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Cincinnati Hosts No. 11 BYU at Night in Final Home Game of 2025

The return of Nippert at Night and FOX Big Noon Kickoff highlight Saturday’s Cincinnati football game vs. No. 11 BYU. The Bearcats and Cougars will kick off at 8:00 p.m. on FOX at Historic Nippert Stadium.

Cincinnati Hosts No. 11 BYU at Night in Final Home Game of 2025Cincinnati Hosts No. 11 BYU at Night in Final Home Game of 2025
KJ Garmong

CINCINNATI – The return of Nippert at Night and FOX Big Noon Kickoff highlight Saturday’s Cincinnati football game vs. No. 11 BYU.

The Bearcats and Cougars will kick off at 8:00 p.m. on FOX at Historic Nippert Stadium.

Saturday will be the first time since 2023 that Big Noon Kickoff will set its sights on Clifton. The previous visit was on Sept. 23, 2023 for UC’s battle vs. No. 16 Oklahoma, the program’s first-ever Big 12 Conference game.

More information about Big Noon Kickoff's show this Saturday will be available later this week.

Prior to the game, Cincinnati will honor 22 seniors as a part of its Senior Day recognition, a group that includes six players who have spent at least five years in the program.

Ben Blevins and Gavin Gerhardt are both sixth-year seniors who joined the program in 2020, while Dontay Corleone, Jack Dingle, Rob Jackson, and Brady Lichtenberg have all been at UC since 2021. These six Bearcats are the final players remaining from the historic 2021 College Football Playoff roster.

Cincinnati’s seniors will look to go out on a high note on Saturday in their final game at Nippert Stadium. The No. 11-ranked Cougars are the highest-ranked team to visit Nippert Stadium since No. 6 Houston in 2016, though the Bearcats have already felled a ranked opponent at home this year. UC toppled No. Iowa State, 38-30, on Oct. 4.  

Head coach Scott Satterfield will be looking to his veteran leadership all week as the Bearcats prepare to get back on track.

“The message to the guys is we’re facing some adversity now,” Satterfield said after last Saturday’s 30-24 loss vs. Arizona. “It’s easy to lead when things are going good. When you’re facing some adversity, how are we going to lead now? I’ve challenged our guys with that. We have great leadership, so I would expect those guys to come in and figure out what we need to get better at.”

BYU sits a half-game back in the Big 12 standings behind Texas Tech and one game above Cincinnati, Houston, Arizona State, and Utah, who all own 5-2 conference records.

The Cougars’ offense is helmed by freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who has thrown for 2,177 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. His 479 rushing yards rank third among Big 12 quarterbacks, and his 10 rushing touchdowns are tied for second among all players in the league. Bachmeier is one of three FBS quarterbacks with at least 2,100 passing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns, and four or fewer interceptions.

The BYU defense has done a good job of causing havoc this year, leading the Big 12 with 14 interceptions and ranking among the league leaders with 25 sacks.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

The game will be broadcast on FOX with Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and Robert Griffin III (analyst) on the call and Alexa Landestoy reporting from the sidelines. The game will be broadcast on radio via 700 WLW and SiriusXM Channel 83 with Dan Hoard (pxp) and Tony Pike (analyst) on the call.

CINCINNATI WILL HONOR SENIORS FOR NIPPERT AT NIGHT GAME AGAINST BYU

  • The Cincinnati football team welcomes 11th-ranked BYU to Historic Nippert Stadium on Saturday for an 8 p.m. “Nippert at Night” game on FOX. The Bearcats will honor their 22 seniors, including three-time team captains Gavin Gerhardt and Dontay “The Godfather” Corleone, and look to bounce back from last Saturday’s 30-24 loss to Arizona.
  • UC will host FOX’s popular pregame show Big Noon Kickoff for the first time since Sept. 23, 2023. Big Noon Kickoff airs at 10 a.m. ET and will be live from Cincinnati’s campus, with the exact location still being determined.
  • Cincinnati held Arizona to only 3-of-5 on field goal tries, but tossed two interceptions in the loss. Still, the Bearcats had the ball with 1:30 left but were stopped on their final drive. LB Jake Golday had 13 tackles, while RB Tawee Walker rushed for a season-high 119 yards. Cincinnati had won seven straight until consecutive losses at No. 13 Utah (8-2) and Arizona (7-3).
  • Cincinnati hopes to get back its two most explosive offensive players, RB Evan Pryor (7.2 ypc — third in the Big 12) and WR Caleb Goodie (19.0 ypc — second in the Big 12).
  • Pryor has missed the last two games, while Goodie was injured prior to the Arizona contest.
  • Cincinnati has an opportunity to play spoiler and keep its slim Big 12 Championship Game hopes alive against a Cougars team tied for first in the Big 12 with a 6-1 league mark. At 5-2, UC is tied for third place with Houston, Utah and Arizona State.

