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NCAAF Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby is one of the most prolific yet unheralded quarterbacks this season. Brian Bahr / Getty Images CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bearcats starting center Gavin Gerhardt sat in the locker room following a season-opening loss to Nebraska feeling oddly encouraged. Cincinnati lost 20-17 in front of a Cornhuskers-friendly crowd at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, the Bearcats’ potential game-winning drive halted by a last-minute interception. It was an appropriate end to a dreadful passing performance, with second-year starting quarterback Brendan Sorsby throwing for only 69 yards on 25 attempts. Advertisement It was a prime-time, weeknight, ESPN showcase to open Week 1, with Cincinnati alums Jason and Travis Kelce in attendance — as well as Travis’s new fiance, drawing added attention. A star-studded chance for the Bearcats to change the narrative. Instead, it felt like more of the same from a program that had gone 8-16 through two seasons in the Big 12 and under coach Scott Satterfield, still struggling to establish an identity and finish games. Gerhardt, a sixth-year senior, felt otherwise. “You could tell immediately that this group wouldn’t let that game define us, ” he said. He wasn’t alone. For all the disappointment in the passing game, Cincinnati didn’t allow a sack and ran the ball for 202 yards (6. 7 yards per carry) on a quality Big Ten opponent. “The line of scrimmage, we felt like we won that, ” Satterfield said. “It gave our team confidence that we could play with anybody. We would have played Nebraska again the next day — that’s the way our team reacted after that. And it’s been that way ever since. ” The Bearcats haven’t lost since, either, rattling off seven straight wins and sitting tied atop the Big 12 standings with BYU at 5-0 in conference play. Cincinnati has climbed to No. 17 in the AP Top 25, its highest ranking since that historic run to the four-team College Football Playoff in 2021 as a Group of 5 program. On the heels of back-to-back losing seasons and hot-seat rumblings about Satterfield entering Year 3, Cincinnati has emerged as one of the most pleasant surprises of a chaotic 2025, with a 24 percent chance to win the Big 12 and a 25 percent chance to make the 12-team CFP, according to The Athletic’s Playoff projections. With it come all the big-man-on-campus fixings: recruiting momentum, sold-out home crowds, flowers from Nick Saban on ESPN’s “College Game Day” and giddy shout-outs from the Kelce brothers on the New Heights podcast. Bearcats on College Gameday ? ️ you know the Kelce brothers are fired up for that pic. twitter. com/di Qi Hie AYc — Cincinnati Football (@Go Bearcats FB) October 29, 2025 The Bearcats are earning that newfound entertainment value with one of the most potent offenses in college football, led by Sorsby, one of the most prolific yet unheralded quarterbacks this season. The offense’s 7. 4 yards per play is tied for fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision and best in the Big 12, and its scoring average of 38. 3 points per game ranks top-15 in the country and is a 12-point improvement over 2024. Advertisement Sorsby, a 6-foot-3 redshirt junior who transferred from Indiana two offseasons ago, has blossomed, completing 65. 2 percent of his throws for 20 touchdowns and just one interception. He’s added another 425 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. His QB rating ranks sixth among qualified FBS passers, and his 27 combined touchdowns are tied for the most in the FBS alongside Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, garnering some dark-horse Heisman buzz — even if Saban hasn’t quite gotten his name down. Nick Saban shows love to Brendan Sorsby but mistakenly calls him Brendan “Sorely” throughout the whole segment. #Bearcats pic. twitter. com/vv5DJs Qp6l — Chatterbox Sports (@CBox Sports) October 28, 2025 Cincinnati’s faith in its quarterback sparked the offensive refresh. Over the course of the 2024 season, Satterfield, who calls the offense, recognized Sorsby’s preference for run-pass option plays (RPOs), which have never been a staple of Satterfield’s scheme. He and the offensive staff catered to Sorsby’s strengths in 2025, adding more RPOs to the playbook. “He has such a quick release, and he’s accurate with it, ” said Satterfield. “But you can’t do it unless you have a quarterback who is a good decision maker. And I’m talking good quick decisions, after the ball is snapped. ” The offense adopted a faster pace as well, incorporating a lot of no-huddle and one-word calls. “Satt is always talking about evolving with the game, ” Sorsby said. “And he trusts me with it. ” None of that thrives without the right pieces in place. The team was limited at receiver last season, allowing opposing defenses to stack the box. So Cincinnati prioritized the position in the transfer portal, bringing in five new wideouts with an emphasis on speed. Texas A&M transfer Cyrus Allen leads the group with 34 receptions for 381 yards and nine touchdowns this season, but all five newcomers have contributed, alongside returning tight end Joe Royer. Advertisement “They’re unselfish, ” Sorsby said. “I don’t have to force the ball to anyone. I’m just going through my reads, finding the open guy. They bought into the culture, along with everyone else on this team. ” It opened up the entire field. Sorsby’s off-target passing rate has improved from 14. 