What Went Wrong? Cincinnati Bearcats’ Shocking Struggles in Big 12 Clash at Utah Utes Revealed

Late night vibes at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City set the stage for a showdown that, frankly, was a bit tougher than many expected. On November 1st, No. 24 Utah flexed its muscles and handed the No. 16/17 Cincinnati Bearcats a 45-14 defeat that left a mark—not just on the scoreboard but on Cincinnati’s season narrative. This wasn’t just another game; it was UC’s second loss overall, the first in Big 12 play, and notably, the first time they saw a real blowout. The Utes, riding a strong home-field advantage amplified by roaring fans—51,672 strong—echoed their dominance that night, showing why night games at Utah have become notoriously hard for visitors. While Cincinnati managed a brief tie early on, a game-altering 39-yard direct snap touchdown run by Wayshawn Parker turned the tide in Utah’s favor, and the Bearcats struggled to keep pace from there.

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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Perhaps the oddsmakers knew what they were talking about and perhaps the Mountain Time zone difference was too much. At Rice-Eccles Stadium late Saturday night, Nov. 1, No. 24 Utah held serve at home, slapping the No. 16/17 Cincinnati Bearcats 45-14.

It’s UC’s second loss of the season, their first in the Big 12, and the first game where a team ran away from them.

According to ESPN College GameDay, the Utes are now 56-14 in recent night kickoffs. The noise was as advertised, as 51,672 could be heard bouncing off the Wasatch Mountain Range.

UC briefly tied the game in the first quarter, but after Wayshawn Parker took a direct snap 39 yards for a score near the end of the first frame, the Utes pulled away from the Bearcats.

“They did an outstanding job of coming out and playing their kind of football,” UC coach Scott Satterfield said. “Their offense spreads the field. You have to defend the field vertically and horizontally. They do a really good job of keeping the pressure on you.”

It was the sixth time this season Utah surpassed 40 points in a game. UC’s 14 points were a season low, though they did have 427 yards of total offense. Utah put up 480 with 267 on the ground, the most UC’s allowed all season.

“That was a really good football team we beat,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “They’re well coached, the quarterback is very good, but we played outstanding all night.”

Utah not kind to Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby

UC had opportunities early, but it wasn’t the best of games for Brendan Sorsby who had been relatively mistake-free during the season. A second-quarter fumble spoiled a possible scoring chance that might have tied the game a second time. Another fumble late in the game wasn’t a factor in the outcome, but put the Utes in scoring position.

Sorsby finished an inaccurate 11-for-33 for 221 yards with one touchdown, an 88-yard toss to Cyrus Allen. Allen would only have two catches on the night, but had 133 yards through the air. Brady Lichtenberg finished the game at quarterback for the Bearcats.

“It was loud, it made it tough on us for sure,” Sorsby said of the Rice-Eccles racket. “I don’t know how much it affected what we did and didn’t do. We just got outplayed. That’s really it.”

Utah’s Devon Dampier was 16-for-31 for 213 yards and two touchdowns and he ran for 78 yards before giving way to backup Byrd Ficklin late. Ficklin added a rushing touchdown.

Utes running back Wayshawn Parker had 104 yards on the ground and a score and Ryan Davis had eight catches for 132 yards and a touchdown.

UC drops to 7-2 (5-1 Big 12) while Utah goes to 7-2 (4-2 Big 12). League leader BYU (5-0) was off this weekend and will be in Lubbock against Texas Tech, Saturday, Nov. 8 in another College GameDay event.

It was UC’s third College GameDay contest and they now fall to 1-2 in the marquee event.

Cincinnati Bearcats injuries

Linebacker Jake Golday left the game with an undisclosed injury. The upside of any injuries is that the Bearcats are idle next weekend. Golday was UC’s top tackler with nine.

“Golday got sent out of the game; it was more of a head thing,” Satterfield said.

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Brendan Sorsby and the Cincinnati Bearcats had a rough day at the office at Rice-Eccles Stadium Nov. 1.

Cincinnati Bearcats, Utah Utes in Big 12 standings

With UC dropping to 5-1 in the Big 12, BYU is the lone undefeated team. The Cougars will face Texas Tech in Lubbock next Saturday, Nov. 8. The Red Raiders are 5-1 in the league. Arizona State is now 5-2 in the league, while Utah goes to 4-2 in the league.

In addition to their upcoming game with Arizona, UC hosts BYU on Nov. 22 at Nippert Stadium.

5 takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats at Utah Utes

The Cincinnati Bearcats take the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium Nov. 1 vs. Utah. It turned out to be a difficult night for the Bearcats.

