Head coach Scott Satterfield, redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Sorsby, redshirt senior defensive lineman Dontay Corleone, and redshirt junior offensive lineman Evan Tengesdahl spoke with them media ahead of Saturday’s road game at Oklahoma State
CINCINNATI - Head coach Scott Satterfield, redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Sorsby, redshirt senior defensive lineman Dontay Corleone, and redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Evan Tengesdahl spoke with them media ahead of Saturday’s road game at Oklahoma State
The Bearcats and Cowboys will kick off at 8:00 p.m. ET at Boone Pickens Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Head Coach Scott Satterfield
Opening Statement
“First of all, I just want to say that our hearts go out to Jim Kelly, what a great guy. In my short time here, almost three years now, every time he was around he was extremely positive and fun to be around. Well-loved through and through. We remember a couple years ago, we had them out to the house and played some music for our staff, just hanging out, and then just over the last couple of seasons, being able to talk to him after the games, he certainly will be missed. I feel like this year has been wild. Jeremiah Kelly, my buddy Shawn Clark, it's just a lot of heartache, and that's why we're sitting here trying to do life and play football. It just brings you back to what's important which is family and friends. In the midst of a college football season, the season does not stop, and that's what we talked about to our team. These things happen, and life is going to go on and we're going to keep pressing on, and that's what we have to do. You're looking back at the Central Florida game, I thought it was kind of weird game. They had the ball so long throughout this game, close to 40 minutes. And they almost doubled us up in plays in this game, I think we ran 16 plays in the second half while they ran more plays in the second half. We ran the whole game, and it was hard to get rhythm offensively. When we did get rhythm, we ran the ball well. We went down to score two touchdowns on four of those drives, I think going ahead, 10 or 11 total possessions. I think we're averaging 10 possessions on the season. We haven't had the ball very much this year. I did see a stat the other day that I think we're one of the fourth-fewest amount of plays in the country per game right now. I think defensively, trying to get off the field on third, fourth down. We've had to defend the most fourth downs in the Big 12 this year. Part of that is that we've got the lead, and teams feel like they got to go for it. Part of that is fourth and short and we just got to find a way to get off the field of those opportunities. We haven't forced a ton of turnovers this year, but when you do stop a team on fourth down, that is like a turnover. So we're getting involved in a decent field position, and that happens. But as we go throughout the season, offensively, we're pretty good. I think we're second in the country in yards per play. That means you're an efficient offense. We have to continue to be that. Obviously we'd love to get more plays, and I hope this second half of the season we will get more opportunities to have the ball. If we do, I feel like we'll do some great things with it. But I'm proud of our guys. Our goal was to win the game and that's what happened. So proud of that. Some guys did some great things. Max [Fletcher] punted the ball exceptionally well. I think we had four balls inside the 20 and another one that down inside the two, back to back weeks. Incredible job our special teams have been doing. I think defensively, keeping them out of the end zone was huge. They scored one touchdown on a 19-play drive when, fourth down they get another opportunity on the two-yard line. Which is unfortunate that's happened two weeks in a row for us. But other than that, they played outstanding. Now, have an opportunity to go play Oklahoma State, during their Homecoming. I think we went there two years ago at night. This is one of the best Homecomings throughout the country. It's huge for them. So they'll be fired up. Everybody's going to be coming back. It'll be a big crowd, great atmosphere. All those things are always tough to go on the road, particularly at night. So it's still about us, how we prepare. It's all about this practice this afternoon and Wednesday, as we had throughout this week. Your preparation, your mindset, is to keep to going out playing well, it doesn't matter who you're playing, so we know we'll get their best shot, and we got to have a great week.”
