Final Huddle: West Virginia Upsets Cincinnati Behind Brendan Sorsby Turnovers

Cincinnati has one home game left this season.

Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby (2) throws a pass in the second quarter of the College Football game against the Miami Redhawks at Yager Stadium in Cincinnati on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — West Virginia pulled off the road upset 31-24 over the Bearcats on Saturday amidst a three-turnover day from Brendan Sorsby (25-of-36 for 279 yards one TD, one INT, two fumbles lost). 

Cincinnati's defense allowed just 17 points, but two defensive TDs gifted away by Sorsby were too much to overcome. Cincinnati is now 5-4 on the season and will be significant underdogs in each of their next two games against Iowa State and Kansas State.

The offense never got consistent enough to overcome the turnovers and Sorsby continues to go the wrong direction performance-wise after a great first half of the season. It marked the 23rd meeting in the rivalry series as UC outgained WVU 436-248, but it didn't matter on the scoreboard.

Sorsby Sliding

Sorsby rolled out another head-scratching performance on Saturday against one of the worst secondary's in the country and one missing its top cover cornerback (lowest PFF coverage grade nationally entering the game).

The Bearcats top offensive player has played far from that status over the past two games and largely gifted a first-half lead to WVU on Saturday. He was highly inaccurate downfield (no completions of 15-plus yard), as highlighted by a blown deep pass to Tony Johnson that would've been a TD if thrown on time.

Add in the worst interception of the season that went for a score the other way, plus, two lost fumbles inside Cincinnati territory (one returned for six) and it was Sorsby's worst half in his time starting. They were easily avoidable mistakes against a defense ranked in the bottom three among Big 12 teams in fumbles forced and interceptions entering the game.

Cincinnati had to take advantage of a terrible pass defense, but Sorsby didn't have it enough to do so and it left them one-dimensional against a top-35 run defense. Corey Kiner (25 carries, 91 yards, one score) and the rushing attack never found much space as Sorsby looked skittish in-pocket for much of the day.

It led to his worst passer rating in a game at UC and will likely mirror his sub-50 PFF grade in last month's loss to Colorado. Still, he did plenty with his legs on Saturday (14 carries, 48 yards, one score) to continue owning the Big 12 QB rushing TD crown and buoy the rough day passing downfield.

Bartlett Balls

Jared Bartlett (team-high seven tackles, one sack) came to play with a vengeance against his old team on Saturday afternoon. He was an integral part of Cincinnati's all-around strong performance on that end and was key to holding Nicco Marchiol's legs in check as a running quarterback.

Bartlett made multiple crucial open-field tackles to stymie West Virginia and continued his better play this season compared to his final season with the Mountaineers (64.3 overall PFF grade).

Cincinnati's run defense did its job to make WVU fit in deep passes on third and longs (3.3 yards per carry by WVU). Bartlett fit into a lot of those holes against another explosive Big 12 rushing outfit. He's proved to be one of the best transfers of the Scott Satterfield era so far.

Pryor Pops

Each time Evan Pryor (four carries, 18 yards, five catches, 100 yards, one score) touches the ball it has a good chance to be electric. He pulled off his sixth play of 35-plus yards this season with a crucial 80-yard wheel route TD in the second half.

He has been maximizing all his chances as a Bearcat with a 9.2 YPC mark entering the game to go with a 16.6 yards per catch average entering the game that will definitely be going up. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, not many other big plays happened on offense. They posted just nine big plays on the ground and through the air.

Pryor ran for 4.5 yards per carry in this one, but no one else could consistently get going as UC ran for under five yards per carry for the fourth time in six conference games.

Cincinnati has an uphill battle to fight in pursuit of that first bowl trip under Scott Satterfield.

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