7 percent in 2024 to 10. 8 percent this season, according to Pro Football Focus, and Cincinnati is one of three FBS teams (along with USC and Navy) in the top 10 in both passing and rushing yards per attempt. Last season, the Bearcats scored on 80 percent of red zone visits and reached the end zone just 57. 8 percent of the time. This season, they’ve scored on 33 of 34 red zone trips, with touchdowns on 26 of them (76. 5 percent), both of which rank in the top 10 as well. ABSOLUTELY FILTHY @Brendan_Sorsby2 ? ESPN2 pic. twitter. com/5cj TSP1Zj J — Cincinnati Football (@Go Bearcats FB) October 25, 2025   It’s all part of a gradual, three-year build for the Bearcats under Satterfield, which is more patience than a lot of programs are willing to spare these days. Some of it was circumstance: Satterfield, 52, was hired away from Louisville in December 2022 to replace Luke Fickell, who left for Wisconsin. Between the coaching change and the leap from the American to the Big 12, the 2023 roster was a sloppy, 3-9 mess. The team improved to 5-7 last season, but more important, it established a culture, adding and retaining foundational pieces. This season was about filling in the gaps. “The consistency of coach Satterfield has really shown as we got through the fire in Year 1 and 2, ” said general manager Zach Grant. It helps to catch a couple of breaks along the way. Cincinnati hoped to land two offensive line starters out of the portal for 2025. It hit immediately on Taran Tyo, an All-MAC lineman from Ball State that slid in at right guard. Then it struck out on a handful of tackle options who visited during the winter portal window but committed elsewhere. What felt like a missed opportunity in the moment led to Joe Cotton — a 6-6 all-conference left tackle from FCS South Dakota — in the spring. The Bearcats pounced and invested heavily. Cotton completed the ensemble up front. Cincinnati has allowed just two sacks through eight games, tied for the fewest in the FBS, and neither was credited to the offensive line. The offense has the second-lowest sack rate (0. 9 percent) and 16th-best average rush before contact (2. 53 yards), according to PFF. Resources help, too. Cincinnati’s NIL funding lagged behind upon entering the Big 12, with roughly $2 million for football in 2023 and about $3. 5 million in 2024, according to program sources who were granted anonymity to discuss financial details. This season, between front-loaded collective deals and new revenue sharing via the House v. NCAA settlement, the Bearcats invested more than eight figures into the football roster. It shows. Advertisement “Rev share came at a perfect time for us, because it allowed us to shop in a different aisle, so to speak, ” said Grant. “But we’ve built (the roster) up gradually, with the mindset to build for the future, not mortgage it for one year. ” No one understands that better than Gerhardt, the longest-tenured Bearcats player on the roster. A product of nearby Xenia High School, he signed with Cincinnati in the 2020 recruiting class under Fickell, developing into a four-year starter, three-year captain and the steady anchor of a grimy, mauling offensive line. “He keeps us connected and playing as one, ” said Cotton. “You just have to go where Gavin tells you to go, and you’ll have success. ” It’s the same off the field. Gerhardt is a cultural linchpin for the Bearcats. He leads the team in singing the fight song after victories and is constantly cleaning up the locker room and new indoor practice facility, establishing a standard to leave behind. “He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around, ” said Satterfield. “You need to have talent, but teams that win have more than that. ” It solidified a team that has clawed its way back into the national conversation after a two-year sabbatical. Satterfield’s hot-seat speculation has flipped to coach-of-the-year watch lists. Dreams of bowl eligibility have made way for conference and Playoff contention. A skeptical fan base has embraced the turnaround, and the rest of the sport is following suit: “College Game Day” is broadcasting Saturday from Salt Lake City ahead of Cincinnati against No. 24 Utah (10: 15 p. m. ET, ESPN). The spotlight also exposes new challenges. An improved defense has still looked susceptible at times, and even the offense has shown a nagging propensity to downshift in second halves. The Bearcats haven’t exactly faced a gauntlet schedule thus far, either — a home win over then No. 14 Iowa State is the best line on the resume — and they avoid Big 12 preseason favorite Texas Tech in the regular season. But any lingering doubts can be answered: The team’s current strength of record is 12th in the FBS and remaining strength of schedule is 23rd, according to The Athletic’s projection model, with Saturday’s trip to Utah and a home matchup against undefeated No. 10 BYU on Nov. 22. Advertisement In a season and conference forged by chaos, Cincinnati controls its own destiny, and could very well be the next unexpected champion to seize the Big 12 throne. “That’s why I came back for a sixth year, to get the program back where it belongs, ” said Gerhardt. “I couldn’t be happier, but the job’s not done. ” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Justin Williams covers college football and basketball for The Athletic. He was previously a beat reporter covering the Cincinnati Bearcats, and prior to that he worked as a senior editor for Cincinnati Magazine. Follow Justin on Twitter/X @williams_justin Follow Justin on Twitter @williams_justin