Bearcats Leaders Discuss End of Fall Camp, JC French's Progress Following Final Scrimmage

That's a wrap on 2026 Fall Camp for the Cincinnati Bearcats football team.

The roster went through its second and final scrimmage on Friday to close the sessions and transition into game-week-style practices with 15 days until kickoff against Boston College.

Head coach Scott Satterfield spoke with the media after the scrimmage with his big-picture thoughts.

"Yeah, I thought defense had a really good day today," Satterfield said. "I thought they tackled better than they did in the first scrimmage, which you want to see better tackling because we hadn't tackled a ton this camp. So for them to come out today and make some corrections from the last scrimmage, I thought was really good. We got a few guys back at that. Though CJ Crite had some good plays today, had a nice pick there early in the scrimmage, and I thought they did a good job of holding by the end zone here, especially when the ball was down inside the two-yard line. It's a great goal line stand."

Cincinnati's starting roles are largely defined across the whole roster as JC French IV leads the offense and returning top defender Antwan Peek Jr. leads the defense.

Satterfield wants more consistency from his passing game after a "solid" camp by French.

"I think he's had a solid camp," Satterfield said. "Every scenario that we put him through, I think he learns from it, and I think he'll come back and learn from this stuff today. But I think he's had a solid camp. We're going to need him to play well because we all know, how good your teams are, it's really just how your quarterback plays. Can you make great decisions? Can you take care of the football? All those things, and really work more to make that happen."

French commented on his "growth" after the scrimmage. He has to play much better than he showed at Georgia Southern last season (88th in Pro Football Focus among QBs with at least 277 snaps last season).

"I think I kept growing throughout fall camp on the offense, and established good chemistry as it went on. And I think we're all excited to play another team, not playing the same defense," French said.

Quarterbacks coach Pete Thomas touched on French's progress through camp during a media scrum on Thursday.

He noted how well he's bounced back from the occasional poor outing this summer. Still, he can't turn the ball over at the rate he has in these sessions.

He threw interceptions in both scrimmages this summer, with other turnover-worthy throws mixed in.

"Obviously our defense is doing a lot, throwing a lot at him," Thomas said about French. "He's had some really, really good days. A couple of setback days, but he's bounced back from those real well. But overall, I really love the direction that he's going.

"He understands what we're trying to do in certain situations, and he's got a good feel for what we're trying to do on offense. Now it's just situational; we're trying to put him in, you know, situations that might challenge him a little bit, and we can work through some things on what Coach Satt is thinking when we call certain plays. But overall, we're really pleased with the trajectory that he's on."

If camp is any indication, the run game and Nate Woody's defense are going to drive wins this season as Cincinnati tries to overcome the major outside doubts and get bowl-eligible for the second year in a row.

Check out more below:

Bookmark Bearcats Talk for the latest news, breakdowns, and so much more. Be sure to check out our YouTube page as well, starting with the video below.

Also, don't miss the podcast, Bearcat Blitz, wherever you get your shows!

Apple

Spotify

YouTube

Be sure to keep it locked in on Bearcats Talk, as we cover the trials and tribulations of the Big 12!

Follow Bearcats Talk on Twitter: @BearcatsTalk

Like Bearcats Talk on Facebook: Bearcats Talk

Add us as a preferred source on Google