Recap: BYU 26 Cincinnati 14
On a night when the atmosphere at Nippert Stadium was everything Cincinnati hoped for, the Bearcats delivered energy, yardage, and effort—but not the execution they needed. A trio of missed field goals, a critical fourth-and-one failure, and a costly turnover doomed Cincinnati in a 26–14 loss to No. 11 BYU, turning a raucous Big Noon Kickoff stage into a night of frustration and missed opportunities.
(Photo: Taylor Keeton / Bearcatsportshub)
BYU jumped ahead early and never trailed, starting with a first-quarter touchdown on a 6-yard run by Bachmeier to take a 7–0 lead. Cincinnati tied the game in the second quarter on a 27-yard TD pass from Sorsby to Allen, but BYU responded before halftime with a 31-yard field goal to go up 10–7.
After the break, BYU controlled the third quarter, extending the lead to 17–7 on a methodical 66-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD run from Martin. The Cougars added another field goal early in the fourth to make it 20–7.
Cincinnati fought back with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Caldwell, cutting the deficit to 20–14 with just over four minutes left. But BYU sealed the game late when Martin broke free for a 33-yard touchdown, pushing the final score to 26–14 after the failed two-point conversion.
Head coach Scott Satterfield opened his postgame comments by praising the home crowd:
“I've been here three years. That was the best experience I've ever had here at Nippert. It was incredible… It was a great atmosphere. It was big-time college football today.”
The reflection on the Nipp at Night experience quickly turned to the theme of the night: execution.
“We missed three field goals… fourth and one inside the five we don't get… and then we lose a fumble that lasted six minutes on a review… We went toe-to-toe with those guys… but it was really just about the execution on those few plays.”
BYU running back LJ Martin delivered one of the most impressive performances in college football on Saturday, rushing 32 times for 222 yards and two touchdowns. His power runs and constant fall-forward gains contributed heavily to BYU dominating time of possession (38:25 to 21:35) and limiting Cincinnati’s offense.
The knock-out blow from Martin came with 0:56 seconds remaining in the game when he capped off a 9-play, 75-yard drive over 3:34 with a 33-yard touchdown to extend the BYU lead to 26-14.
Satterfield acknowledged the challenge of trying to slow Martin and BYU rushing game down.
“That's their plan… handing the ball to Martin, who's an outstanding back… I mean, the guy had 32 carries tonight. That’s an incredible workload. Their plan was to keep it away from our offense and that’s what they did.”
Quarterback Bear Backmeier finished the game 15-of-25 passing for 127 yards, but consistently put pressure on the Cincinnati defense with his rushing ability. The freshman totaled 46 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, including a 6-yard touchdown run with 4:39 remaining in the first quarter to give the Cougars their first score of the game.
"Yeah, he's a big boy… he was tough to tackle. They just got a good solid team… we just came up short and we just got to make more plays on them," linebacker Jack Dingle explained following the game.
Offensive Recap:
It took a while to get going, but quarterback Brendan Sorsby played one of his better games of the season statistically—25 of 38 for 300 yards and two touchdowns—but like his coach, he pointed directly to missed chances:
“We definitely made too many of those mistakes tonight… you can’t make too many mistakes against a good team like that and expect to come out with a win," Sorsby said.
Following Sorsby's 27-yard touchdown pass to Cyrus Allen to tie the score 7-7 with 6:34 remaining in the 2nd quarter, the Bearcats were never able to regain the same momentum.
(Photo: Taylor Keeton / Bearcatsportshub)
Cincinnati generated 392 total yards, punted only once, and had the passing game finally functioning again. But the scoreboard never reflected the yardage.
Wide receiver Jeff Caldwell, who caught a touchdown and helped spark UC late, said the momentum was there.
“I just feel like it's good to see the pass game open up a little bit… just trusting ourselves, making the routine plays… we just need to take the momentum of the pass game and go into TCU with it.”
Caldwell's 19-yard receiving touchdown from Sorsby with 4:37 remaining capped an 8-play, 86-yard drive over 3:14 to cut the BYU lead to 20-14.
“It was a good ball… for him to be able to hit me like that and get the ball out of a break is… you want a quarterback like that," Caldwell said.
(Photo: Taylor Keeton / Bearcatsportshub)
But the defense couldn't come up with a stop on the ensuing BYU possession, preventing the offense from ever having a chance at a go-ahead touchdown opportunity. Caldwell admitted the missed chance for a comeback stung:
“I was feeling great… I thought it was going to happen then… but we just got to look at the film and get better from it.”