On the offense and taking chances early
“You certainly don't want to put your team in a bind. I think sometimes, if you try to get early gaines, you can be aggressive, because you're trying to move the ball, you're trying to score, you're trying to pop it out there, and then as the game goes on, if you're up a couple scores, you kind of want to do that, but at the same time, you don't want to do something that puts your team in a way where they're losing yards or we're turning the ball over. We've done a good job of taking care of the football, and I think that is critical, and that is key in this league. You don't want to lose possession by turning the football over. You do that, your chances are really tough to win. We've done a good job with that. It's a good point, especially when you get there in the fourth quarter and you got the lead and not as aggressive. There's a fine line, we missed [Caleb] Goodie in the second half there, which I thought would have been another touchdown. The defender fell down, but it was half a yard overthrown. That would have been huge right there. There's a couple of points where I thought, just like one more time to get a score, but it is what it is.”
On preparing for different opponents week-to-week
“It goes back to how we prepare, our mindset. We have something to prove each and every time we go on the field. You always finish your last game, your last play. What we did in the past does not matter this week, it has nothing to do with this week. We have to stay in the moment, and we have to focus as much as we can and practice as hard as we can at practice today. This needs to be our best Tuesday, if you're our players, we have to remind them every single time, every time we go on the field, you got something to prove, and our guys have a great job with that. Good news about our team is with guys like Gavin Gerhardt, Dontay Corleone, Joe Royer, the guys that have been around here are great leaders, and they don't let us slip. We know we got to do it today at practice. That's the good news. I think when you do that, you give yourself a great opportunity. Going back to the last game, we were up again. We were up 17 to nothing. You'd love to double that up. Obviously, for 60 minutes, you love to be able to do that. But I think we still went out and started great. We scored a touchdown. We hadn't been on the point the first quarter. We only got seven points in the first quarter. So we did some really good things early on. Obviously, some crazy things happen in that game toward the end of the fourth, and then he throws it up and bounces off the chest. They catch it for a crazy play. We're off the field right there. We're getting the ball plus 40. A chance to go score. There's some crazy things that happen in the second half of that game. Seventeen-play drive with the punt they had, and then a 19-play drive. So, some crazy things that happened in that game. So sometimes that happens in games, it proved that we went in different ways.”
On the offense not having its best game vs. UCF
“The good news with that is I really didn't have to rip guys on Sunday when we came in. Sunday, we do corrections and we go out on the field and walk through those and talk about them, and they realize what happened. We had drops, we had some penalties, we had some bad blocks. So, is it on just one person? It was all the guys, and they understand that the great news about our guys is they want to be the best. We want to be the best offense that we can be in the country. We have one of the best in the country. We just have to continue to prove it each and every week. I thought we had a really good week of practice offensively. I thought Thursday and Friday were maybe our two best Thursdays and Fridays we've had all year. Then you go out in the game, and you do some good things early and it comes back. It's hard to get that rhythm. But I do think once we get a first down, we're hard to stop, because we're rolling at that point. So we just got to continue to do really good on first downs and get that thing going.”
On UC Athletics Hall of Famer and former radio broadcaster Jim Kelly Jr., who recently passed away
“When you first get here and you get around him, he's been here a long time. It just kind of tells you the ins and outs and a lot about the history, a lot about the traditions of things in the past, you know. For him, Jim was excited when we got here. What can I do to help? Anything I can do to help and all that. He was so supportive, at a time where people didn't have to be supportive because we were struggling with making the first move in the Big 12 and all that. But what did I appreciate about him, he was so positive each and every week, even though we're not doing great, but he would always says hey, you guys were so close. I love being around positive people, and he was one of the most positive people I've been around. As a coach, that's so refreshing and rewarding. I'll always remember that about him, of how he how he's so positive with us, and what was awesome is the fact that, this third year right here, we got ranked this weekend, and he was able to see that. That's awesome. That is awesome.”
On running back Tawee Walker
“On the field, he’s just a powerful runner that's able to break tackles, push the pile forward, and get those tough, nasty, gritty yards. Off the field, he was awesome for us in the offseason. This summer, he was one of the hardest workers. He didn't say a whole lot, but just went out there and worked hard in the weight room and all of the competition stuff that we had. That's what we were looking for when we brought him in. For him to go out and run the ball like he is, like a man on a mission, and then to be able to put Evan [Pryor] out there and create a chance of pace back, it is a great one two combination, just like we envisioned. I’m happy to see where that's going in that running back room.”
