Cincinnati gets its biggest home test of the season Saturday night, and Nippert Stadium is dressed for it.
The Bearcats are back for the 100th Homecoming game, coming off back-to-back road losses at Arizona and West Virginia and staring down unbeaten No. 8 Texas Tech, which arrives in town at 6-0. It is the first time the Red Raiders have come to Cincinnati, and they’re the first of four current Top 25 teams still on UC’s schedule over the final six games.
That stretch keeps getting tougher. After Texas Tech, the Bearcats host No.
10 Utah on Oct. 31, then head to No. 14 Houston on Nov.
- The regular season closes Nov. 28 at BYU, which moved up to No. 2 after beating Notre Dame in Provo.
There was plenty of buildup around a potential “Sorsby Bowl,” but that angle disappeared before kickoff. When UC’s former quarterback Brendan Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech after two seasons with the Bearcats, this matchup immediately had extra juice. Sorsby added to that feeling by showing up at a UC basketball game in Lubbock in February and needling his old teammates.
Then the story changed. Gambling issues surfaced, court action followed, and Sorsby was ultimately ruled ineligible. With NFL teams passing on a supplemental draft option, he is now training for the spring NFL Draft while Will Hammond has taken over for the Red Raiders.
On the UC side, JC French IV is now the 2026 quarterback, and he has not thrown an interception yet. His 389-yard, three-touchdown day at West Virginia was a career game, and he has thrown for four more yards than Hammond with three more touchdown passes. The edge in quarterback rating belongs to Hammond, though, and Texas Tech remains unbeaten.
The bigger challenge for Cincinnati may be on the ground. Texas Tech is No. 5 nationally against the run, giving up just 82 yards per game. Arizona State was held to 35 rushing yards against the Red Raiders last week, a reminder of what the Bearcats are walking into.
In Other News...
Cincinnati Made Texas Tech Regret All That Offseason Talk
Texas Tech spent most of the afternoon in control, but Cincinnati had the final say in a 37-24 win that left the visitors in no mood to celebrate. The Bearcats waited out the closing minutes and walked off with a result that landed hard in Lubbock, especially after an offseason full of big talk around the Red Raiders.
The reaction only sharpened the sting. Billionaire booster Cody Campbell criticized the loss publicly, and Texas Tech officials were seen at the postgame news conference with somber expressions. It was more than a bad setback in one game, too, because the loss leaves Texas Tech needing to run the table from here to keep its College Football Playoff hopes on solid ground. [Read more 🡒]
Bearcats Just Changed The Feel Around Scott Satterfield's Team
A week that could have drifted into the usual Big 12 grind instead turned into the kind of result that can change the mood around a program. Cincinnati handled No. 8 Texas Tech 37-24, a win built on defense, takeaways and a poised performance from the offense that gave Scott Satterfields group a much-needed jolt. The Bearcats improved to 5-2 overall and evened their league mark at 2-2, giving them something concrete to point to as the schedule tightens.
JC French IV was at the center of it, leading an attack that found the end zone repeatedly while Cincinnatis defense forced three turnovers and kept Texas Tech from settling in. The upset does more than add a ranked scalp to the rsum. It also changes the conversation around a Bearcats team that had been looking for a breakthrough moment, and now has one heading deeper into conference play. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona State Just Got A Fresh Boost In A Tight Bowl Race
ESPNs updated FPI numbers after Week 8 put a fresh spotlight on the middle of the Big 12 race, where bowl position and postseason survival can change quickly from one result to the next. Cincinnati was among the teams whose outlook shifted, alongside programs such as Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Texas Tech, as the model recalibrated after another busy weekend of conference play and the leagues ever-shifting pecking order.
For the Bearcats, the larger takeaway is that their path is still very much in motion, with every October result now carrying real weight in the projections. A strong recent showing helped move the needle in a way Cincinnati needed, and with the FPI board now updated, the pressure only grows as the next round of games will say even more about where the Bearcats fit in the postseason picture. [Read more 🡒]