On a positive note, running back Evan Pryor returned from injury and made an impact, finishing with 36 yards on seven carries and 48 yards on three catches. His explosion and speed was noticeable all night when he was able to get the ball in space.
Special Teams
The story of the night will undoubtedly be Cincinnati’s failure to convert its scoring chances, most glaringly three missed kicks from reliable kicker Stephen Rusnak.
(Photo: Taylor Keeton / Bearcatsportshub)
Playing in his final home game inside Nippert Stadium, Rusnak missed attempts from 42, 40, and 48 yards during crucial moments where Cincinnati could have grabbed momentum.
“He’s missed one field goal in 10 games… we missed three tonight. So if you’ve got nine more points on the board, it’s a little different in the fourth quarter," Satterfield said while defending his kicker. "There’s not much room for error against good football teams.”
Key Moment
Cincinnati's failure to convert fourth-and-one inside the BYU 5-yard line to open the second quarter proved to be a pivotal moment that swung momentum. After Brendan Sorsby's 8-yard run was initially ruled a first down, video review confirmed he was just short.
On the fourth down attempt, a direct snap to Tawee Walker and run attempt up the middle was stopped just short of the mark for a first down, leading to a turnover on downs at the BYU 2-yard line.
“It’s one yard… if you want to be a team that’s going to win games like this, you’ve got to go get one yard," Satterfield explained.
The controversial third-quarter fumble also hurt, with the ball coming loose after wide receiver Cyrus Allen was twisted awkwardly on the tackle.
“He got twisted around… his foot was underneath the guy… the ball came out of his hand,” Satterfield said.
Cincinnati finished with two turnovers, both leading to BYU points. While Cincinnati was 1-of-3 in the redzone BYU converted when it mattered, scoring on all four red zone trips and converting 7-of-15 third down attempts.
Defensive Fatigue
BYU held the ball for 38:25, nearly a 17-minute advantage over Cincinnati’s 21:35, and used that edge to run a staggering 74 total plays—most of them on the ground. The Cougars piled up 265 rushing yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry, steadily leaning on a Bearcat defense that spent most of the night defending its own territory.
(Photo: Taylor Keeton / Bearcatsportshub)
“Yeah, it is. It’s very wearing… but you just got to keep going… just trying to pull those young guys along and get everybody motivated for the next one," Jack Dingle said following a nine-tackle performance.
Despite the heavy workload, Christian Harrison and Antwan Peek Jr. turned in standout efforts, each recording 11 tackles to lead the UC defense.
Meanwhile, the Bearcats’ offense didn’t do its defense many favors, finishing just 4-of-13 on third down, a continuation of recent struggles to extend drives and flip field position.
“It just comes down to execution… we can’t stall drives with third downs… we haven’t been as explosive… we need to improve,” Caldwell explained.
Sorsby echoed his wide receiver's perspective.
“A lot of third-and-longs… we’re putting ourselves in bad situations… we just got to find a way to stay on the sticks.”
Moving forward:
Cincinnati’s goal of a Big 12 Championship is gone, but both leaders and players emphasized unity.
“We need to stick together… if we start pointing fingers, the team will crumble,” Caldwell said after finishing the game with two catches for 20 yards and a touchdown.
Sorsby went on to acknowledge the importance of finishing strong.
“Play for the seniors… you’re never going to have the same team year to year… finish it out strong with the guys.”
"Win or loss...it just has to go week by week," Dingle added.
(Photo: Taylor Keeton / Bearcatsportshub)
Final Thoughts:
The Bearcats played hard. They moved the ball. They created chances.
They just didn’t finish.
On a night when Nippert Stadium delivered everything a college football venue could, Cincinnati couldn’t match the moment.
In the end, the story stayed consistent with what the stats and postgame comments reflected: Cincinnati simply couldn’t finish drives, couldn’t flip the possession battle, and couldn’t match BYU’s execution in key moments. Two well-timed touchdown drives weren’t enough to overcome BYU’s ball control, three long scoring marches, and a closing punch that put the game out of reach.
The Bearcats showed fight. But against a top-15 team, the margin for error was thin—and Cincinnati didn’t capitalize on enough of its chances to change the outcome.
Next up: a road trip to TCU, and one final chance to finish the season on a high note.
Game Highlights:
Postgame Video: Satterfield, Sorsby, Caldwell, Dingle