TicketsCINCINNATI – Led by star quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s three-touchdown performance and timely defensive stops, the Cincinnati football team jumped out to a 31-7 lead and held on for a 38-30 victory over No. 14/12-ranked Iowa State in front of a sold-out, stripe-out crowd on Saturday at Historic Nippert Stadium.
The victory marked the highest-ranked win over an opponent in Nippert Stadium since Cincinnati defeated No. 7 Rutgers, 30-11, on Nov. 18, 2006.
After linebacker Jake Golday made a remarkable play on a 4th-and-1 red zone stop on a keeper by Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht, Sorsby zipped an 82-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Goodie to put the Bearcats in front, 38-22, with 5:57 left.
The Cyclones drove for a touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:56 left to pull within 38-30, but the Bearcats bled the clock to under 20 seconds before a punt from Max Fletcher, and ultimately made two stops to move to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12.
"I thought our guys had a great focus throughout the week,” head coach Scott Satterfield said. “The mentality was right where it needed to be coming off a huge win on the road in the Big 12 at Kansas, and then to be able to put that one to bed and really focus everything on Iowa State, they did an absolutely great job with that.”
The Cyclones were led by junior quarterback Rocco Becht (314 passing yards and four total TDs) and dropped to 5-1 and 2-1 in the league.
Cincinnati rushed for a season-high 260 yards, led by Evan Pryor’s 111 on only 10 carries, which included touchdowns of 18 and 30 yards. Tawee Walker had 89, his third-straight game with a season-high. Goodie’s 82-yard touchdown catch marked the longest UC connection since 2015.
The Bearcats jumped out a 31-7 lead, scoring on all five of their first half possessions and totaling 342 yards before the break.
"It started with our offensive line, the way they were blocking and coming off the ball,” Satterfield said. “It was our best running back game we've had this year with Tawee [Walker] and Evan [Pryor] just breaking tackles and getting huge runs. Then, Brendan [Sorsby] with some timely throws, I thought, throughout the day, with none bigger than the one late in the game to Caleb [Goodie], to push it to two-score game. Obviously, that was huge for us on third down. Special teams played really well again today. We're knocking down field goals. We had two big kickoff returns, and then Max [Fletcher] pinning that ball on the one-inch line was phenomenal for our special teams effort today."
Iowa State grabbed momentum right before the half with Becht scoring on a four-year rush on an untimed down on the last play of the second quarter before the Cyclones converted a trick-play two-point conversion.
Still Cincinnati led 31-15 at the break.
Iowa State kept the momentum going to start the third quarter. The Cyclones used a 14-play, 75-yard drive to eat up nearly seven minutes off of the clock with Becht finding Brett Eskilden for a 11-yard touchdown that made the score 31-22 midway through the third quarter.
Most of the next 10 minutes featured penalties and big defensive plays.
Golday’s stop of Becht on fourth-and-1 keeper from the UC 16-yard line gave Cincinnati the ball back with 7:40 remaining.
Dontay Corleone was playing in his first game since injuring his ankle against Bowling Green on Sept. 6. He was listed as a “game time decision” but started and finished with two tackles and was a disruptive force on the defensive line all afternoon.
First Quarter
Cincinnati rushed for 130 yards and made a fourth-down stop on defense to jump out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead.
Pryor took his first carry 30 yards for a touchdown, juking an Iowa State linebacker before darting to paydirt, to cap a six-play, 80-yard opening drive for the Bearcats.
Sorsby perfectly dropped a 36-yard pass to junior Noah Jennings on his first third down attempt of the day, but the drive later stalled and Stephen Rusnak kicked a 38-yard field goal to stake Cincinnati to a 10-0 lead at the 7:54 mark in the first quarter.
The Bearcats closed the quarter scoring on all three of their drives as Sorsby found senior tight end Joe Royer for a 12-yard score to cap a nine-play, 70-yard drive with 28 seconds left in the opening frame.
Second Quarter
Iowa State found life behind Becht at the start of the second quarter. He completed a 41-yard pass before his 14-yard touchdown rush put the Cyclones on the board and made the score 17-7 two seconds into the second quarter.
Cincinnati answered right back. Wide receiver Isaiah Johnson dashed for 26 yards on a pop pass from Sorsby to set up Pryor’s second touchdown – this one from 18 yards. The Bearcats led 24-7 at the 13:40 mark in the second quarter.
A targeting penalty on sophomore linebacker Simeon Coleman brought Iowa State to the Cincinnati 19-yard line, but a sack by senior defensive lineman Jalen Hunt pushed the Cyclones back three yards and ISU’s backup kicker Chase Smith missed a 34-yard field goal.
Sorsby sprinted 20 yards to paydirt on a fourth-and-1 keeper where the offensive line opened a giant hole, and the Bearcats led 31-7 with 1:08 left in the first half.
Becht engineered a quick drive to put the Cyclones in scoring position. A pass interference call gave ISU an untimed down from the UC 4-yard line. Becht punched it in and Major Cantrell lobbed a pass to tight end Benjamin Brahmer for the 2-point conversion. Cincinnati headed into the break with 342 yards of total offense and a 31-15 lead, having scored on all five possessions.
Third Quarter
Iowa State opened the second half with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ate up nearly seven minutes of the game clock. Becht found Eskilden for a 11-yard touchdown that made the score 31-22 midway through the third quarter.
After a season-high 37-yard kick return from Logan Wilson, running back Tawee Walker fumbled a third-and-three option pitch from Sorsby for the first turnover of the game.
Iowa State drove past midfield following the turnover, but safety Christian Harrison’s diving pass breakup gave the Bearcats the ball back with 4:28 left in the third quarter and UC holding onto a 31-22 lead.
After the fourth down stop, the Bearcats’ offense went three-and-out and punted for the first time of the game. Redshirt junior punter Max Fletcher uncorked a booming 60-yard punt that was downed at the Iowa State 1-yard line.
Fourth Quarter
Cincinnati forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the fourth quarter.
The Bearcats had two first downs negated by ineligible men downfield penalties and were forced to punt on the next possession.
The Cyclones drove into the redzone buoyed by a fourth-and-7 completion from Becht to Xavier Townsend before the eventual fourth-down stop and Sorsby bomb to Goodie.
Iowa State’s final touchdown drive, and subsequent two-point conversion at 1:56 preceded Cincinnati keeping the Cyclones away until 11 seconds left.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati stays home and welcomes UCF to Historic Nippert Stadium for a noon matchup on Saturday, Oct. 11. The game will be televised on FS1 and broadcasted via radio on WLW.
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