Scott Satterfield Highlights Bearcats Strong First Half of 2025 Season, Plenty of Work Remains

CINCINNATI — Scott Satterfield's Cincinnati rebuild is taking another step forward midway through the 2025 season, but the job is far from finished. The Bearcats' head football coach discussed the 5-1 start to the season on Tuesday as his team sets its sights on a 6-0 finishing goal in the back half.

Cincinnati currently sits 3-0 in the Big 12 and has top-four betting odds to win the conference. After 2.5 years of fighting against the grain with Luke Fickell's exit, a new conference, and no facility, all three factors are out the window now.

"We haven't forced a ton of turnovers this year, but when we do stop a team on fourth down, that is like a turnover. So we're getting the ball in a decent field position when that happens," Satterfield said on Tuesday. "Offensively, we haven't run many plays, but when we have run plays, we're pretty good. I think we're second in the country in yards per play. That means you're an efficient offense.

"We have to continue to be that. Obviously we'd love to get more plays, and I hope this second half of the season, we will get more opportunities to have the ball, and if we do, I feel like we'll do some great things with it. But proud of our guys, because our goal was to win the game, be 1-0, that's what happened. So proud of that."

The Bearcats haven't gotten very lucky along the way to this hot start. According to CFB Graphs, Cincinnati has won the net success rate battle in every game this season outside of the win over Kansas.

That means KU was the only analytically lucky win of the season so far, and that they were unlucky to lose 20-17 to Nebraska.

Next up for Cincinnati is a cupcake matchup against Oklahoma State, which has them as the biggest betting favorite in a conference game since entering the Big 12.

"It goes back to how we prepare and our mindset," Satterfield said about the OSU matchup. "We got something to prove each and every time we go on the field, you're as good as your last game, your last play. What we did in the past does not matter this week, like it has nothing to do with this week. We have to stay in the moment, and we have to focus as much as we can to go out and practice as hard as we can practice today.

"This needs to be our best Tuesday. We have to remind them every single time we go on the field. You got something to prove. And our guys have done a great job with that. The good news about our team is with guys like Gavin Gerhardt, Dontay Corleone, Joe Royer, I mean, the guys that have been around here are great leaders, and they don't let us slip."

Times have heavily changed in Stillwater and Clifton.

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