The Bearcats defense had an elite showing on Saturday to pick up a huge 19-13 victory over longtime rival Central Florida.

The Bearcat's defense was locked in on Saturday, as they did a great job making it difficult for the Knights to get anything going offensively. Despite, the Knights entering the day averaging 286 yards on the ground a game, which was leading all teams across college football. Cincinnati did a great job and held the Knights to just 197 yards on the ground, which was nearly 100 yards under their average.

Cincinnati, did a fantastic job at containing RJ Harvey, who has a known track record when it comes to playing Cincinnati, as the senior running back ran for a combined five touchdowns in the prior two meetings heading into this contest.

However, Harvey was held to just 94 yards on 17 carries. That was a great sight to see for Cincinnati, especially after he ripped off a 31-yard run on his first carry of the game. Cincinnati made it a priority to get all hats around the running backs on Saturday, which also resulted in two early turnovers which ultimately were the difference makers in this contest.

The Bearcat's defense was just relentless on Saturday as they finished with four sacks, seven tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. Tyson Veidt made it a priority to be aggressive especially after Central Florida made the change at quarterback prior to the game.

Check out our defensive players of the game.

Dontay Corleone, defensive tackle

Corleone finished the game with four tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss in the Bearcats victory. There is no other way to describe it but Corleone was simply a game changer on Saturday. Especially there on the Knight final drive as the All-American finished with a huge sack and tackle for loss on the final possession. Corleone was just shredding the Knights offensive line and proved to many why he is projected as a potential top round draft selection in April's upcoming NFL Draft.

Jarend Bartlett, linebacker

Bartlett also had his best game of the season in my opinion. Bartlett came away with a huge, forced fumble on the Knights opening possession and then finished the game with a combined sack with Jake Golday.

I spoke to Bartlett earlier in the week about the importance of making sure to stop the Central Florida run game, and how to contain RJ Harvey.

"Pursuit to the ball is non-negotiable," said Bartlett. "Whenever a big play happens, whether it's a tipped ball, fumbles turn to fumble recovery, and we can turn those into points and touchdowns. Those will help win games so it's very important we continue to pursuit to the ball."

Bartlett finished the game with a team high seven tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. That was the kind of relentless defensive showing that Tyson Veidt was looking to get out of the Bearcats linebacker. Now with Bartlett's skillset it should be interesting to see what Tyson Veidt will continue to dial up for Bartlett over the final six games of the season.

Jake Golday, linebacker

Golday also stuffed the stat sheet after finishing the game with five tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. Golday has emerged as a star in the making in the middle of the Bearcats defense after making the jump from the FCS level. Golday came away with a huge forced fumble on the Knights opening drive and then was in on the play with Bartlett to end the game after getting home to Jacurri Brown.

I though the play of Antwan Peek Jr (7 tackles) and Logan Wilson (2 tackles, TFL, 2 PBU's) was phenomenal on Saturday. Peek saw majority of time at the star position and has continued to be a vital piece to the Bearcats secondary. Now Wilson, had two pass breakups that probably would have been going for six points the other was if he didn't make the athletic plays he did. I thought he has really emerged as a key contributor in the secondary and is starting to find stride at the right time for Tyson Veidt and the Bearcats defense.