The Bearcats improved to 1-0 on Saturday following their 38-20 victory over Towson, behind a career day from young quarterback Brendan Sorsby.

Sorsby made his Cincinnati debut where he finished the day completing 22 of his 31 passes for 383 yards and two touchdowns. Sorsby was also to use his legs and show his dual threat ability as he also ran for two touchdowns on the afternoon.

Now for Sorsby, he displayed his true arm strength as he connected with Xzavier Henderson for a 42-yard touchdown and Sterling Berkhalter for a 61-yard touchdown. Which for fans who remember, was something that Cincinnati struggled with immensely in 2023.

Sorsby touched on the ability to hit explosive plays those explosive plays early and the importance of those opportunities for this offense.

"It felt really good to connect on those. Any deep shot you get and have the opportunity to score fast on is really fun and exciting. Obviously if you can hook up on those plays, you will win some games. If you can score quick, it's very important."

Cincinnati outgained the Tigers 658-425, but it was a great sign to see that Cincinnati was able to open up the passing game and become a balanced offense. That comes after being run heavy offense in 2023 where they finished fifth in the nation in rushing offense.

Evan Pryor led the Bearcats back field with 104 yards on four carries that included a 61-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the second half. That was great sign to see for Satterfield and the Bearcats as we had heard all last season about how the Bearcats needed a home run hitting running back, and it was clear to see that Pryor could join Corey Kiner as the 1-2 tandem.

Xzavier Henderson led all receivers today with seven receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown. It was clear to see that Henderson is still arguably the Bearcats best receiver, but now that Cincinnati added Joe Royer in the mix, the Bearcats leading receiver from a season ago, could have plenty of more opportunities to eat this season.

Speaking of Royer, he finished with five receptions for 89 yards in his Cincinnati debut in front of many friends and family. Royer even joked postgame that he felt like 50% of the west side of Cincinnati was probably at Nippert Stadium today to watch him and fellow Elder grad Luke Kandra. Now, it was clear to see that Royer is a game changer for the Bearcats offense with his size and athleticism, which we saw all camp but he has the ability to be a huge mismatch for the Bearcats offense as the season moves forward.

Now on the defensive side of the ball, Cincinnati was still without All-American nose tackle Dontay Corleone as he works his way back from the blood clots he suffered in June. The Bearcats defense struggle at times getting pressure to the quarterback, outside of Jared Bartlett who has been a massive addition for Cincinnati this offseason. The former West Virginia standout finished with a team high six tackles, two of which were tackles for loss.

Now the Bearcats secondary was highlighted by veteran safety Josh Minkins who finished with six tackles and three pass breakups and had a stellar defensive performance in his Cincnnati debut. True freshman Jiquan Sanks also became the first Bearcat to start a game since Marquise Copeland did so back in 2015, but the true freshman took advantage of his opportunity and shined where he racked up four tackles in his debut.

“I remember recruiting him in high school. We loved his personality and the way he played. He turned a lot of heads when he got to campus, once we started putting him in, he just kept showing up making plays," said Scott Satterfield. "He just became the more solid player at that position in both the run and pass game."

Cincinnati would strike first following a one-yard touchdown run from Brendan Sorsby on the designed keeper. The Bearcats seven play, 75-yard scoring drive was highlighted by a huge 49-yard gain after Sorsby connected with Aaron Turner on the run, pass, option. Sorsby went 4/4 for 65 yards on the Bearcats opening drive and it seemed like the Indiana transfer was taking control of his opportunity after winning the starting job following the conclusion of fall camp.

The Bearcats defense would force a 3-out on the opening drive after Jared Bartlett was able to wrap up Carlos Davis on the Tigers first offensive play of the day. However, the Bearcats muffed the punt which allowed Towson to set up shop deep in Cincinnati territory. The Tigers drive would stall after two costly penalties wiped them out of the redzone resulting in a 32-yard field goal to make this a 7-3 game with 8:03 remaining.