1. Cincinnati Bearcats got punched in mouth by Utah

The Bearcats had the ball to start the game and their drive was over in 34 seconds. Add in Max Fletcher’s 59-yard punt it was 48 seconds, but still not what you would desire to start the game.

Conversely, Utah went 94 yards in 7:05 with Dampier hitting Davis for a 34-yard touchdown. Utah would have drives of 75, 66 and 70 yards before the half ended.

The Bearcats got within 10 in the second half on Sorsby’s 88-yard touchdown to Allen, but Utah scored 21 unanswered points to end the game.

Satterfield is confident Sorsby and the Bearcats will recover from the post-Halloween nightmare.

“We’ve got a resilient bunch,” he said. “This is one blip in our Big 12 season so far. We’ve got to regroup and play a good game when we get back out at Nippert.”

2. Cincinnati Bearcats played multiple running backs

With Evan Pryor out, UC started Tawee Walker but also played freshman Zion Johnson, along with Manny Covey and Chance Williams.

Walker gained some hard yards in the first half, including a 41-yard run to end the first quarter. When the Bearcats came back to the field in the second quarter, Walker was out and curiously, Williams was in the game. He carried once and lost a yard and despite Walker getting them to the 23-yard line, UC came away empty-handed.

After gaining 67 yards in the first half, Walker didn’t return. Covey finished with 47 yards and Johnson added 35 yards, mostly late in the contest.

“Tawee I think is fine,” Satterfield said. “He was banged up from last week’s game. We rotated and played a lot of guys at running back.”

3. Cincinnati Bearcats missed scoring opportunities

As mentioned, Walker’s run had UC at the 23-yard line of Utah. They couldn’t move the ball from there and had to settle for a field goal. Unfortunately, Stephen Rusnak, who had been perfect as a Bearcat, missed from 42 yards. That ended his 11-for-11 streak at UC and ended a streak of 22-straight dating back to last season.

Later in the second quarter, the Bearcats had a 45-yard reception by Allen. But UC had a holding call, then Sorsby ran for five yards but fumbled at the Utah 19-yard line.

Late in the half, Sorsby threw his first interception since the Nebraska opener, but Smith Snowden fumbled and the Bearcats recovered. Still, the 24-7 halftime deficit was the largest of the season.

“We’ve got to find ways to move the ball,” center Gavin Gerhardt said. “We can’t be going three-and-out. It doesn’t matter, home or away. We can’t let the energy of the stadium dictate how we play the game. We have really explosive wide receivers and a really explosive offense. We’ve just got to find ways to lock in.”

4. Cincinnati Bearcats didn’t get as many plays as Utah

At halftime, Utah had run 47 plays to UC’s 32 and had the ball for more than double the amount of time as the Bearcats. Utah’s first-half time-of-possession was 20:45 while UC’s was just 9:15. By the time the Utes fans had departed, that figure was 40:02 for Utah and just 19:58 for UC. Utah ran 84 plays to 63 for the Bearcats.

UC safety Christian Harrison intercepted Dampier for the second Bearcats pick of the season, but it wasn’t much of a silver lining for him.

“The interception doesn’t matter at the end of the day; we lost,” Harrison said. “We beat ourselves a lot. There were times they just beat us. We’ve got to get better.”

The Bearcats had trouble getting the ball to tight end Joe Royer who finished with only one catch for 10 yards on three targets.

5. Cincinnati Bearcats can’t find Joe Royer

At the end of the first half, UC trailed by 17 points and future NFL draft pick Joe Royer didn’t have one target. It wasn’t unique to Royer, but it seems to happen more often than not. Top receiver Cyrus Allen had only one catch for 45 yards at the break. It wasn’t Sorsby’s best passing half as he was just 8-for-20. The second half wasn’t much better at 3-for-11.

Royer finally had a pass come his way with 1:01 left in the third quarter. He would finish with one catch and just three targets.

Next up for Cincinnati Bearcats

After six straight games, UC has a bye weekend ahead. Their next game is back at Nippert Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 15. vs. Arizona. The Wildcats were in Boulder vs. Colorado Saturday night, beating up the Buffaloes 52-19. Arizona is 5-3 (2-3 Big 12) and hosts the Kansas Jayhawks (5-4, 3-3 Big 12) on Nov. 8.

“I told our team in the locker room we still have a lot to play for,” Satterfield said. “Everything to play for quite honestly. This bye week comes at a good time for us. We’ve got some guys that are dinged up. Hopefully, we can get healed up next week and reset mentally and physically.”

UC and Arizona have never played in football.