The Cincinnati Bearcats’ dress rehearsal at Nippert Stadium offered a little bit of everything: scoring drives from every quarterback who took a snap, a busy day for the backs, and a defense that sounded plenty ambitious afterward.
It also gave head coach Scott Satterfield a clear snapshot of where his team stands three weeks before the regular-season opener. After a week of indoor work because of bad weather, the Bearcats stepped into the kind of humid early-September conditions they’ll have to handle in real games. The energy was there early, Satterfield said, but it faded some late.
“Early on, there was good energy, then there was a lull toward the end of it,” Satterfield said. “It was warm out here today and we'd been inside all week; that had something to do with it.”
The scrimmage stretched about two and a half hours and gave UC a look at how its 46 newcomers - 22 transfers and 24 freshmen - might respond once the tempo and pressure picked up. Coaches were on headsets rather than roaming the field, and the result was a long evaluation session with plenty to digest.
The most encouraging part for UC was the quarterback production. All four quarterbacks who played helped lead scoring drives, and the offense found the end zone on 13 of 20 possessions.
Presumed starter JC French IV, the Georgia Southern transfer, handled nine possessions and guided four scoring drives. He opened with a drive that ended in a Stephen Rusnak 45-yard field goal.
Rusnak went 2-for-3, later missing from 55 yards before connecting on a 31-yarder. French’s best throw came on a touchdown strike to sophomore Gio Kontosis in the back of the end zone.
He also led scoring drives finished by Gi'Bran Payne and Cole Tabb, though he did throw an interception to cornerback Kenny Worthy.
Samaj Jones was efficient and explosive across his five possessions, leading scoring drives on all five. His best moment came on a rollout, when he slipped away from pressure and found freshman Dadrien Waller downfield for a touchdown.
Jones also directed touchdown drives finished by reserve running back James Lewis and freshman Jayzon Thompson. Jones was in red, meaning he technically could not be sacked, but freshman Lance Dawson would have had him down.
Liam O'Brien matched Jones with five possessions and led scores on three of them. He got the first touchdown of the scrimmage by hitting 6-foot-5 freshman Josh Smith, connected with Winton Woods product Lyviel Waters on the day’s lone touchdown to a tight end, and later helped close things out with a flip to slot receiver Cade Wolford. Freshman Brooks Goodman got one series and capped it with a touchdown pass to sophomore Taizaun Burns.
On the other side of the ball, new defensive coordinator Nate Woody is preaching takeaways, and safety MJ Cannon said the standard is sky-high.
“We're trying to be as aggressive as possible,” Cannon said. “The goal is seven turnovers a game.
That's fumbles, picks, turnovers on downs, three-and-out stops and things like that. Our goal is seven turnovers a game, seven turnovers a practice.
We practice what we preach here.”
Worthy had the lone interception, but Cannon made it clear the defense believes more is coming.
“A lot. A lot,” Cannon said.
“As we've seen out there, he should have had three today. He's a great player, he's a ballhawk, plays with great energy, emotion, and I can't wait to see what he does this year.”
The pass rush would have had its say, too, if the quarterbacks had been live. Antwan Peek Jr. said the pressure would have piled up.
“A lot, I can't even give you a number on that,” Peek Jr. said. “Coach Woody is allowing us to bring a lot of guys. Coach Woody's not only talking about sacks, but getting strip sacks as well.”
Peek said he’s fluctuating between 225-230 pounds and has gotten faster. He also pointed to running back Zion Johnson and receiver Cade Wolford as two of the toughest Bearcats to bring down, then took it a step further.
“The entire offense is tough to bring down,” Peek Jr. said. “The offense is most likely going to be the toughest team we play in the Big 12.”
At receiver, Satterfield is still waiting for the kind of steady production he wants. He said Malachi Henry has been the most reliable option so far, while Larenzo Fenner has had a strong August.
Cade Wolford, he added, gives maximum effort. JV Gibson and Gio Kontosis are both talented, but need more consistency.
“Malachi (Henry) has been the most consistent guy,” Satterfield said. “Every practice, he's brought it.
(Larenzo) Fenner has had a good August as well. Cade (Wolford) is going to give you everything he's got.
JV (Gibson) and Gio (Kontosis) are both talented and both really good, but we've got to get more consistency out of them.”
Isaiah Johnson, Kontosis and Elijah Jones are back from last season, while Henry, Fenner, Wolford and Gibson arrived through the transfer portal.
The backfield had its own set of answers. No official rushing stats were given, but Daniel Lewis made the most of his work and scored twice.
Jayzon Thompson also scored and looked like a back who can make the most of limited chances. That matters with UC trying to spread the load and keep its top four runners fresh: Notre Dame transfer Gi'Bran Payne, sophomore Zion Johnson, Stanford transfer Cole Tabb and Louisiana transfer Zylan Perry.
“I think the top four guys will certainly be in the rotation,” Satterfield said. “As we get closer to the game, we'll probably zero in on one or two of those guys.
All four bring something to the table. They all have talent; they have good vision, good speed.
Some are better than others in protection; they can catch the ball out of the backfield. I'm excited about that running back room.”
Perry didn’t score in the scrimmage, but he has been one of the more intriguing runners in camp, with long gains showing up repeatedly. He said his recent success includes nearly 1,400 rushing yards over the past two seasons for Louisiana’s Ragin' Cajuns.
“We all come together and teach each other,” Perry said. “Me being healthy is the biggest difference.
My style really is 'make'em miss.' ”
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One of the clearest signs came from the secondary, where Kenny Worthy continued to reinforce his standing at cornerback. Quarterback JC French IV had his moments in the scrimmage, but the operation was not as clean as it had been in the previous two practices, leaving Cincinnati with one lingering question as camp develops. The defense has already sent a message, and now the offense has to answer it. [Read more 🡒]