TicketsCINCINNATI – Wide receiver JV Gibson caught three touchdowns, including two from quarterback JC French, to highlight Cincinnati football’s scrimmage on Saturday at the Sheakley Indoor Practice Facility and Performance Center.
The session served as the 15th and final practice of the spring season.“Ultimately, I thought we accomplished our goals in these 15 practices,” fourth-year head coach Scott Satterfield said. “We put in the offenses and defenses with a lot of new players and a new scheme. On top of that, I thought we were able to stay healthy throughout the spring, which is always really important.”
The defense got the best of the offense early, forcing a three-and-out on the scrimmage’s first drive before redshirt sophomore cornerback Zay Johnson had a pass breakup and the day’s first turnover – a diving interception on a pass from redshirt sophomore quarterback Samaj Jones.
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Cam Roetherford also had a sack early in the practice.
“I thought we mixed up coverages really well defensively,” Satterfield said. “We saw seven or eight different coverages today, and the guys executed at a really high level. I wanted to see how we chased after the football and communicated. Overall, it was a great day. The defense certainly won the last drill. The offense had to go out and get a field goal and the defense came out and stopped them on four plays.”
The offense got rolling on its third drive. French scrambled to convert a fourth down before finding Gibson for a first down on third-and-five and then lofting a perfect fade pass to the corner to the 6-2, 208-pound Oklahoma transfer from Opelousas, La., for the first touchdown of the scrimmage.
French found Gibson for another touchdown later in the day.
The transfer signal-caller from Georgia Southern had a great spring and finished with six touchdowns and zero turnovers in three scrimmages.
“I’ve been really impressed with JC,” Satterfield said. “I think, when you take the overall body of work, I thought he had an outstanding spring. He posted a really high completion percentage throughout the spring, over 70%. I thought he showed some maneuverability with his legs and did some really outstanding things from a mobility standpoint. I’m really excited about what he’ll be able to do from a leadership standpoint this summer coming out of a great 15 days this spring.”
Gibson caught a touchdown pass later in the scrimmage from Jones to give him his trio of scores.
Other highlights included:
- Freshman quarterback Brooks Goodman zipped a 45-yard touchdown to redshirt freshman receiver Gio Kontosis, who outran the defense en route to paydirt.
- Redshirt senior quarterback Liam O’Brien found transfer receiver Cade Wolford for a red zone touchdown.
- Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Kameron Neal forced a fumble late in the scrimmage that was recovered by freshman safety Jaidon Windom.
- Redshirt freshman defensive back CJ Crite secured an interception on a tipped pass from Goodman.
Fan Day This Fall
The threat of inclement weather forced the Bearcats to cancel the Spring Showcase at Nippert Stadium on Saturday. UC held the final spring practice inside and closed to the public. However, UC announced it would hold at least one “Fan Day” open practice at Nippert Stadium during fall camp in August. More details will be announced this summer.
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