Nippert at Night Returns on Saturday vs. Western Carolina

Coming off 34-15 win vs. Boston College, Cincinnati set for 7:00 p.m. matchup vs. WCU Catamounts this weekend

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Nippert at Night Returns on Saturday vs. Western CarolinaNippert at Night Returns on Saturday vs. Western Carolina
Grace Diederich

CINCINNATI – Following its 25th consecutive home opener victory, the University of Cincinnati football team will look to keep things rolling this Saturday vs. Western Carolina.

Action between the Bearcats and Catamounts at Historic Nippert Stadium will begin at 7:00 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN+.

This will the second meeting all-time between UC and Western Carolina, with the previous game coming in 2005, a 7-3 Cincinnati win. The Bearcats’ defense nabbed three interceptions in that game and recorded nine tackles for loss.

The 2026 Cincinnati defense put together similar numbers against Boston College this past Saturday, registering eight TFLs and forcing two turnovers, a fumble and an interception. Safety MJ Cannon, making his first start as a Bearcat, collected both of the turnovers against the Eagles.

While first-year defensive coordinator Nate Woody’s defense caused havoc on one side of the ball, UC’s rushing attack was highly effective on the other end. Cincinnati native Gi’Bran Payne rushed for a career-best 108 yards to lead a rushing game that produced 254 yards, the eighth time the Bearcats have rushed for at least 250 yards in a game under head coach Scott Satterfield. Payne was one of five players to rush for at least 20 yards against BC, and all of Cincinnati’s running backs had their moment to shine in the opener.

“I've talked about them all August and summer,” Satterfield said of his running backs. “They're all great kids. They worked their tails off, and we needed them all. They all got in [on Saturday], and they all played. And man, Cole [Tabb] had some great runs. Gi’Bran [Payne] I thought ran hard. Zylan [Perry] had a couple good runs too. I'm happy to see it. I didn't know he had 100 yards until I came out and saw that. That's awesome.”

Payne started at running back on Saturday, on of 13 players who made their first career starts in a Cincinnati uniform. That list included quarterback JC French IV as well, who threw for one touchdown and rushed for three more. He was the first UC quarterback to rush for at least three touchdowns in a game since Desmond Ridder in 2020.

Western Carolina is 1-1 on the young season and is coming off a 28-19 loss at Campbell. Weather delays and an issue with the stadium lights forced a postponement, with both teams battling on Sunday. Quarterback Lex Thomas has thrown for five touchdowns and has completed 65.8% of his passes (52-for-79) across the first two games of the season.

The Bearcats will face the rival Miami RedHawks at TQL Stadium on Sept. 19 before welcoming Big 12 foe Kansas State on Saturday, Sept. 26 in the first conference game of the season.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Todd Doxzon (analyst). The game will be broadcast on radio via 700 WLW and SiriusXM Channel 174 or 238 with Dan Hoard (pxp) and Tony Pike (analyst) on the call.

DOWN THE DRIVE: C-PAW FIRST & 10

  1. With the Bearcats’ 34–15 home-opener win against Boston College, Cincinnati holds the nation’s second-longest active home-opener winning streak at 25 games, beginning in 2002. Only Oklahoma State boasts a longer active streak (30 consecutive home-opener victories).
  2. With a win over Western Carolina, Cincinnati will move to 2–0 for the first time since 2023 (Scott Satterfield’s first season in Clifton). It would mark the Bearcats’ 12th 2–0 start to a season since 2000 (2000, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2023).
  3. Cincinnati is 73–32–2 all-time against FCS competition. Seven of the highest-scoring games in program history have come against FCS opponents since 2000.
  4. Cincinnati’s defense forced two turnovers in the season-opening win over BC. By comparison, UC did not generate its second turnover last season until game four.
  5. Since 2020, Cincinnati has compiled a 29–12 record at Nippert Stadium, tied for the 25th-best home record in the nation.
  6. Led by preseason All-American left guard Evan Tengesdahl, center Taran Tyo, and left tackle Joe Cotton, Cincinnati’s offensive line backed up the offseason narrative by delivering a dominant Week 1 performance against BC. The unit paved the way for 254 rushing yards on 46 attempts (5.5 yards per carry) while surrendering just one sack. The performance earned the group Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week honors for Week 1.
  7. Assistant Head Coach Mark Speir spent nine seasons as Western Carolina’s head coach (33–68). His best stretch came in 2014,when he led the Catamounts to a 7–5 finish, their first winning season since 2001. He followed that up with a 7–4 campaign in 2015 and another 7–5 mark in 2017.
  8. Quarterback JC French IV accounted for four touchdowns (three rushing, one passing) in the victory over BC, the first 3+ rushing TD game by a Bearcat since 2021.
  9. Fifth-years Jonathan Thompson and Antwan Peek Jr. anchored the defense in the season opener, finishing first and second on the team in tackles. Peek registered nine stops, while Thompson recorded eight tackles, a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble
  10. Wide receiver Malachi Henry completed an eight-yard pass to punter Max Fletcher on a fake punt to convert on fourth down last week. The trick play marked UC’s first completed pass by a non-quarterback since Braden Smith hit Dee Wiggins for a 30-yard gain against Pitt in 2023.

