Tradition before halftime?

Cincinnati Bearcats kicker Nathan Hawks hit a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter, but also missed a 41-yard throw before halftime. UC also went on a 14-play drive late in the third quarter before coming up empty on a 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Like last weekend at UCF, points remained on the field.

“We object to kicking it right before halftime,” Satterfield said. “I’ve never seen that before. Four times in our games this year we did a great job of getting down there and for some reason we didn’t get it done. I think we’re due. I thought he (Hawks) had it done. “It was a really good week of him kicking the ball and having great confidence, so we had a good feeling about him going into the game today.

UC moves to 5-2 (3-1 Big 12) while Arizona State falls to 5-2 (2-2 Big 12).

“We stormed onto the field and it was red everywhere in the stadium,” Satterfield said of the announced sellout at 38,000-seat Nippert Stadium. “It was loud today. If you look at what you think a college football game could look like, this is it.”

Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo does skedaddles

Scattebo ranked No. 3 in the nation in all-purpose yards and No. 5 in rushing with 773 yards after Nippert. The Bearcats have now played four of the top 10 all-purpose yardbacks in Pitt’s Desmond Reid, Arizona State’s Scatterbo, UCF’s RJ Harvey and Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks.

Despite scoring the first touchdown, Skattebo was limited to 25 rushing yards at halftime. He added a touchdown in the second half but was held to 75 yards on the ground and 33 yards receiving.

“All week we preached 11 hats to the ball,” said nose tackle Dontay Corleone. “He runs very hard, as you can see by his play on the goal line (Skattebo’s score in the third quarter). Hats off to Arizona State and the running back. He’s very good.”

How did the Cincinnati Bearcats defense fare against Arizona State’s Jeff Sims?

With former starting quarterback Sam Leavitt out with a rib injury, Arizona State turned to backup Jeff Sims. Sims played at Nebraska last year after three seasons at Georgia Tech. In 2020, he defeated Scott Satterfield’s Louisville team.

Sims was 5-for-9 for 56 yards in the first half and suffered a sack from Jared Bartlett. He had more success in the second half, leading an eight-play, 74-yard drive for a score.

Sims finished the game 12 of 22 for 155 yards and ran for 53 yards. He was also sacked by Jonathan Thompson. UC defeated the Sun Devils 397-346.

Peek performance

Redshirt sophomore Antwan Peek Jr. forced a fumble from Skattebo in the first quarter, setting up Sorsby’s first score for UC. Peek forced two fumbles last week at UCF and was named to the Pro Football Focus Team of the Week. This season he has forced four players.

“He has the all-time record for forced fumbles (17),” Peek Jr. said of his father, UC Hall of Famer Antwan Peek. “It was always my goal to break his record.”

Peek also led the Bearcats in tackles with nine tackles. As for his father’s forced fumble record, 13 more and it’s in the bag.

“He has a knack for the ball,” Satterfield said. “If you convert turnovers into touchdowns, you have a great chance of winning games.”

Has the Cincinnati Bearcats running game awakened?

In 2023, UC was 3-9 like Arizona State but averaged 217.1 rushing yards per game. After rushing for 275 yards against Towson and 215 yards at Miami University, UC managed 149, 129 and 97 yards on the ground before Saturday.

By the time Pryor scored a 55-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, the Bearcats had only lost 30 yards on the ground. At the end of the half, UC had defeated Arizona State on the ground 126-82.

“That game (Pryor’s score), we were on the sidelines looking at the iPads,” guard Luke Kandra said. “We said, ‘This is exactly how we want it to be blocked, and that’s what we did.'”

Kiner got going in the second half and helped the Bearcats gain yards and clock. He helped them get to the 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but the Bearcats couldn’t push anything inside to extend the lead. Kiner got one yard shy of the century mark and UC had 191 yards on the day, as did Arizona State.

Kiner was also just one yard shy of a touchdown late in the second quarter, which made quarterback Sorsby feel guilty, who secured the 1-yard score for glory.

“I felt bad because Corey broke eight tackles and only managed one more,” Sorsby said. “I had to apologize to him on the sidelines. I said, ‘Listen, I didn’t call him and see what happened?

Sorsby finished the game with 26 yards rushing and two scores.

Joe Royer vs. Chamon Metayer

A year ago, Metayer was UC’s tight end and caught 23 passes for 258 yards and five touchdowns before exiting the season before UC’s final home game against Kansas. He was briefly at Colorado before transferring to Arizona State. As of Saturday, UC’s 2024 tight end Joe Royer had already surpassed all of Metayer’s 2023 stats except touchdowns in six games.

Royer had four catches for 41 yards, all in the first half, while Metayer had just one score.

Notable visitors

UC women’s basketball player Dee Alexander was in attendance at the game. She is in her fourth season at Purcell Marian High School and is trying to win her fourth straight state championship.

Additionally, 6-foot-10 four-star Jalan Wingfield visited Wes Miller’s men’s basketball Bearcats for Friday’s matchup against Ohio State and Saturday’s football game. Wingfield is the son of former Bearcats star Dontonio Wingfield, who averaged 16 points and nine rebounds in his only season in 1993-94.

Next up is the Big 12 menu

UC hits the road with Coach Prime Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes next Saturday at 10:15 p.m. (Eastern) on ESPN. Colorado was in Arizona later Saturday.

Arizona State has a bye and next plays at Oklahoma State on November 2nd.

Scott Springer recaps the Cincinnati Bearcats’ win over Arizona State

Scott Springer recaps the Cincinnati Bearcats’ football victory over Arizona State