Final Huddle: Cincinnati Overwhelmed by Kansas State 41-15 in Fourth Consecutive Loss

Cincinnati has one more chance to get bowl eligible in a season that's quickly gone south.

Nov 23, 2024; Manhattan, Kansas, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats linebacker Jiquan Sanks (9) tries to tackle Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson (2) during the first quarter at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Johnson scored a touchdown on the play. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images / Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The late-season slide keeps smacking Cincinnati following a 41-15 loss to Kansas State on the road Saturday night.

Brendan Sorsby (21-39, 200 yards passing, two touchdowns, one interception) continues crumbling like this team down the stretch as no offensive rhythm came Cincinnati's way. Kansas State smacked Cincinnati in the mouth with its rushing attack (seven yards per carry) and was the much more physical team to cruise on Saturday.

UC's now had four-game losing streaks in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2017. 

Sorsby Sliding The Wrong Way

It's been weeks since Sorsby looked like a top-20 quarterback in the country. He entered the game with brutal consistency passing the ball over the last few weeks and missed too many throws again on Saturday night.

Overthrows happened on a pair of touchdowns in the second half, and he threw another interception. That marked his fifth in the last six games and directly led to a half-ending touchdown by the Wildcats. Whether it's a nagging mystery injury, defenses figuring him out, or receivers not getting open, Sorsby's been a shell of his September self.

The young passer finished Saturday with a 108.7 rating and continued a brutal run of downfield passing (1-8 on 15-plus yards passes for 33 yards). Teams have no reason to respect that deep ball and it's completely hamstringing UC's ability to move the ball and get some breathing room from long drives.

Joe Royer (one catch, 13 yards) got shut down once again and didn't play well. He posted a rare drop and was held back from breaking Travis Kelce's single-season receptions mark by a UC tight end.

The whole offense has been held back in the past six weeks.

KSU Brings The Boom

Wildcats quarterback Avery Johnson (147 passing yards, two TDs, 10 carries, 72 yards, one TD) and the rock-solid KSU offense smacked Cincinnati around all night. They ran for a whopping 281 yards and did it with road-grading power that made UC look like an FCS program in the trenches (no sacks allowed).

Dontay Corleone (one tackle) was largely absent from the stat line again in this game as he made little impact on the rushing barrage. Running for a first down every two plays is hard to do in college football, but the Wildcats made that look easy on Saturday night. Pull plays, power runs, outside pitches, zone reads. It didn't matter how KSU worked the run game—they cooked.

Cincinnati had to create multiple turnovers to have a chance as an underdog and it created none to give little aid to the struggling offense. UC is last in the Big 12 in interceptions this season (four) and dropped another one that later led to a KSU score in the first half.

The impactful transfers from opening weeks fame are fading on this unit and zero young playmakers are stepping up to fill the void with one game left. They get to face TCU's top-25 passing offense by efficiency next week. 

Fourth-Down Mess

Cincinnati didn't convert a fourth down when the game mattered (0-5) and saw Mason Fletcher duck his only two punts of the game. The close of his UC career has turned sour in a hurry over the past few weeks with some terrible punts that put UC's defense behind the eight ball right away to start games.

His brother should be punting and wouldn't burn a redshirt if he was, but continues to ride the bench for some reason. Max averaged 46.9 yards per punt on 59 attempts last season, Mason's three yards worse this season (entering the game) with that mark falling every week. Add in the rough directional spotting on these punts and low hangtime, gets you these types of outings.

But still, you shouldn't have to rely on your punter at all, and Cincinnati's offense got to that final down too many times on Saturday night. Corey Kiner (15 carries, 140 yards, notched his second-straight 1,000-yard season, fifth UC player to do that) was the only bright spot for an offense that's failed to score 25-plus points in six consecutive games.

You can't win across a full Big 12 schedule with this level of production, and Cincinnati is learning that the hard way, in a year where they've beaten one Big 12 team above them in the standings. And that was at home against Arizona State's backup quarterback.

TCU awaits next weekend coming off a 49-28 win over Arizona, its fourth victory in the last five games.

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