Final Huddle: No 24 Utah Smacks No. 17 Cincinnati Bearcats Football 45-14

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati football went west for a whomping on Saturday night 45-14 against No. 24 Utah. The 17th-ranked Bearcats didn't have the right stuff in any phase of the game as Utah dominated on offense, defense, and special teams.

It was the first double-digit loss of the season for UC, which entered as 11-point underdogs on the betting line. Brendan Sorsby (11-33, 221 yards, one touchdown, one INT) had more turnovers in this outing than he had all season coming in, and the Bearcats' defense hemorrhaged big plays to the Utes for a complete waxing.

Cincinnati is now 0-1 all-time to Utah as the Utes scored their first punt-return touchdown since the 2021 season.

Sloppy Sorsby

The Bearcats' top offensive player had done a top-notch job taking care of the football coming into this game, but things fell apart early and often with no rhythm through the air and two first-half turnovers.

Sorsby lost his first fumble of the season and tossed his second interception after entering the game top-10 nationally in PFF's turnover-worthy. He'd been pretty accurate all season, but went just 33% through the air in his least dialed-in passing showing of the season.

Utah has an elite defense, so it's nothing to be super concerned about after his streak of seven straight games with two passing TDs and no picks ended. Cincinnati couldn't get anything going over the middle of the field (6-9, 59 yards). Joe Royer (one catch for 10 yards) was a ghost in this game as Utah did a great job blanketing those routes.

Cincinnati has two weeks to get the passing game back on track. Meanwhile, the rushing attack got abandoned early despite munching for much of the first half (6.9 YPC in the game). Sorsby and the running backs got some nice option magic going, but didn't stick with it.

Defense Misses The Mark

The Bearcats had been playing with fire on this side of the ball during conference play, and it bit them on Saturday. A non-existent pass rush opened things up completely for Devon Dampier (292 total yards, two TDs and one INT) to run all over Cincinnati as a scrambler.

UC entered the game in the bottom 20 nationally in scrambling EPA allowed and didn't improve in this one. They lost containment on him throughout the night and lost more space on a few trick plays that hurt them.

Utah ripped through the clock with their balanced offense and dominated time of possession like they have all season. Cincinnati's defense hasn't had a week off in almost six weeks, and it showed in this one. The Utes were more physical and forced double-digit missed tackles on the day.

Many led to big gains and converted late downs. This week off arrives at a perfect time.

Special Teams Spills

Saturday was the worst special teams showing of the season for Cincinnati as Utah returned a punt for a touchdown in the second half and UC missed its first field goal of the season.

It was a 40-plus yard attempt, but Stephen Rusnak still came up short in the first half to end a 1,000-plus day streak without missing a field goal. Max Fletcher had a few decent boots on fourth down, but all in all, it was a complete mismatch on that side of the ball, too.

Utah entered the game with a top-20 special teams unit nationally, and it showed all night. The Utes played a complete game, scoring a rushing, receiving, and return touchdown, while intercepting a pass and recovering two forced fumbles.

It's hard for things to go much worse for a college football team than checking all of those boxes.

Cincinnati has a week off before playing Arizona at home on Nov. 15.

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