On offensive line depth
“Deondre [Buford] has played a lot of ball for us, has a ton of experience, and has had a bunch of penalties this year. Obviously, the penalties have cost us touchdowns and yards, but I also think Judea [MIlon] and Ethan [Green] have earned the right to play and get opportunities out there as well. We're certainly going to be able to see those guys this week. Xavier [Lozowicki] is another one that's played at the left guard position as well. It's good to have depth. As we attack the second half of the season, we're going to need all those guys, because you're going to have some guys that will get dinged up, so you're going to be able to have to put guys in with experience. And I think that's why we want to continue to play them.”
On the 2025 Bearcats playing at Oklahoma State vs. the 2023 Bearcats
“We have a better team than we did when we struggled when we went there last time. We've been able to build out our team the way we like, tough, gritty, hard, nosed players that play fast, that play physical. You feel a lot better about going to Stillwater this year than you did two years ago, with what we have on that plane that we're going to be taking over there. We have a lot of belief in the locker room, too. I think that's huge. They believe they'll go out and play well. They believe they’ll go out and get the win. Believing is something that is hard to get, but you get that through hard work, through adversity, all the things that we've gone through the last two years. We love this team and our guys and we've been saying this since media days, it's a different team with a different mindset.”
On UCF challenging Cincinnati’s rushing attach this past Saturday
“They kept six in the box no matter what formation we were in. Their linebackers were good. I thought they played hard. They could run. They were physical. Having that extra hat there made a difference. For us, we had a couple of drops early. I think if you hit some of those, you feel better about getting the ball down the field. For us, we want to be a balanced offense. A lot of the credit has to go to them. I mean, it's not just us, and we did execute, but I thought they did a really good job of what they did defensively.”
Redshirt Defensive Lineman Dontay Corleone
On increasing his reps each week
“I think my reps go up every week. I feel like I'm naturally feeling better as far as my ankle goes. I just take it one day at a time, stay in the training room all day, and then after practice to make sure I'm ready to play.”
On Oklahoma State
“This is our maturity; we know we’re one win away from being bowl eligible, but just having that maturity. We know the Oklahoma State is going through it with the coaches getting fired. We saw on film on Sunday, they put in great effort all the way to the fourth quarter. It's going to be Homecoming for them, so it will probably be a sold out crowd. I know it is going to be loud, so we can't take them lightly.”
On the team being 5-1
“This year we're not surprised with the results we got, with how much work we put in, as far as the front six, with the linebackers and defensive linemen, or the other position groups. We know how much gas we ran in the summertime, and nobody wants to be out there doing all the extra work. So we're not really surprised with this. We just need to make sure we are level-headed and not really going outside our comfort zone.”
On Oklahoma State quarterback Sam [Jackson] playing quarterback again
“People forget he was the number one quarterback at Illinois, so he's not a scrub. We know we need to game plan hard and try to keep it contained on him, because we know he can be deadly at one point.”
On the team’s mentality going into the game as favorites
“I'm pretty sure nobody is happy in this building. We had five wins last year. We didn't win another game after that. We have a lot of games left to take seriously and we’re taking it one game at a time. 1-0 is our motto here. So just take one day at a time. Let's just start here. Start right now, talking to you guys. So just take it one more at a time and one day at a time.”
Redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Sorsby
On his completion percentage game to game
“I wouldn't say it's something I worry about as long as we're winning games. The goal is definitely at a minimum 65% and my goal every game is 70%. These past two weeks definitely were not the best games completion percentage wise. So we have to find a way to get that back up.”
On his the offense is ever looking for a long drive to chew up clock
“I don't really know if we're ever looking for a long drive. I think we're just trying to score whether that's a one-play drive or 15-play drive. We just want to score a touchdown. I know the defense feels the same way. They don't care if we're out there for one play and we score, or if we're out there for 15 plays, it doesn't matter. They just want us to put points on the board. We want to put points on the board. If we're doing that, everybody will be good with however many plays that is.”
