No. 6 Utah heads into Saturday’s Big 12 Halloween matchup at Cincinnati with an unbeaten record and plenty on the line, while the Bearcats are chasing another shocker after knocking off a top-10 opponent last weekend.
The Utes arrive at 7-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play, trying to keep their grip near the top of the league and stay in the College Football Playoff conversation. Cincinnati sits at 5-2 and 2-2, and the Bearcats will try to follow up their biggest win of the Scott Satterfield coaching era with another statement against an AP Top 10 team.
Utah leaned on its identity to get past then-No. 14 Houston 21-13 at home last Saturday.
The backbone is a defense giving up just 14.6 points per game, with linebacker Trey Reynolds helping power a unit that ranks eighth nationally against the run. On offense, Devon Dampier has kept things moving efficiently under pressure, guiding a group that averages 478.4 total yards per game.
That toughness was a point of emphasis for Utah coach Morgan Scalley after the Houston win.
"So grateful for our guys, their fight. That's what you need," Utah coach Morgan Scalley said Monday.
"I don't really care about the stats. I'm so proud of these guys, just their fight.
Devon Dampier, he's our guy. So proud of his fight, and the defense came up with stop after stop (vs.
Houston)."
Cincinnati is riding momentum from a 37-24 win over then-No. 8 Texas Tech, a result that came a week after a wild 45-42 loss at West Virginia in which the Bearcats led by a touchdown six times. Satterfield pointed to the small margin that kept the West Virginia game from turning the other way.
"We just needed a little something in the pass defense. Just a little something," Satterfield said.
"We just could never get the stop to go up two scores. In the past, the conference games, that's what's happened."
The Texas Tech victory was Cincinnati’s highest-ranked home win since a 30-11 result over No. 7 Rutgers on Nov.
18, 2006. It also pushed the Bearcats to 5-0 at home and put them on the edge of the AP Top 25, as they received votes for the second time this season.
Offensively, Cincinnati brings a unit averaging 455.3 yards per game, with the run game doing a lot of the heavy lifting. That strength will be tested by a Utah defense that ranks No. 8 nationally against both the run and the run game overall, allowing just 88.3 rushing yards per game while producing 234.6 on the ground itself.
Texas Tech found that out the hard way. The Red Raiders came in with the No. 5 rushing defense, and Cincinnati still ran for 255 yards in the win.
Cole Tabb led the way with a career-high 173 rushing yards, highlighted by a 58-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Tabb earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors afterward, while MJ Cannon was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week.
Saturday sets up as a matchup between two offenses inside the top 20 nationally, with Utah at 478.4 yards per game and Cincinnati at 455.3.
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Cincinnati Already Looks Deeper Than Last Year With One Early Concern
Cincinnati wrapped up its exhibition schedule at 2-1, and the overall vibe coming out of the final tune-up was encouraging. The Bearcats handled Oakland University 97-58, with MJ Collins Jr. and Myles Colvin helping drive the offense while Cincinnati knocked down 52% of its three-point attempts against the Grizzlies. For a team trying to show it has more depth and more options than it did a year ago, that kind of performance was a solid last look before the games start counting.
Jerrod Calhoun still has one early point of emphasis to sort through as the regular season approaches, starting with Tuesday nights opener against American University. The exhibition results suggested Cincinnati can score in waves and lean on multiple contributors, which is the kind of balance Calhoun wants, but the next step is turning that into cleaner, more complete possessions when the pace tightens and the opponent gets more physical. [Read more 🡒]
Cincinnati Gets A Huge Home Test With Momentum Suddenly Building
A home date with Utah gives Cincinnati exactly the kind of measuring-stick game that can tell you a lot about where the Bearcats are headed. The Utes come in with momentum after back-to-back wins, including a tight one against Colorado, while Cincinnati has started to build real confidence of its own after knocking off Texas Tech and protecting its home field all season.
The challenge now is whether that momentum can hold against one of the nations elite teams. Cincinnati has looked comfortable at home and has shown enough toughness to make this one interesting, but Utah brings the kind of physical, disciplined test that usually exposes any lingering holes. For the Bearcats, the upside is obvious: a big night in front of their own crowd would do more than pad the rsum, it would announce that this team is ready for bigger things. [Read more 🡒]