Sorsby and the Bearcats wasted no time the following drive after Sorsby connected with Joe Royer for a 21-yard gain across the middle of the field. The very next play, Sorsby connects with Xzavier Henderson for a 42-yard touchdown on the post route to extend the Bearcats lead to 11, leading the Tigers 14-3 with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter. That was what you wanted to see from Sorsby was his ability to hit the big plays when given the opportunity and he wasted no time on his first opportunity of the season.

The Bearcats offense was locked and loaded as they just continued to pour it on the Tigers after the defense forced a three and out. The Bearcats responded with a three play, 75-yard drive resulting in a 61-yard touchdown from Sorsby to Sterling Berkhalter down the left sideline. Sorsby faked the whole Tiger defense on the rollout and Berkhalter had nobody within 15 yards of him and Sorsby threw a beautiful ball and Nippert Stadium was rocking.

Sorsby started the game 8-9 for 200 yards and two touchdowns through the team's first three offensive drives. However, the Tigers responded with a huge four-play 95-yard drive that was capped off after Carlos Davis connected with wide receiver Jaceon Doss for a 76-yard touchdown to make this a 21-10 game with 9:54 remaining in the second quarter. Doss slipped by Tre Gola-Callard in man coverage, and it was quickly a foot race to the endzone which gave the Tigers some light on offense.

The Bearcats offense continued to slash the Tigers defense, as Sorsby would pick up his fourth touchdown of the afternoon following a 12-yard run to extend the Bearcats lead to 28-10. Sorsby continued to display the dual threat ability as Towson simply had no answer for the Bearcats offensive attack. However, was the five play drive enough time to allow the defense to get some rest was the real question, especially after Towson's found stride over the last two offensive possessions.

The Tigers would then respond right before the half with a huge eight play, 80-yard drive resulting in a 28-yard touchdown from Davis to John Dunmore. Dunmore, beat Ormanie Arnold in 1-1 coverage as Arnold, appeared too not get his head around in time as Towson would respond right before the half.

Cincinnati would take a 28-17 lead into the half, despite the Tigers scoring 14 unanswered rights before the break. Now, it's safe to say the Bearcats offense was doing a great job pushing the ball downfield and moving the chains. However, the defense on the other hand was struggling as they allowed nearly 295 yards of total offense through the first half, with Towson ball carriers averaging nearly 5.7 yards per play and eight yards per offensive play. That was something that just desperately couldn't happen and the Bearcats banged up defensive line was looking to get gashed in the first half of this one, as they just couldn't get much pressure to Davis it seemed. Safe to say, the Bearcats need to find a way to create pressure, or things could quickly turn in favor of the Tigers.

The Tigers would march down the field and make this a one score game after Keegan Vaughn connected on a 33-yard field goal with 10:10 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Now, for Cincinnati, they wasted no time responding, literally. Evan Pryor burst through the big hole on the right side of the offensive line and was off to the races for a 64- yard score to extend their lead back to double digits.

Carter Brown would then extend the Bearcats lead to 38-20 after connecting on a 38-yard field goal with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter. Despite, the Tigers last second momentum near the end of the first half the Bearcats then held the Tigers to just three points in the second half, which was something they desperately needed after momentum started to swing in favor of the Tigers.

The Bearcats would silence the Tigers in the second half and hold on to defeat the Tigers 38-20 to secure their first victory of the 2024 season. A game in which, the Bearcats were battle tested early but found a way to dig deep and persevere down the stretch.

"It's awesome to start the season 1-0, that is something we will never take for granted. We had a great start to the game. The offense was clicking on all cylinders to start, and it is hard to maintain that throughout. I think overall, offensively we did a lot of great things. I thought Brendan played a really good game, but I thought he could've maybe played a little better. Overall, I was really pleased with how he played this afternoon. He ran the offense effectively, he threw the ball accurately, He also used his legs and generated some offense with his legs and that was great to see."

"We had 34 guys make their Cincinnati debut today. You also have to think about a new defense, I thought at times we gave up a couple of plays including the two touchdowns. Overall, really proud of our guys but we still have a lot of work to do as we head into week two and Pittsburgh."

The Bearcats will be back at Nippert Stadium next Saturday as they welcome in Pittsburgh for an old Big East rivalry for the first time since 2008. The University of Cincinnati will honor the 2008 Cincinnati team.