Final Huddle: Cincinnati Football Wins Close Road Battle Against Kansas in Offensive Showcase

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats football team went back and forth in an offensive battle against the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, ultimately winning the 2025 Big 12 opener 37-34. The two sides produced 1,174 total yards, the most in any college football game this season.

Brendan Sorsby posted a red-hot passing performance that saw him nearly hit 400 yards through the air, and execute a stellar game-winning drive to outlast an even better outing from Jayhawks QB Jalon Daniels (445 passing yards, four TDs, 14 carries, 55 yards and one fumble).

The Bearcats had been a disciplined penalty team entering this game, but it fell apart a bit and almost kept them from pulling away all afternoon. Add in a new injury to Joe Royer early in the fourth quarter, and the offense was teetering, but found a way to dig into its depth and get plays from all over to win on the road.

Cincinnati is now 2-2 against Kansas and 1-1 as Big 12 members after a massive play by Antwan Peek Jr. to punch out a goal-line fumble for the Bearcats second turnover this season.

Sorsby Shows Patience

The Bearcats' top offensive player was lights out on Saturday, dealing the ball with poise and patience to a diverse set of targets. Sorsby finished with 388 passing yards, 2 TDs, and 52 yards rushing, relying on a steady diet of Cyrus Allen (11 catches for 128 yards, 2 TDs) to feed the UC passing offense.

Kansas was missing two key starting safeties, and the veteran QB took advantage by working through his reads and throwing plenty of accurate passes all over the field. He was sacked for the first time all season, but the protection was fantastic when the trench stars weren't committing those costly penalties.

Sorsby executed on his end and showed he can carry Cincinnati's offense to elite production when he is on time and letting the reads come to him. He dialed up an impressive nine pass catchers on several completions. He didn't commit a turnover and had maybe one visible turnover-worthy play that I could tell.

It was a really fun battle between two of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12 so far this season; alas, Sorsby had a couple things out of his control that almost held UC back from getting a win. Yet he kept fighting until the last down and got some crucial plays to go Cincinnati's way for the W.

Penalties Pop, Royer Dinged

Cincinnati entered this game top-15 nationally in fewest penalties committed this season (15), but had far too many mistakes flare up on the road.

In Week 1, the false starts played a major factor, and holding calls bounced around in this power conference matchup. Cincinnati was never able to suck the air out of the ball with the rushing game on a larger lead because of the five blocking penalties for 50 yards. It all helped Daniels post his second-career 400-yard outing through the air.

Kansas only had 26 total penalty yards in a comfortable home environment. Things got even less comfortable for the Bearcats without Joe Royer to take up attention in the middle of the field. He only had two catches for 24 yards, but got a ton of attention from the KU safeties and helped unlock the sideline magic that powered Cincinnati to 20 first-half points.

Cincinnati needs Royer back quickly after a rough fall that saw him whiplash his head on his second catch. Without him and Corleone, UC is down a lot of star power early.

Rusnak Streaking

Stephen Rusnak has arguably been the most stable part of the Bearcats football team through four games of the 2025 season. The Charlotte transfer has carried over his 11-for-11 mark on field goals last year right into this campaign, repping out a 3-3 line on Saturday.

Rusnak hit kicks from all over the field on Saturday to cement his status as the best kicker this program's had in the 2020s so far. He is part of another shrinking perfect field goal group nationally that had 30 members entering Saturday.

Cincinnati's offense made far too many blocking mistakes on Saturday that hurt their strong red zone TD mark, but Rusnak made sure they got points. That hasn't been a reliable factor over the past five years, but it is now and could be the difference in more games down the stretch.

The Bearcats are back at it next weekend against Iowa State at home in a noon ET matchup, looking to carry over this momentum.

Bookmark Bearcats Talk for the latest news, breakdowns, and so much more. 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: http://apple.co/4fI26zj

Spotify: http://bit.ly/3OqvD4l

YouTube: http://bit.ly/414XiQ6

-----

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

Follow Bearcats Talk on Twitter: @BearcatsTalk

Like Bearcats Talk on Facebook: Bearcats Talk