TicketsCINCINNATI — The Cincinnati football team sent shockwaves through the college football world on Saturday afternoon, taking down the No. 8 team in the nation, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 37-24, at Historic Nippert Stadium on the University’s 100th Homecoming.
The victory marked Cincinnati’s first home win over an AP Top 10 opponent since a 30-11 victory over then-No. 7 Rutgers on Nov. 18, 2006. It is just the third top-10 victory at Nippert Stadium in program history, joining the 2006 win over Rutgers and a 17-12 win over No. 9 Wisconsin on Sept. 18, 1999.
Overall, the Bearcats now have four wins against AP Top 10 opponents over the last 45 seasons.
With the win, the Bearcats move to (5-2, 2-2 Big 12), while Texas Tech falls to (6-1, 3-1 Big 12). Texas Tech entered Saturday’s contest with a combined 18-2 record since the start of the 2025 season; 17 of those wins are by double digits.
Cincinnati's defense was strong all day, limiting Texas Tech’s offense to four field goals and one late offensive touchdown, while forcing three turnovers. The Bearcats' defense set the tone, delivering a dominant first-half performance, limiting the high-powered Red Raiders to just two field goals and forcing two turnovers and causing them to punt twice to help build a 24-6 halftime lead.
“I thought we played outstanding on defense,” head coach Scott Satterfield said. “Holding these guys to a lot of field goal attempts, giving up one touchdown there late in the game. They forced four turnovers that they created. The defense played tremendously, but it was a team win today.”
The Bearcats set the tone on Texas Tech's opening possession when Cannon forced a fumble on a fourth-down run, which was recovered by Antwan Peek Jr. to set up an early field goal. After Texas Tech bounced back with a 12-play, 44-yard drive that yielded a field goal, the Cincinnati defense repeatedly locked down. Cincinnati answered with a 10-play, 85-yard march capped by French’s 4-yard bootleg touchdown pass to Cole Tabb, giving the Bearcats a 10-6 lead with 5:18 left in the second quarter. The Bearcats scored 14 more points in a flury all under two minutes to build a 24-6 halftime lead.
Tabb rushed for over 100 yards for a second consecutive week to balance the attack, tallying a career-high 173 yards on 16 carries, including an electric 58-yard rushing touchdown to ice the game in the fourth quarter. JC French threw a career-best four touchdowns, completing 19-of-30 passes for 172 yards to propel the Bearcats’ offense. Three of his passing touchdowns came in the first half to help UC build its early lead.
Cincinnati now owns an all-time record of 63-32-4 on Homecoming and is 5-1 in the last six such contests. Since the 2000 season, UC is 21-5 in Homecoming games.
“What an awesome afternoon,” Satterfield said. “I know a lot of you guys circled this game with all the talk going on between our two programs. This was something that was circled, and I think certainly, as a team, we knew they were going to be ranked coming in here. It was a great atmosphere, starting with our students and our crowd, is an incredible advantage for us. Every time they're on offense, they're having to use silent cadence, and that's an advantage for us.”
First quarter
Cannon forced a fumble on the Red Raiders’ opening drive on a quarterback keeper by Texas Tech’s Will Hammond on 4th-and-1 at Tech’s 45-yard line. Antwan Peek Jr. recovered at the Texas Tech 48-yard line to give Cincinnati early momentum.
The Bearcats turned the takeaway into three points after the offense picked up a first down, setting up Stephen Rusnak for a 47-yard field goal to score the first points of the game.
Texas Tech set up its first score with a 28-yard pass from Hammond to wide receiver Kenny Johnson down to the Cincinnati 17-yard line.
After Red Raiders running back Quinten Joyner converted on 4th-and-1 at the 8, the Bearcats defense held inside the 5. Inside linebacker Damaine Wilson applied pressure to force an intentional grounding penalty on Hammond for an 11-yard sack and loss of down. MJ Cannon then broke up a third-down pass to force a 32-yard field goal by Stone Harrington with 6:11 left in the first quarter, tying the game at 3.
Harrington kicked a 48-yard field goal with 58 seconds left in the first quarter to give Texas Tech a 6-3 lead, capping a 10-play, 60-yard drive after the Bearcats defense held strong again.
Second quarter
Cincinnati put together a sustained drive, helped along by a 15-yard facemask penalty against Texas Tech to reach the Red Raiders' 17-yard line. Earlier on the drive, French connected with Zylan Perry on a 7-yard shovel pass under pressure on 3rd-and-4 to move the chains. The Bearcats capped the 10-play, 85-yard march when French hit Cole Tabb on a 4-yard bootleg touchdown pass, taking a 10-6 lead with 5:18 left in the second quarter. The score was Tabb’s 11th touchdown of the season.
Patrick Bauer sacked Texas Tech quarterback Will Hammond for a 10-yard loss back to the Red Raiders' 6-yard line and forced a punt following the score, maintaining momentum.
Cincinnati blew the game open in the final two minutes of the second quarter, scoring 14 unanswered points to take full control heading into halftime.
First, French directed an 11-play, 55-yard drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Henry with 1:37 left in the half, stretching the lead to 17-6.
After Cannon intercepted Will Hammond on the ensuing Texas Tech possession, the Bearcats struck again instantly. Cincinnati needed just five plays to cover 75 yards in 26 seconds, highlighted by a 51-yard run by Tabb and a 22-yard scramble by French. French then found tight end Lyviel Waters for a 2-yard touchdown pass with five seconds remaining on the clock to send Cincinnati into the locker room with a 24-6 advantage.
Third quarter
Texas Tech converted its third field goal of the afternoon, trimming Cincinnati’s lead to 24-9.
A massive momentum shift unfolded early in the third quarter when a controversial targeting penalty was reversed, giving Texas Tech a pick-six.
With Cincinnati facing 3rd-and-6 at its own 40-yard line, French’s pass intended for Isaiah Johnson was intercepted by Peyton Morgan and returned 53 yards for a touchdown. Flags were initially thrown for targeting against the Red Raiders, which would have negated the turnover. However, following an official video review, the targeting call was overturned. The reversal credited Texas Tech with the interception and defensive touchdown, cutting Cincinnati's lead to 24-15 before a failed two-point conversion attempt.
On Cincinnati’s ensuing possession, French was intercepted again. However, the Bearcats' defense stiffened inside its own territory, forcing a missed field goal to preserve the 24-15 lead.
Needing to regain momentum, Cincinnati answered with a 9-play, 80-yard drive. French shook off the two second-half interceptions to throw his career-high fourth touchdown pass of the game, hitting Larenzo Fenner for a 17-yard score to push the lead to 31-15.
Fourth quarter
Texas Tech added a field goal with 7:42 to play, but on the ensuing drive Tabb broke off a career-long 58-yard touchdown run to all but ice the game with 6:06 to play. The Red Raiders finally found the end zone on offense with under a minute to play, but by then the game was too far out of reach. TTU's onside kick attempt dribbled out of bounds with 59 seconds to play, and French kneeled twice to end the historic victory.
UP NEXT
Next week, Cincinnati will host No. 10 Utah on Halloween. Kickoff for that game is set for 3:45 p.m. on either ESPN or ESPN2.