Final Huddle: West Virginia Punishes Cincinnati 42-21

The Bearcats got chinned on the ground Saturday afternoon.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Nov 18, 2023 6:06 PM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — Back to marking the loss column for UC football as the team fell 42-21 to West Virginia, continuing the lopsided historical record between the two.

Garrett Greene (12-of-19 passing for 210 yards, one score, one interception, 11 carries 154 yards, three scores) rolled UC with his legs and a sprinkling of his arm to spark a massive day from the West Virginia offense. Meanwhile, UC just flip-flopped quarterbacks to no avail.

Cincinnati will now try to avoid its first three-win season since 1999 by upsetting Kansas next weekend on Senior Day.

Greene Grinds UC's Defense

Cincinnati's issues with QB runs over the past few weeks got sprayed with lighter fluid by Greene. He ran wild all over Cincinnati with five explosive runs.

He became the first WVU quarterback this decade to run for 130-plus yards and pass for 130-plus yards. The Mountaineers ran for 424 yards as a team.

It was a lot of read options and draws mixing to throw off Cincinnati and take advantage of man-to-man coverage. Greene brought the pain for extra yards and did a great job avoiding negative plays with one turnover and no sacks taken.

West Virginia entered the game with a top-seven rushing offense and it looked the part at home. They threw 19 times to an avalanche of 46 runs with Greene, CJ and Jaheim White (21 carries, 204 yards, one score). UC's defense has struggled against top-tier rushing offenses this season and Saturday was no different.

Quarterback Head Scratcher

UC rolled with both Emory Jones (14-of-24 passing for 166 yards and two scores) and Brady Lichtenberg (2-of-3 passing for 25 yards), while the latter barely got a chance to catch a rhythm.

Jones was efficient against Houston but returned to his normal ceiling with too many inaccurate passes mixed with a lack of separation from nearly every receiver save for Xzavier Henderson (six catches for 104 yards).

Cincinnati's quarterbacks were not effective without the strength of the rushing attack which got slowed down by a normally leaky defense to the tune of 153 yards on 31 carries. The Bearcats could never break that big rush like they have recently, posting just four explosives on the ground and eight overall.

They gave up 22 big plays to WVU. That's not a typo, 22...

Back to the passing game, it's a true mystery what this QB plan is supposed to accomplish as Cincinnati enters the final game of the season. Maybe the thought is neither Jones nor Lichtenberg are good enough to start next season (Jones running out of eligibility) and it's easier to feel it out in the game.

If so, how far away is Brady Drogosh from doing anything in live-action?

The four-star recruit played three snaps against Eastern Kentucky and hasn't seen the field since, despite having three more games he could've played in and still held a redshirt. It's a mysterious, odd plan that appears to just be wasting these valuable reps that are dwindling.

UPDATE: Scott Satterfield confirmed Lichenberg got injured on the final drive of the first half and did not return for that reason.

Henderson, Metayer Hunt Passes

Cincinnati's one bright spot on Saturday came from Henderson and Chamon Metayer (three catches for 37 yards and two scores). Jones hit Metayer for a pair of touchdowns as he took the team season lead with five scores in 2023.

Metayer only got one other target in the game but he made his moments count in more ways than most of his teammates. Henderson was the volume-reliable option for Jones as he posted his first 100-yard game since the loss to Miami (OH).

He was a problem on the outside, getting open more often than he has in the past month. Henderson will end up meeting some level of expectation this season as Cincinnati's leading receiver in catches and yards. He can return next year for his final season of eligibility.

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