On what types of plays can get the offense in a rhythm
“The 67-yard play from Joe [Royer], I don't know if that gets you necessarily a rhythm, it's just a big spark for the offense, definitely a spark that we needed. Then we got tripped on an inside zone on the goal line, and then kind of shot ourselves in the foot there. So definitely, just getting the first, first down is the most important thing for us. I think whenever we do that, we're really good, and we usually find a way to put points on the board when we do that. So, our mentality is just go get that first, first down and keep the chains moving.”
On Jim Kelly Jr.
“Everybody in this program knows how much he meant to this program, just how big of a Bearcat he was. I didn't get to interact with him as much as I would have liked to, but the few times that I did, he was an awesome guy, he spoke very highly of this place, and he was just an all-around Bearcat. He'll be very deeply missed by this program and organization.”
On taking care of the football and limiting turnovers
“The football is pretty much everybody in this organization's life, so you have to take care of it. It's how you win football games. If you win the turnover margin throughout the game, you have a good chance to win it. Us taking care of the ball has been a huge reason for our success, so we just have to continue to do that.”
On throwing the ball away when necessary
“That's terrible for the completion percentage, but you have to do that. Like I said, you just have to know when to eat it and to move on. We do have some very explosive players on our offense that allow us to be able to live another down and go pick up big plays. It sucks to throw the ball away, but sometimes you have to do it.”
On the rhythm when Evan Pryor and Tawee Walker are having big games
“We can pick up a big chunk play, and then we go backwards, and then we get stopped on third down. So, we try to find a way to get that first down, whether that's [Pryor], [Walker], or me throwing the ball, whatever it may be. Whenever we have both the run and pass game going, we're really tough to stop, so we have to find a way to have both of them going.”
On the this team compared to last year’s team
“The culture that we've established, everybody understands our goal is to be in Dallas at the end of the year. Our goal isn't just to make it to a bowl game. The message is still the same, go 1-0 this week and just find a way to get better.”
On Cyrus Allen only having one catch last week
“He was letting me have it during the game a little bit, and I had to remind him that we only had 12 completions. So he understood. I give him a hard time. We go back and forth all the time. Obviously, he's a really good player, so he wants the ball. We'll find a way to get our playmakers the ball throughout the rest of the year, because whenever they're making plays, we’re at our best.”
On the challenge of trying to get the ball to so many talented players:
“It's definitely tough. It's a great problem to have. You want to have that problem, versus, who are we going to throw the ball to? We have a ton of talented guys. We have a ton of talented running backs and guys that can run the ball, too. So it's tough. Not everybody's going to eat every single game, but, we just have to keep everybody on the same page. If we just keep this thing rolling, everybody's eventually going to eat and we're all we're all going to succeed in the end. As a team, we all know what we want to achieve, and what we're doing right now is moving in the right direction.”
On wide receiver Jeff Caldwell
“He's a character, for sure. He’s a really talented wide out. I knew that there was a chance that he was going to take it deep. I really wanted to see what he was going to do and then just stand there, take a little bit of a hit. The O-line did a good job protecting all day, another game with no sacks. Shout out to those guys, and then shout out to Jeff for being fast and being able to track a deep ball down, and it was a big time touchdown.”
On his first touchdown pass to Caldwell in the UCF game
“You can kind of tell by Jeff's body language, too. I know how to get rid of the ball. I had a good feeling of what Jeff was going to do. I had to let it go, so I was hoping that he was going to do that. We had kind of talked about it throughout the week, if their safeties were flat, that we’d have a chance to hit that. He did a good job reading it, and I put it up, and he did the rest.”
On the team’s confidence
“The biggest thing is confidence. Whenever you're out there, if you don't believe in yourself to be able to go make a play, more than likely, you're probably not going to make it. Especially from the wide opposition, you have to be confident, which our guys are. Our guys want the ball and they want to be the one to make the play in the big situation. It's just my job to go out there and make sure they have a chance to make the play.”
