Recap: West Virginia 31 Cincinnati 24

Following a 34-23 loss to Colorado, Cincinnati received a much needed bye week to get healthy and recover both mentally and physically as they prepare for the final four games of the regular season.

Cincinnati returned to Nippert Stadium Saturday for a "Nipp at Noon" match up against an old Big East rival- West Virginia Mountaineers.

(Photos: Taylor Keeton / RiverfrontU )

Dressed in their all-black uniforms in front of a sold-out crowd, the Bearcats gained momentum early with a fourth-and-four stop at their own 32.

West Virginia running back Jaheim White picked up 24 yards on his first three touches to advance the Mountaineers to the UC 38-yard line. 

After an 8-yard completion to tight end Kole Taylor on 3rd-and-12, quarterback Nicco Marchiol watched his 4th-and-4 pass attempt to Rodney Gallagher sail out of bounds for a turnover on downs.

The Bearcats would take advantage of the defensive stop and march 68 yards over the next 6:04.

Running back Corey Kiner capped the 13-play touchdown drive off with a two-yard touchdown run to give the Bearcats a 7-0 lead with 5:17 remaining in the first quarter.

Following another defensive stand, the Bearcats took over at their own 24-yard line.

UC moved the ball through the air n to West Virginia territory but a turnover would end the scoring opportunity.

Facing a 4th-and-1 at the WVU 20 yard line, Scott Satterfield elected to go for it and try to keep the drive alive.

Quarterback Brendan Sorsby was forced out of the pocket and threw up a prayer while falling to the ground. 

West Virginia cornerback Anthony Wilson Jr. intercepted the Sorsby error and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown.

After two Corey Kiner rushes on the next possession , Sorsby was forced out of the pocket and fumbled while trying to scramble for a first down. West Virginia linebacker Reid Carrico forced the fumble that would ultimately be recovered by Kekoura Tarnue at the UC 37-yard line.

On the first play following the fumble, Marchiol connected with running back Jaheim White for a 28 yard gain.

Cincinnati's defense would keep the Mountaineers out of the end zone and force the offense to settle for a 24-yard field goal attempt.

With 8:40 remaining in the first half, West Va had scored 10 unanswered points to take a 10-7 lead. 

Cincinnati was unable to manufacture any momentum on their next possession, going three-and-out and being forced to punt from their own 24.

Preston Fox returned Mason Fletcher's 46-yard punt to the UC 41 and the Mountaineers would waste little time getting back in to the end zone. 

Jaheim White rushed for 15 and 16 yards on his first two carries of the drive, setting up a 10-yard Marchiol to Justin Robinson touchdown completion. 

The three-play, 41-yard drive extended the WVU lead to 17-7 with 3:37 remaining in the half.

That score would hold up until the 8:29 mark of the third quarter when Nicco Marchiol extended the WVU lead to 24-7 with an eight-yard touchdown rush.

The scoring play capped off a six-play, 51-yard drive to put the Mountaineers in complete control.

 

Marichol's 38-yard completion on 3rd-and-10 to Traylon Rey advanced the WVU offense to the UC 14-yard line to help set up the touchdown.

After a fifth straight Bearcat offensive possession ended in a punt, West Virginia found themselves facing a 3rd-and-6 from their own 21.

Marchiol once again found Traylon Rey for an explosive play as the duo hooked up for a 50-yard completion to the UC 29. Ormanie Arnold was the UC defensive back in coverage.

Needing to convert a 3rd-and-3 from the UC 22, Marchiol floated one to the endzone to Rodney Gallagher but was picked off in the end zone by Cincinnati defensive back Logan Wilson.

On the very next play, Sorsby found Evan Pryor wide open down the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown.

Pryor's speed was on full display during the catch and run.

After catching the pass in space, Pryor received an outstanding downfield block from Xzavier Henderson, and then outraced the defense to cut the WVU lead to 24-14 with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter. 

 After a quick three-and-out defensive stand by Tyson Veidt's defense, the Bearcats took over at their own 29.

Cincinnati's offense quickly crossed the ball to the WVU 42 and Brendan Sorsby then took matters into his own hands. 

Facing a 3rd-and-5, Sorsby rushed for 17 yards to the WVU 25.

On the next two plays, Sorsby picked up four yards and nine yards.

One play later, Sorsby called his own number and sprinted up the middle of the defense. After breaking a tackle, Sorsby dove in to the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown score.

The play capped off an 11-play, 71 yard drive to cut the WVU lead to 24-21 with 9:42 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Cincinnati would have one more opportunity to complete the comeback after yet another defensive stand on the following West Virginia possession with 7:16 left on the clock.

With an uphill battle from their own six-yard line, Cincinnati quickly advanced the ball to their own 25.

Needing to convert a 3rd-and-1, Brendan Sorsby was forced out of the pocket.and attempted to get rid of the ball. The pass attempt was ruled a backwards pass, recovered by the defense, and ultimately led to a scoop and score for a touchdown to extend the West Virginia lead to 31-21 with 3:30 remaining.

Nathan Hawks added a 29-yard field goal on the next possession to cut the lead to 31-24, but with just :39 seconds remaining, the Bearcats comeback would be a long shot.

Hawks' onside kick was recovered by the Mountaineers, ending the Bearcat comeback attempt.

With the loss, Cincinnati falls to 5-4 (3-3 Big 12) while West Virginia improves to 5-4 (4-2 Big 12).

Final Stats:

  

Notes and Reactions:

- Despite having four consecutive three-and-out possessions during the second quarter, this was a game that Cincinnati dominated on paper. The Bearcats rolled up 436 yards of offense and converted 7-of-16 third down opportunities. 

- Defensively, Cincinnati was able to limit West Virginia to nine first downs and 248 yards of total offense. Nicco Marchiol completed 9-of-15 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown, while running back Jaheim White was held to 67 yards on 13 carries. The Bearcats played well enough defensively to win this game, which was encouraging after the struggles seen in the Colorado loss. West Virginia is an offense that wants to control the clock with their run game but were limited to just 43 plays on offense. For comparison, UC ran 79 plays.

- Evan Pryor continues to be a big time play maker within this offense and now has three touchdowns of 50+ yards.

Pryor totaled 118 yards on nine touches today, including five catches for 100 yards. Moving forward, the offensive game plan has to find ways to get creative and get him more involved. We saw Pryor on the field with Kiner several plays today and that could be something we see more of with just three games remaining and needing to provide a different look for opposing defenses.

- Jared Bartlett was all over the field against his former team today. Bartlett finished with 7 tackles, a sack, and one tackle for loss. 

- The Mountaineers scored 17 points off three Cincinnati turnovers. 14 points were scored off of a pick-six and backwards pass recovered by the defense for a touchdown, while the second quarter Sorsby fumble led to a 24-yard field goal. In a league where most teams are so evenly matched, you can't turn the ball over and expect to have success.

 

Final Thoughts:

Another tough loss for a Cincinnati team that is still searching for bowl eligibility. The Bearcats have been competitive in every game they've lost, and probably should have won three of those games, but still continue to struggle to get over the hump. Whether that is on the coaches or players is not up to me to debate. This team is close to being really good and has the weapons, talent, and skill on both sides of the ball to be better than what we've seen.

Things don't get much easier over the next two games with road games at Iowa State and at Kansas State, prior to end of season home game against TCU. 

 

Post game video (Satterfield, Wilson, Pryor, Corleone, Sorsby)

 

 

 

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