Cincinnati wasted no time blowing up the college football conversation Saturday morning.
Unranked Cincinnati knocked off No. 8 Texas Tech, 37-24, handing the Red Raiders their first loss of the season and turning the opening stretch of Week 8 into another top-10 upset. It was the kind of result that fits right into a wild run of Saturdays, and this one came with the Bearcats’ crowd storming the field afterward.
The win snapped Texas Tech’s unbeaten start at 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play. Cincinnati improved to 5-2 and 2-2 in the league.
The Bearcats also reached a milestone at home that had been a long time coming. This was Cincinnati’s first home win over a top-10 opponent since Nov. 18, 2006, when it beat No.
7 Rutgers, 30-11. Cincinnati had already shown it could do this on the road, too, with a win at ninth-ranked Notre Dame in 2021.
Cole Tabb powered the ground game with a career-high 173 rushing yards and a touchdown, while JC French IV delivered a career-high four touchdown passes. That balance mattered because Cincinnati came in averaging 231 rushing yards a game, and even after a rough first quarter in which it had minus-six rushing yards thanks in part to a couple of sacks, the Bearcats still finished with 252 yards on the ground and averaged 6.1 yards per carry.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, never found the clean path it needed to stay unbeaten for the first time since 2013. The loss leaves the Big 12 with just two undefeated teams: No.
2 BYU, which was playing unranked UCF, and No. 10 Utah, which hosts No.
14 Houston later Saturday night.
Cincinnati doesn’t have long to sit on the moment, either. The Bearcats are already looking ahead to hosting Utah on Halloween night.
There’s also the matter of what comes next after the field was stormed. Cincinnati could be fined, but it’s not a certainty.
The Big 12 handles those cases individually, according to Jordan Mendoza of USA TODAY, via Yahoo Sports. Mendoza reported that the standard fine is $50,000, though the league office will review the footage to determine whether the visiting team and game officials had a safe route off the field.
He noted that differs from the SEC’s stricter system.
After a win like this, though, Cincinnati’s side of the equation probably feels pretty simple.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Has A Stake In The Big 12's Next Decision
Cincinnatis upset win over Texas Tech on Saturday did more than shake up the Big 12 race. It also set off a conference review after fans stormed the Nippert Stadium field, putting the Bearcats in line for a possible $50,000 fine under the leagues field-storming policy. The Big 12 is now examining whether the appropriate security measures were in place and whether a safe path was provided for the visiting team and officials.
For Texas Tech, the interest goes beyond the loss itself, because the leagues next decision will help define how these postgame scenes are handled moving forward. The Big 12 typically reaches a ruling within days of incidents like this, so Cincinnatis situation should be settled soon, with the conference weighing both the celebration and the safety issues that came with it. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Techs QB Problem Just Changed The Big 12 Picture
Texas Techs trip to Cincinnati turned into more than just a lopsided 37-18 loss. It exposed how fragile the Red Raiders can look when the offense stalls inside the red zone and the ground game, on both sides of the ball, starts slipping away. Will Hammond threw for 227 yards, but the one interception and one fumble were part of a messy night for an offense that never found enough rhythm to keep pace.
On the other side, the Bearcats controlled the line of scrimmage in a way that changed the feel of the game and, by extension, the Big 12 conversation around Texas Tech. Cincinnati piled up 257 rushing yards, with Cole Tabb doing most of the damage, and the Red Raiders spent too much of the night chasing answers after Brendan Sorsby was unavailable because of eligibility issues tied to gambling allegations. For Texas Tech, the loss was frustrating enough on its own, but the bigger concern is what it says about how quickly the margin can disappear when the quarterback situation turns uncertain. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Faces Its First Real Road Test At Cincinnati
No. 8 Texas Tech heads to Nippert Stadium for what figures to be its first true road test of the season, and the matchup brings a familiar sort of Big 12 stress. Joey McGuire and defensive coordinator Shiel Wood spent part of the buildup circling Cincinnatis running game, while also keeping an eye on quarterback JC French IV and the ways the Bearcats try to make a defense stay honest. For a Red Raiders team that has looked sharp and physical, this is the kind of game that starts to reveal how much of that success travels.
Texas Techs defense has been one of the early talking points around the program, and recent individual performances have only added to the optimism. But road games have a way of testing discipline as much as talent, especially in a venue like Nippert where the noise and tempo can change the feel of a game quickly. The broadcast will be easy to find, but the bigger question is whether the Red Raiders can take their defensive confidence on the road and handle a Cincinnati team built to make opponents work for every stop. [Read more 🡒]