The Cincinnati Bearcats will suit up for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl this Friday against the Navy Midshipmen, but as we already know they will be doing so without quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who entered the transfer portal earlier this December. He was key to the Cats’ success this year, throwing for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. He has plenty of suitors for 2026, including Texas Tech and the Indiana Hoosiers where he will likely command big NIL money as those teams search for a quarterback to continue to move their programs forward. Sorsby certainly fits the bill as he has thrown for 7,208 yards on top of another 1,305 on the ground with a total of 82 touchdowns during the course of his four-year college career.
But the Bearcats received some more bad news today as running back Evan Pryor informed the team that he, too, would be entering the transfer portal. Pryor started out at Ohio State before coming to Cincinnati, and he had a significant impact on the offense just as Sorsby did at the quarterback position. Despite playing in two fewer games this season, as compared to 2024, Pryor rushed for more yards (522). However, he only had four total touchdowns this season after scoring seven times last year.
The roster will therefore look a lot different going into the Liberty Bowl without Sorsby and Pryor, but that will open up opportunities for other players to show what they can do prior to the 2026 campaign. First up will be quarterback Brady Lichtenberg, set to start in place of Sorsby in the bowl game. In four years with the Bearcats he has completed 26 of 45 passes for 333 yards, with three touchdowns to only one interception.
At running back, Freshman Zion Johnson and sophomore Manny Covey appear ready to try to replicate Pryor’s production on the ground. Covey has 182 career yards with a touchdown at 5.4 yards per carry. Johnson has 14 total carries for 83 yards and a touchdown, which he scored against Arizona. This could be a great showcase for these backs to prove what they can do getting the majority of the carries for this Cincinnati team moving forward.
The Bearcats are in a difficult situation once again, after starting 7-1 under head coach Scott Satterfield, they lost four straight to finish 7-5 in 2025. They were ranked as high as number 17 in the country coming into the final frame of the season, but collapsed once again, losing those last four games while being outscored 146 to 75 during that stretch. While the specific reasons that players like Sorsby and Pyror chose to enter the portal remain their own, the struggles that this team have endured over recent years cannot be overlooked.
Yes, Cincinnati might not be able to offer as much NIL money as other schools, but if the overall product on the field was of a better quality, one has to wonder if the Bearcats might be able to hold on to more of its impact players moving forward. Let’s not forget that this college was competing for a national championship as recently as four short years ago. If this program can show its players (both those who we recruit out of high school and through the portal) that we are committed to winning at a high level, and that we are able to do so, then perhaps we have a better chance at keeping them in-house for the long term. But in the current landscape of the wild west NIL era, if a team isn’t in the mix for postseason success, they run the risk of remaining a perpetual stepping stone for talented college football players to head to greener pastures with more lucrative programs.