THE RETURN OF NIPPERT AT NIGHT, HOSTED BY THE PIONEERS OF AFTER-DARK GAMES  

  • Saturday’s matchup with No. 11 BYU is Cincinnati’s first — and only — home night game of the season, an 8 p.m. kickoff under the lights at Historic Nippert Stadium. Cincinnati’s night-game tradition stretches back more than a century. In 1909, UC had erected early lighting at Carson Field so student-athletes returning from downtown co-op jobs could practice after dark.
  • A permanent system followed in 1910 — even using white-painted footballs for visibility — before UC installed a modern incandescent setup in 1921 designed by electrical engineering student Jack Silverman as his co-op thesis.
  • On Sept. 29, 1923, history was made. UC hosted Kentucky Wesleyan in what is believed to be the first major college football night game in the nation, a 17–0 Bearcats win that proved night football could work.
  • Modern Dominance: Since 2006, Cincinnati is 39–15 in “Nippert at Night” games — a 72.2% winning percentage.
  • Since the start of 2015, Cincinnati is 50-20 (71.4%) at Nippert Stadium and 94-32 (74.6%) since 2000.

LED BY CORLEONE AND GERHARDT, 22 SENIORS TO BE HONORED 

NOTING BYU 

  • The Cougars are 3-0 all-time against the Bearcats, winning 35-27 on a Friday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Sept. 29, 2023. UC rushed for 242 yards, but BYU was led by current stars RB LJ Martin (two TDs) and WR Chase Roberts (131 yards, one TD).
  • The Cougars are led by freshman QB Bear Bachmeier, who has 13 passing TDs and 10 rushing TDS.
  • At 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12, BYU is one of the best all-around teams in the country, ranking third in the Big 12 in total defense (321.2) and second in rushing offense (195.1). Martin leads the Big 12 in rushing (91.2 ypg), while LB Jack Kelly is third in the league in sacks (7.0).

CINCY BUILDING A RESUME

  • Cincinnati ranks sixth in the country in yards per play (7.17) and fourth in yards per carry (6.04), leading the Big 12 in both.
  • Cincinnati leads the nation in fourth-down conversion percentage (.867) and fewest sacks allowed (3.0), and leads the Big 12 and ranks seventh nationally in red zone offense (.947). UC is No. 2 in the league and 14th overall in red zone defense (.750).
  • Led by Gerhardt and PFF’s No. 5-rated guard in the nation Evan Tengesdahl, the Bearcats have allowed the fewest sacks (3.0) through 10 games in the 30-year history of the Big 12 and also rank third in the nation in TFLs allowed per game (3.1).
  • ESPN rates UC as the nation’s 24th-most efficient team with the ninth-most efficient offense and 10th-most efficient special teams.
  • The Bearcats are led by star redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Sorsby, whose 31 total touchdowns rank third in the nation (22 passing, nine rushing). He has recorded at least two touchdowns in every game this season and had an incredible seven-game streak in which he passed for 2+ touchdowns and committed zero turnovers in September and October.
  • Sorsby has thrown 15 TDs with just two INTs in six home games this season. He leads the nation with 18 first-half TD passes.
  • Senior WR Cyrus Allen has 10 TD catches, two more than any other Big 12 player and third-most in the nation.
  • The defense is led by Corleone as well as Butkus Award semifinalist LB Jake Golday and Thorpe Award semifinalist DB Antwan Peek Jr. Golday is averaging 9.3 tackles per game, which is second in the Big 12 and 17th nationally.
  • The Bearcats are 5-1 at home this season and averaging 37.8 ppg at Nippert Stadium.
  • Cincinnati, which started playing football in 1885, is in its 138th season and owns an all-time record of 674-618-50 (52.1%).