Final Huddle: Cincinnati's Losing Streak Continues With 28-26 Loss to UCF

The Bearcats flip-flopped quarterbacks on Saturday afternoon.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Nov 4, 2023 7:03 PM EDT

In this story:

Cincinnati — The Bearcats football losing streak continued on Saturday with a 28-26 defeat at the hands of UCF. Cincinnati made some good plays here and there and ran well again, but the same issues kept striking a 2-7 Cincinnati team.

The top storyline going in was quarterback and Emory Jones (16-of-22, 217 yards, one touchdown, one interception) did get replaced early in the game by Brady Lichtenberg (3-of-5, 50 yards), only to come back in after two drives and lead a similar story on offense for a team that's hovering around 20 points per game since Week 1.

UCF took advantage of turnovers and bad penalties by Cincinnati's defense to work a tight win on the road.

Check out the three main storylines from another Cincinnati loss in what's shaping up to be the worst season this century as UC fails to qualify for a bowl for the first time since 2017.

Quarterback Limbo

It's anyones guess how Cincinnati will move forward with the quarterback position for the rest of this season. Jones looked like the same inconsistent option that he's been each game since the Eastern Kentucky blowout.

Cincinnati once again ran for over 200 yards and five-plus yards per carry, but it's essentially the whole offense with a stagnant passing game that posted 23 attempts before the final drive.

There was little effort to create downfield completions and the ones that did work before garbage time led to a fumble, an underthrown ball that made a TD a field goal, and one solid middle-of-the-field completion.

UC completed one pass over the middle of the field on Saturday. New blood came in at receiver early, then never appeared again. Barry Jackson had one of his four redshirt games wasted on one target which he caught for 25 yards, then no other plays his way.

Lichtenberg nailed a nice ball to Henderson on his final play and then didn't go back in for some reason. He needs to get an extended look now that UC's bowl hopes are completely in the toilet. It was a waste to play Emory Jones again and post the same type of performance we've seen all season.

Turnovers Terrorize

UCF's offense had fits and starts during the early portion of the game but got cranked up each time a turnover opportunity presented itself. UCF scored seven points off of turnovers on a day where Jones was sloppy with the football again.

They also capitalized on a failed UC fourth down attempt. That problem continued on Saturday as Cincinnati went 2-of-4 on fourth down. The whole season has been a mess on that front as the team entered Saturday with 23 attempts (15th nationally), converting 39% of the time (104th nationally).

Those numbers don't make sense, and it's directly hurting this program's chances to win games. The turnovers were largely execution mistakes, from Xzavier Henderson's fumble in the open field, to Jones's miscommunications with Henderson deep.

There were multiple throws that should've been picked off, and multiple passes on the other side that should've gone for long UCF gains.

The Bearcats aren't helping themselves on the turnover front offensively and the defense continues to lack on that front.

Montgomery Motors

Ryan Montgomery (eight carries, 113 yards, one score) has been held out of most games this season due to injury but he returned to the field in style on Saturday afternoon. The veteran posted a career-high rushing yardage tally as the most effective runner against UCF's bottom-10 run defense nationally.

The offensive line graded open multiple holes and Montgomery wasted no time on his reads with five explosive rushes. He was a human cannonball on Saturday.

Cincinnati's rushing attack has been dominant all season long and Saturday was really the first time in weeks that it's had three strong running back options to drive it.

Corey Kiner (19 carries, 114 yards, one score) also had a nice day, marking the first time in UC history that a team's posted three-plus games with multiple 100-yard rushers in a season.

Catch Bearcats athletics action on fuboTV! Start your free trial here.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel on all things Bearcats athletics and Bearcat Blitz on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

You may also like:

Recruiting Roundup: UC Offers Four-Star 2025 Defensive Lineman Adam Shovlin

Grading The Cats: Time to Empty Depth Chart

Look: Cincinnati Football Honoring Military with Helmet Decal During UCF Contest

Scott Satterfield Discusses Quarterback Change, Running Back Health

The Athletic Ranks Cincinnati as Second-Worst Power Five Team

Cincinnati Opens as 5.5-Point Home Underdogs Against UCF

Final Huddle: UC Loses Sixth Consecutive Game 38-13 to Oklahoma State

Cincinnati Reveals Red Jordan Basketball Uniforms