CINCINNATI — Nebraska’s secondary entered Thursday night with 97 combined starts. Cincinnati’s wide receiving corps entered Thursday night unproven. That matchup ultimately decided Thursday night’s Power Four matchup and gave Nebraska a 20-17 win.
With less than 40 seconds left in the game, Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby threw one of just a few deep balls he uncorked on the night. The pass was intended for wide receiver Caleb Goodie, but it was intercepted on an acrobatic play by Cornhuskers defensive back Malcolm Herzog Jr..
“That ball from Sorsby has to be a little more out to the sideline or deep where nobody can get it, but the safety made a great play from the opposite hash,” Bearcats head coach Scott Satterfield said. “I really believe if that interception falls incomplete, we were going to go down and score the football on that final drive.”
Sorsby struggled to push the ball down the field against Nebraska’s secondary, throwing for just 69 yards and only 24 through the first three quarters. He completed 13 of his 25 pass attempts.
While he wasn’t effective as a passer, Sorsby made up for it with his legs. He led the Bearcats in rushing with 96 yards on 13 carries and scored both of Cincinnati’s touchdowns.
“Nebraska did a great job keeping everything in front,” Sorsby said. “We didn’t do a good job at extending drives in the first half. Once we started to push the tempo we had success. When you have 69 yards passing, you’re either not doing enough right or their defense is doing everything right. Tonight, was a mix of both of those.”
The Bearcats had success on the ground, rushing for 202 yards on 30 carries.
But in a Big 12 conference with so many really good quarterbacks, the Bearcats are going to have to find a way to unlock Sorsby and this new-look receiving corps to push the ball down the field and become multi-dimensional on offense.
Sorsby said two days before the game that Satterfield trusts him more. The play-calling Thursday night was an indication of increased trust, and it’s something that needs to show in fruition sooner rather than later.
Cincinnati has now lost six straight games dating back to last season. Further, they’ve scored fewer than 20 points in four straight games dating back to last season.
“It came down to turnovers,” Satterfield said. A three-point game and we had two turnovers, and they had zero. This is a special team. This team has tremendous heart and fight.”
For all the positives Thursday night, a lot of the same stuff that were the Bearcats undoings in 2024 resurfaced in the first game of 2025. Time is running out to get better and get this program, with Satterfield as the head coach, back to the standards so many Bearcats teams of the last 20 years have set.
