Final Huddle: Oklahoma Topples UC 20-6 at Nippert Stadium

Cincinnati now faces a short week with a road trip to face BYU.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Sep 23, 2023 4:57 PM EDT

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats football team fell 20-6 on Saturday to Oklahoma in the program's first Big 12 game as a conference member.

Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel (26-of-38, 322 yards passing, one TD, 11 carries, 25 yards rushing, one TD) commanded the game all afternoon as UC's defense bent just enough to take an L alongside a terrible offensive showing.

Cincinnati quarterback Emory Jones (22-of-41, 235 yards passing, two INTS, 15 carries, team-high 42 rush yards) had his worst game in UC threads as the offense was held under 350 total yards.

Cincinnati has now lost back-to-back home games for the first time this decade. It was the first time UC hasn't scored a touchdown in a regular-season game since getting beat 42-0 by Ohio State in 2019.

Offense Goes To Oblivion

The good offensive vibes from the first two weeks of the season have largely evaporated. UC cannot strike for touchdowns in the red zone lately, and Saturday got even tougher than the Miami (OH) showing due to the first lackluster rushing performance of the Scott Satterfield era (147 yards, 4.3 YPA).

Jones wasn't accurate enough on the short and intermediate throws (sub 72% on both) and hit just two passes of 15-plus yards on 10 attempts. The field constricted on UC early and the Sooners' athletes weren't gonna let them run at will as a counter.

OU spread the ball around as one player had over 60 yards receiving with Oklahoma posting answers all over the field (Andrei Anthony: seven catches, 117 yards). The Sooners didn't hammer Jones in the pocket at will, but they did have seven-plus tackles for loss and two sacks.

Third Down, Red Zone, Oof

The money plays for Cincinnati's offense just weren't there in a game where UC's defense did enough to post a home victory. Cincinnati went a combined 4-of-19 on third and fourth down in the loss.

They didn't do themselves many favors on early downs with an average third-down distance of 8.1 yards. Still, OU faced an average of 9.1 yards to gain and they created three explosive plays on third downs of 10, 19, and eight yards.

Regardless of the long third down tries, UC went just 1-of-5 on 3rd & 4 or shorter. It was a rough showing at every level.

Is it all play design? Execution? A little bit of both. Plenty of answers to find during a short week of practice ahead of BYU. UC ended the game on a 15-drive streak without a touchdown. That's a tough pill to swallow across a two-game home stand.

The Warden Leads On Defense

Taj Ward (nine tackles, two TFLs) and the UC defense did a commendable job against one of the three-highest-scoring offenses in the country entering Saturday. Ward and fellow safety Bryon Threats (four tackles, two pass breakups) each had crucial pass breakups throughout the game.

They were also a big part of a rush defense that held Oklahoma to 105 yards rushing on 3.1 YPA. Cincinnati even stopped a scoring drive with a forced fumble from Threats in the first half. Alas, it wasn't enough aid for a sputtering offense on Saturday.

Linebacker Dorian Jones (team-high and career-high 13 tackles, one sack) had his best game as a Bearcat, but in the end, UC's front needed to wreak havoc on Gabriel and it just never materialized. The Bearcats sacked the QB twice with three other hits. Cincinnati ultimately busted on some big Oklahoma plays in the second half to leave no doubt. Gabriel ended up passing for an efficient 8.47 yards per attempt.

Cincinnati now sits at 2-2 with a trip to BYU up next. time will tell if they can get off the .500-record seesaw the rest of the season.

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