The Cincinnati Bearcats stormed into Nippert Stadium Saturday night intent to stifle any hopes the BYU Cougars had of making the College Football Playoff this year. The atmosphere was electric and Clifton had been rocking even before Fox’s broadcast crew was set up in the morning. The Cats needed to play with a chip on their shoulder to avoid a three-game losing streak and to cast aside talk of another late season collapse.
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But as so often is the case with this team and head coach Scott Satterfield, they simply could not get out of their own way. The fans showed up and the stage was set, but mistakes and missed opportunities were the order of the evening. Despite it all Cincinnati was never really out of the game until the final few minutes and it truly is a testament to the talent this team has, if only they could combine that with consistency in the later stages of the season.
The Cats Played a Tight First Half
Both teams exchanged punts on their opening drives but the Cougars managed to flip field position pinning Cincinnati inside their own ten. The resulting punt gave BYU the ball on the 50, and as they did all game they leaned heavy on the running game behind quarterback Bear Bachmeier and running back LJ Martin. They took 10 plays to slog those 50 yards but eventually Bachmeier punched it in from six yards out to put his team up 7-0.
Cincinnati seemed poised to answer as they marched down the field on the ensuring drive behind a huge run by Evan Pryor who returned to action this week after injury, and a 23-yard Sorsby pass that put the offense inside the red zone. After a series of runs, Sorsby kept the ball and tried to punch it into the end zone himself, but was tackled just short of the line to gain at the BYU three yard line, resulting in a fourth and one.
That set up one of the pivotal early moments in this game. It is completely understandable why Satterfield and the Bearcats would go for it in that situation, with the crowd behind them and an offensive line that has proven to be able to open holes on the ground. But unfortunately, Tawee Walker took the handoff and was stuffed by the BYU defense, turning the ball over on downs. Cincinnati missed a big opportunity to tie the game in the second quarter, and it would not be the only points they left on the field in this game.
After forcing a quick three and out the Bearcats got the ball in excellent field position at the Cougar 47. They took the ball down to the 23 before the drive stalled and Stephan Rusnak trotted out onto the field to attempt a 42-yard kick, which he promptly missed, keeping the Cats off the scoreboard.
Once again the Bearcat defense held on the subsequent BYU drive and forced a punt that sophomore return man Manny Covey nearly took to the house. It was the lone special teams bright spot for Cincinnati last night but the superb 57-yard return set the Bearcats up with excellent field position deep in Cougar territory.
And this time Brendan Sorsby would answer. Two plays later he floated a beautiful ball to a wide upon Cyrus Allen for a touchdown the pair made look almost effortless. It was Allen’s 11th touchdown catch of the year and knotted the game up at seven.
BYU methodically moved the ball down the field on their next possession, putting together an 11 play, 61-yard drive that ended in a made field goal. With the score 10-7 the Bearcats had an excellent chance to get points going into halftime, knowing they’d receive the kickoff on the other end.
Sorsby and Allen connected two more times to get the ball down to the Cougar 22 as time ticked away in the half. After a third-down incompletion, Rusnak took the field once again looking for some redemption and to bring the game level again heading into the half.
But alas, it was not to be as Cincinnati’s usually reliable kicker missed another. This time it was from 40 yards out, and the Cougars kept the momentum and the lead at halftime
The Mistakes Kept Coming in the Second Half
Brendan Sorsby has led this Bearcat team all year. But on the team’s first drive of the second half he was picked off by BYU’s Tanner Wall after a brutal under throw. It was yet another chance for Cincinnati to draw even or even take the lead and they simply could not capitalize.
What followed was a slobber knocker of an answering drive by the Cougars. It went for 11 plays and took up 5:24 of game time. LJ Martin bashed it in from one yard out to put BYU ahead 17-7.
Cincinnati put together a solid answer of their own on the possession. Sorsby has two very nice long passes to both Goodie and Evan Pryor to move the ball into Cougar territory. When the offense ran out of momentum at the BYU 30, Rusnak had yet another chance to chip away at the lead. This time it was a botched hold that caused the kick to sail wide, in yet another nightmare moment for the Bearcats special teams unit that saw them miss out on nine huge points that could have really made the difference in this game.
BYU tacked on a field goal to make it 20-7 but the game was still within reach. Sorsby refused to quit, scrambling for 14 yards and uncorking a 25-yard strike to Pryor. He carried the team down to the 17 and they appeared to be on the cusp of getting back into it when Cyrus Allen was awkwardly twisted down and lost the ball. It was reviewed and upheld as a fumble recovered by BYU and yet another Cincinnati drive came up empty.
The defense bowed up yet again and forced a Cougar punt and this time the Bearcats refused to be denied. They drove 86 yards behind Sorsby’s arm, culminating in a 19-yard strike to Jeff Caldwell to cut the BYU lead to six with less than five minutes to go in the game.
But BYU chose that moment to go on a bruising 75-yard touchdown drive to ice the game. LJ Martin would not be denied as he piled up tough run and tough run and first down after first down. He eventually broke a big one against a tired Bearcat defense, a 33-yard house call to make it a 26-14 Cougar victory.
Sorting Through the Aftermath
This was a very tough loss to swallow, given the miscues and turnovers. Brendan Sorsby threw a bad interception it’s true (his fourth in the last three games, after throwing none in seven straight), but his arm kept his team in this one and nearly brought them back. He finished with 300 yards on 25 completions and a pair of touchdowns. He also led the team with 38 yards on the ground.
Sorsby spread the ball out to nine different receivers but for yet another game, star tight end Joe Royer was criminally underutilized. He had just two catches for 13 yards. Cyrus Allen paced the Cats with 51 receiving yards.
The Cougars’ LJ Martin set a career mark with 222 yards and two scores. On the other side, Cincinnati could only muster 87 total yards on the ground. The disparity there allowed BYU to control time of possession, with a 17-minute advantage.
Cincinnati also lost the turnover battle, and when combined with the missed kicks, served to take far too many points off of the board. It was a night of “what could have been” as the Bearcats have now lost three straight and now fall to 7-4 on the season.
“I hurt for Stephen,” Bearcats coach Scott Satterfield said. “He missed one field goal the first 10 games and he missed three tonight. If we got nine more points it’s different in the fourth quarter.”
This game represented yet another example of the Bearcats coming unglued to close the season. They needed one win to become bowl eligible last year but lost their final five games to finish 5-7. Whether it’s Satterfield’s coaching or a lack of execution on the field, fans in Cincinnati are yet again waiting for consistency for a full year against the best that the Big 12 has to offer. On the plus side the Cats are bowl eligible and can still finish the season strong in that game, and against TCU next week.
