Final Huddle: Cincinnati Falls to No. 11 BYU In Final Home Game Of 2025 Season

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats' Big 12 title hopes officially ended on Saturday night in a 26-14 loss to No. 11 BYU.

The Cougars bullied Cincinnati's defensive front all night long to the tune of nearly 275 yards rushing and three scores. It marked their fourth consecutive defeat in this series as they still search for that first win against Kalani Sitake's team.

A sold-out Nipp At Night crowd wasn't enough to spark a scoring outburst, as the Bearcats posted their lowest point total of the season, tied with the Utah loss a few weeks ago. Cincinnati has zero paths left to make the Big 12 Championship game and will now try to stem the losing streak bleeding next week at TCU and await their bowl season destination.

Third Down Woes

The Bearcats squandered away far too many late-down opportunities to beat a top-15 team on Saturday night. They went a paltry 4-13 on the money down to BYU's 7-15 mark in a much more disciplined night out of the Cougars.

The rushing attack for BYU powered much of that effectiveness as they ran it a whopping 49 times for 266 yards and three scores to fully control the game clock. It left Cincinnati battered and needing to chase points and be super sound in late-down scenarios, but they couldn't get it done often enough.

Brendan Sorsby (25-38 for 300 yards, 2 TDs, and one INT) played solidly in this game, but not good enough to pull the upset. He made a couple questionable decisions with throwaways and logged a third-straight game with an interception. His decision-making has crumbled a bit down the stretch of this season, and he wasn't good enough against the eighth-best pass defense in the country by dropback/EPA allowed. Still, he kept Cincinnati in the game as things ripped apart on defense and special teams.

Cincinnati made too many mistakes to overcome a 17-minute time of possession difference.

Rusnak Rolls Off Rails

The reliable special teams impact that's helped Cincinnati all season evaporated on the kicking side Saturday night. Stephen Rusnak missed two field goals under 45 yards in the first half for his first multi-miss game since becoming an FBS starting kicker last season. He added a 48-yard miss in the third quarter off a bad hold.

Rusnak was 4-5 on those kicks entering today's game, and it wonked out Cincinnati's game plan the rest of the way, needing to go for more on fourth down to avoid any more misses (3-4 on fourth down). It was a completely uncharacteristic game from a player who held the nation's longest active made field goal streak just a few weeks ago (11 makes in a row from Game 1 to Game 8).

BYU isn't a team you can squander points against, and Cincinnati left 13 on the table in the first half, trailing 10-7 entering the break.

Manny Covey covered that stench up a bit with his surprising scoop-and-go punt return to set up the Bearcats' first touchdown, but the kicking impact played a huge factor in Rusnak's first taste of Nipp At Night.

Cyrus Allen Pacing The Big 12

Cincinnati found a heck of a WR1 in the transfer portal this offseason. Allen (five catches for 51 yards and a score) was the best player on the field for UC Saturday night, highlighted by his nasty 27-yard scoring catch that brought him to 11 touchdowns on the season.

He is the current B12 leader in receiving scores and has been consistently impacting defenses since August. Just check out how filthy the route combination he put together was here to get Cincinnati on the board in the second quarter.

11 RECEIVING TD'S this season for @cyrusallen_

He leads the @Big12Conference

📺 FOX https://t.co/btdrm04IIp pic.twitter.com/OjxpT039dd
— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) November 23, 2025

Allen's elite footwork, work ethic, and attitude have helped propel him to one of the top wide receiver production tallies this season. BYU entered the game with the eighth-best passing defense by EPA this season and had plenty of attention ready for the playmaker, but he still cooked.

He's made the most of this final season in school and could parlay this career-best season into some NFL looks this coming April. Cincinnati surely would love to have him for more impact moments after this season if they could.

Cincinnati awaits a kickoff time for next week's season finale at TCU.

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