Final Huddle: Cincinnati Survives Trip To Oxford 27-16 In Win Over Miami (OH)

Cincinnati is not scheduled to play in Oxford again.

Cincinnati Bearcats tight end Joe Royer (11) gestures after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter of the College Football game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Pittsburgh Panthers at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati outlasted Miami (OH) 24-16 on Saturday to take a 61-60-7 all-time lead in The Battle for the Victory Bell. Neither Offense put up a stellar performance but Cincinnati was strong enough in all three phases of the game to get the bell back in Clifton.

Xzavier Henderson (10 catches, 108 yards) was a catching machine on Saturday to keep the Bearcats offense in front and on schedule in his fourth UC game with 100-plus receiving yards. On the flip side, Cincinnati's defense gave up too many big passing plays but was elite against the run (11 yards total allowed) and kept Miami inconsistent enough to win. Cincinnati sealed the deal with its first fourth-quarter points of the season on a 65-yard Evan Pryor rushing TD.

UC edge rusher Eric Phillips turned pressures into two sacks this week also as he mauled Miami's tackles all afternoon.

Cincinnati is 2-1 as it gets ready to start Big 12 play next week against Houston.

Special Teams Comes To Play

Cincinnati's offense couldn't produce much consistency against one of the nation's 40 best defenses, but the special teams unit did its job and then some after a shaky start to the season.

Kicker Nathan Hawks got things going with the second-longest field goal in school history (55 yards) to give Cincinnati an early lead, plus a 50-yard boot in the final two minutes. He replaced Carter Brown as the placekicker and looked like he could slam it from 60-65 yards out. If he can be reliable it gives Cincinnati much more breathing room to score points the rest of the season.

That was followed by a fumbled snap by Miami on a punt in the second quarter. Cincinnati swallowed their punter before he could move and set up an easy five-yard passing TD to Joe Royer. Mix in Mason Fletcher averaging about 45 yards per punt, and Cincinnati owned the field position in a game where neither offense could get going much.

Cincinnati entered the game with a 72.1 special teams PFF grade (59th nationally) and that should increase after this week.

Locker Room Answer

Cincinnati's coaching staff rolled out an excellent plan coming out of the halftime locker room to spark a TD drive that had them leading 17-3 and took nearly half the third quarter.

Brendan Sorsby (21-34 passing for 185 yards and 1 TD) mixed some strong throws with a few key runs to show the arsenal Scott Satterfield can deploy when things are firing on all cylinders. Cincinnati has struggled to take momentum coming out of halves in the past year, but that wasn't a factor on Saturday. UC's offense didn't wow with a ton of big plays on Saturday but did a great job controlling the tempo and dictating play style.

They won the time of possession battle with Miami amidst a horrific rushing day for the RedHawks and it left them with a much fresher team to close out the game.

Henderson The Hero

Cincinnati's best offensive player on Sunday was Henderson, creating consistent separation on his patented hitch routes and being an all-around great hands player throughout the game.

He had to make a few tough catches amidst a little bit of an off-target afternoon from Sorsby. It marked Cincinnati's first victory in a Henderson 100-yard outing since Week 1 last season. The lanky receiver had a long of just 21 yards, but he moved the chains consistently and has settled into the clear No. 1 receiver role on this team.

Henderson can play his way into firm NFL Draft status with more showings like this as Big 12 play gets started against Houston next week.

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