What Scott Satterfield had to say about Cincinnati’s 34-17 loss to Iowa State

Bearcats got on board first but couldn’t slow down strong second half by Cyclones

Iowa State linebacker Jacob Ellis (44) celebrates after a tackle against Cincinnati Saturday in Ames. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa State football team didn’t panic Saturday night despite falling behind to Cincinnati early.

Instead, they relied on their skill players to come through — which they did — to post a 34-17 victory at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. 

For the Cyclones (8-2, 5-2), it was a win they desperately needed to stay in contention for a spot in the Big 12 title game. On the other hand, it was yet another tough loss for the Bearcats (5-5, 3-4), who are still trying to reach six wins to earn bowl eligibility.

Cincinnati has lost three straight and four of six since starting the season 3-1. During the recent slide, they have been in all four losses, sticking within one score of Iowa State until surrendering a late touchdown.

The Bearcats also lost to West Virginia by seven, Colorado by 11 and Texas Tech by three, with two of those coming on the road just like the loss to the Cyclones.

Brendan Sorsby, who had thrown for over 200 yards in four of the last five games, was held to just 66, but made up for it with his legs, rushing for 141 yards and a touchdown.

Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati’s head coach who was an assistant with ISU head coach Matt Campbell at Toledo, has eight seasons of finishing above .500 on his resume at Appalachian State, Louisville and now leading the Bearcats.

“We did sme good things, but obviously we did some bad things as well,” Satterfield said. “Ultimately, it was a great battle. I thought it was a great football game up until the last seven minutes. We need to learn how to finish as a program.

“You can’t play well for 54 minutes; you have to play well for 60 minutes. You can’t relax or give in, you can’t make mistakes in the last six minutes against good football teams because this is what will happen. That’s the bottom line: they finished, we didn’t.”

Cincinnati will have two more chances to reach six wins, as they head to Kansas State this Saturday before finishing back home vs. TCU the following weekend.

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