The Cincinnati Bearcats welcomed the West Virginia Mountaineers into Nippert Stadium for an early November Big 12 battle. The Bearcats came into the game 5-3 (3-2 Big 12) and Mountaineers 4-4 (3-2 Big 12) who would separate from the pack?

The Bearcats struck first after stopping the Mountaineers on four down with a 2 yard Corey Kiner score. After another stop the Bearcats were rolling, but on 4th and 1, Brendan Sorsby threw a pick six to Anthony Wilson, Jr. He took it the house from 79 yards out, it was a play that left Sorsby on an island and he forced the throw while being sacked. The next drive on 3rd down, Sorsby scrambling and fumbled in Mountaineer territory. The positive on the following drive is the Bearcats held them to a field goal by Michael Hayes to concede a 10-7 lead. Late in the second quarter Nicco Marchiol hit Justin Robinson for a 10 yard touchdown to push the score to 17-7.

The Mountaineers scored first in the second half with a Nicco Marchiol 8 yard touchdown run. The score pushed the lead to 24-7 early in the third quarter. Logan Wilson intercepted Marchiol in the end zone to prevent the Mountaineers from extending the lead. After the interception, Sorsby to Evan Pryor for an 80 yard touchdown to cut the lead down to 10, 24-14. The Bearcats started showing life. The defense stopped the Mountaineers again and it led to a 12 yard Sorsby run to cut the lead down to 3, 24.21. Would the Bearcats be able to complete the comeback?

It wasn't to be as Sorsby threw a backwards pass while getting hit and Tyrin Bradley picked it up for a 13 yard touchdown score with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter to push the lead back to 10, 31-21. The following drive the Bearcats cut the lead to 7, after a Nathan Hawks 29 yard field goal (31-24) with 36 seconds left. The Mountaineers recovered the onside kick and the game was over. On the drive a false start by Xzavier Henderson cost the Bearcats a timeout because they didn’t want the 10 second runoff.

Now 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Big 12, bowl chances are looking bleak. Cincinnati will face Iowa State on the road next week.

The Bearcats outgained the Mountaineers 436 yards to 248, but the Mountaineers won the turnover battle one to three and those three turnover turned into 17 points for the visitors.

Stats:

Jared Bartlett: seven tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss, one sack

Corey Kiner: 25 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown

Evan Pryor: five receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown, four carries for 18 yards

Xzavier Henderson: eight receptions for 68 yards

Brendan Sorsby: 25-for-36, 279 yards, one touchdown and one interception. 14 carries for 48 yards, a touchdown and two fumbles