FIRE THE CANNONS

  • Cincinnati fifth-year safety MJ Cannon recorded both an interception and a forced fumble in Cincinnati’s 34–15 season-opening win over Boston College. He became one of only 10 Bearcat players since 1995—and the first since Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner on Nov. 12, 2021 at USF to accomplish the feat in a single game.
  • Cannon was named to both the PFF National Team of the Week and Big 12 Team of the Week for his standout performance in his Bearcat debut.

LIFT THE BROADAXE

  • The defense was seen under new direction for the first time in several years as veteran defensive coordinator Nate Woody made his Cincinnati debut.
  • Cincinnati held Boston College scoreless in the first half, the first time it kept a Power Four opponent off the scoreboard before halftime since Sept. 21, 2024 vs. Houston.
  • Cincinnati forced its first turnover of the season last week vs. BC in the third quarter when safety MJ Cannon punched the ball out of the BC receivers’ hands and cornerback Jacob Finley recovered it. Cannon also recorded an interception, the ninth of his career.
  • When Cincinnati records a turnover, look for the player that created the turnover to be celebrating with a broadaxe on the sideline. Coach Woody’s version of a “turnover chain,” the broadaxe tradition has been a staple of his defensive culture with him at App State and become more popular during his tenure at Army.
  • UC logged seven tackles for loss last week, a figure that was only matched in two games last season. Drew Logan’s two TFLs were the most on the team and constituted a career-high total.

THREE OF A KIND

  • Quarterback JC French rushed for three touchdowns against Boston College, marking the second multi-rushing TD game of his collegiate career (previously Oct. 9, 2025 vs. Southern Miss).
  • French is the first UC quarterback to rush for three touchdowns in a game since Desmond Ridder against Houston in 2020. The last Bearcat player overall to rush for 3+ TDs in a game was Jerome Ford (4 TDs) against UCF in 2021.
  • French joins Desmond Ridder, Jerome Ford, and Gerrid Doaks as the only Bearcats to rush for three or more touchdowns in a single game since 2020.
  • French’s multi-TD performance was the ninth occurrence in the Scott Satterfield era of a Bearcat player recording two or more rushing TDs in a single game (including three instances in 2025).
  • French accounted for all four Cincinnati touchdowns (three rushing, one passing). It marks only the third time a Satterfield quarterback has recorded 3+ rushing TDs and at least one passing TD in a single game; Malik Cunningham accomplished the feat twice at Louisville in 2022.

RUNNING BACK BY COMMITTEE

  • Cincy displayed its running back by committee approach all afternoon in its opener against Boston College rushing for 254 yards on 46 attempts. Cincinnati native Gi’Bran Payne led the way with 108 yards, his first career 100-yard rushing game. French and all four running backs in the rotation had at least 20 rushing yards. It was the first time Cincinnati has had five players with 20+ rushing yards in the same game since the season opener of 2024 vs. Towson (Chance Williams, Corey Kiner, Evan Pryor, Manny Covey and Victor Dawson.
  • Payne paced the group, rushing for 108 yards (7.7 avg.) on 14 carries. He was one of two Big 12 rushers to run for over 100 yards with at least 7.0 avg. on a minimum of 10 carries so far in Week 0/Week 1. His previous high was 35 rushing yards at ND in 2023.