Saturday at Nippert Stadium was an underrated match up between No. 15 Iowa State and Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Bearcats came into the game as a favorite vs. a ranked team for the first time under Scott Satterfield, while the Iowa State Cyclones were looking to build on a 5-0 start to the 2025 college football season. And while Cincinnati was only a 1.5-point favorite, the Bearcats came out swinging on Saturday, scoring on all five of their first half drives to take a 31-15 lead into halftime. And while Iowa State got it down to a nine-point game in the second half, Cincinnati was able to hold off the Cyclones, pick up a late score, hold off one final Iowa State push and win 38-30.
That First Half Cincinnati Offense
The Bearcats were on an offensive roll in the first half, scoring 31 points on each of their five drives, with four touchdowns and one field goal. And these were not with short fields. Cincinnati had drives of 80 yards, 62 yards, 70 yards, 55 yards and 80 yards. The offensive line was tremendous, running back Evan Pryor and Tawee Walker were rolling, while quarterback Brendan Sorsby seemingly could not miss to a plethora of targets. It was a beautiful 30 minutes of offensive football, especially given the quality of Jon Heacock and the Iowa State defense.
The problem was that the second, when Cincinnati didn’t score any points until under six minutes to go in the game, with a touchdown that sealed the win for the Bearcats. But it was the red-hot start to the game that gave Cincinnati the breathing room it needed for the big win.
The Running Game
Cincinnati quietly entered this game tops in the Big 12 in yards per carry, averaging 6.3 over their first four games. Meantime, Iowa State was dead last in the Big 12, with 3.8 YPC. That was a part of this game that was noticeable for both teams.
Cincinnati torched Iowa State for 260 rushing yards, good for 7.6 YPC, with three rushing touchdowns, including two by Evan Pryor, who led the way with 111 rushing yards. Meantime, Iowa State only had 151 rushing yards at 4.0 yards per carry. It was a major difference in this game, and has been unusual to see Iowa State’s rushing defense struggle the way it has at times so far this year.
Are the Bearcats This Year’s Arizona State?
It’s early, but the Bearcats are now 4-1 on the season with a Top 15 win on the resume over Iowa State. Cincinnati looks the part as a team that can compete atop the Big 12 Conference. They have the play along the offensive and defensive line, along with a confident and efficient quarterback, and lots of playmakers. We all spent this off-season wondering who the team might be that will surprise in the Big 12, and while Cincinnati fans were quietly confident, there was a not a lot of public optimism.
However, that’s why we play the games. And now, here we are with the Bearcats sitting at 4-1, having one of the most impressive wins of the season, with winnable games coming up against UCF and Oklahoma State. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but 6-1 is entirely realistic for Cincinnati, and if they can get by Baylor and enter November at 7-1, this is a season that could be a magical one for Bearcats fans.
