The Cincinnati Bearcats shut out the Houston Cougars 34-0 at home on Saturday. It is the first Big 12 conference home win for the Bearcats. UC quarterback Brendan Sorsby led the charge on offense with three total touchdowns. Sorsby also shows good decision-making skills on the field as he hasn’t thrown an interception this season. He hit receiver Xzavier Henderson for both touchdown passes. Those were also the only two catches Henderson had on the day. Running back Corey Kiner added a 44-yard touchdown, setting the Bearcats in good shape with three straight offensive scoring drives. Cincinnati went 4-for-10 on third-down conversions, but the offense had a lot of help defensively to keep things flowing efficiently.
For Houston, it was one of their worst offensive performances this season. They were held to just 233 total yards of offense. That’s been the focal point this season as they’ve only scored 26 points in four games. Quarterback Donovan Smith was 11-for-16 through the air, but could only get 73 yards. Penalties and turnovers had a major impact on their poor performance today. They also reached the red zone only twice, failing to score both times. The Cougars had seven penalties for 68 yards, with a couple happening in critical situations. Two fumbles and an interception took away any momentum Houston tried to develop. It didn’t help that the Bearcats capitalized on all three turnovers and a missed field goal attempt.
Defensively, Cincinnati kept up their solid start to the college football season. The Bearcats got an interception on their opening drive for the third straight game. The defense was pretty aggressive at the line as they recorded seven tackles for a loss against the Cougars. Sacks were a little absent today, with Kameron Wilson getting the lone sack for Cincinnati. But it wasn’t needed with the Bearcats forcing three turnovers, including an interception by Josh Minkins. Holding Houston to just 92 total passing yards was a game-changer. The Cougars did have some progress in the running game, but that was quickly abandoned as they continued to get further behind.
Houston falls to 1-3 and will try to turn things around next week in a difficult game against Iowa State. The Bearcats move ahead to 3-1 and will travel to Lubbock to face Texas Tech.