- Winners of five straight, UC ranks second in the country in yards per play (7.82) and No. 1 in the Big 12 and fifth in the country in yards per carry (6.23). Cincinnati is one of six teams in the nation that is perfect in the red zone this season (24-24).
- Cincinnati’s four turnovers this season are tied for the fewest in the Big 12.
- Cincinnati has rebounded from a 20-17 season-opening close loss to Nebraska at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to become one of the most efficient teams in the nation.
- Per ESPN’s Football Power Index, Cincinnati is the nation’s 15th-most efficient team, including the fifth-most efficient offense and the sixth-most efficient special teams. Cincinnati has the nation’s 21st-best Strength of Record per ESPN.
- ESPN’s Football Power Index currently predicts the Bearcats to win 8+ games and 5.5% chance to win the Big 12.
- The Bearcats’ 38-30 win over No. 14/12 Iowa State was the highest-ranked victory for UC inside Nippert Stadium in 19 years.
- Cincinnati also owns a 37-34 come-from-behind win at Kansas in which Sorsby led a 10-play, 75-yard game-winning drive, completing a 4th-and-10 first down pass to Noah Jennings along the way, capped by a Tawee Walker TD with 29 seconds left. UC tallied 603 total yards against Kansas - its most against an FBS opponent since 2020 - and its second straight 600-yard game.
- All-American candidate LB Jake Golday leads the Big 12 in tackles (9.33). He is a a two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.
- P Max Fletcher is the reigning Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week after placing two punts inside the 20 versus UCF.
- K Stephen Rusnak is 9 of 9 on FGs this season. He has made 20 straight including 2024, tied for longest streak in the nation.
NOTING THE COWBOYS
- Oklahoma State brings a 1-5 overall record and 0-3 mark in the Big 12 into Saturday’s contest. The Cowboys fired longtime head coach Mike Gundy earlier this season on Sept. 23, and are coached now by interim head coach Doug Meacham, an Oklahoma State alum (1988 graduate) and All-Big Eight offensive lineman who blocked for Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas.
- Oklahoma State ranks last in the Big 12 in total offense and total defense, and lost starting QB Hauss Hejny to a broken foot the season opener. His status is TBD and Zane Flores and Sam Jackson have both started. OSU fell 39-17 to Houston on Saturday
- Oklahoma State picked up a 45-13 victory over Cincinnati the last time the two teams met in 2023. UC trailed 10-7 at halftime but Cowboys’ RB Ollie Gordon got rolling in the second half and finished with 271 yards rushing and two scores.
- Cincinnati backup QB Brady Lichtenberg tossed a 21-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, while linebackers Jack Dingle (seven tackles) and Jonathan Thompson (five tackles, TFL) stuffed the stat sheet for the defense in the loss.
OFFENSIVE LINE MAKING THE CASE
- Led by four-year starter and three-time team captain Gavin Gerhardt, Cincinnati’s offensive line has been among the best in the nation in 2025. The Bearcats have allowed the fewest sacks in the country (1.0).
- UC is second in the Big 12 and eighth nationally in TFLs allowed (3.33 per game). Only Utah (3.17) is allowing fewer per game.
- RG Evan Tengesdahl is tied as the nation’s highest-rated guard in the country (82.1) per PFF.