“Pancake With Us”: Cincinnati wants to prove it has the best o-line in college football
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College football season is around the corner, and schools across the country are launching Heisman Trophy campaigns to garner attention for their star quarterbacks and running backs.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bearcats have a different strategy in mind. They’re stocking up on pancake batter. With three returning starters from one of the country’s top offensive lines in 2025, Cincinnati has launched the “Pancake With Us” campaign, hoping its blockers receive recognition for the Joe Moore Award.
The Joe Moore Award originated in 2015 and is presented annually to the nation’s top offensive line. In 2025, the Bearcats’ o-line was one of 10 semifinalists for the award, which ultimately went to Iowa. Through 11 seasons, none of the current 16 Big 12 programs have claimed the honor. Cincinnati believes it can buck that trend.
“I think we got one of the best offensive lines in the country,” head coach Scott Satterfield said. “If you gotta have a good position group, you certainly want to start with those guys. I’m excited about what they’re gonna bring to our table. Last year we were one of the top offensive lines and a lot of those guys are back. They’re not only great players, but they’re great leaders on our team.”
At Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, TX, Cincinnati offensive linemen Evan Tengesdahl and Taran Tyo presented media members with gift boxes containing a diner-style pancake menu, along with Cincinnati-branded pancake mix and maple syrup. But the “Pancake With Us” campaign doesn’t stop there. On Saturday, Aug. 8, the Bearcats will host a 9 a.m. pancake breakfast on Sheakley Lawn, preceding the team’s open practice at Nippert Stadium.
Evan Tengesdahl’s pancake order is a triple stack of blueberry pancakes with bacon on the side. Taran Tyo prefers a stack of three or four pancakes with syrup but no butter, complemented with sides of bacon, sausage, gravy, biscuits, and eggs. But the star interior linemen present won’t be the ones preparing the pancakes at that upcoming breakfast in August. Instead, they’ll serve them on the field later that month.
Last season, Cincinnati’s offensive line surrendered just eight sacks in 13 contests, ranking second in the FBS in fewest sacks allowed. Only Army, which attempted 127 passing attempts compared to Cincinnati’s 365, allowed fewer sacks. The Bearcats were consistent in keeping their quarterback protected all year. They yielded two sacks across their first nine games and only gave up multiple sacks on one occasion.
As reliable as Cincinnati’s pass blocking was, the run blocking was arguably better. The Bearcats ranked third in the FBS at 5.69 rushing yards per attempt (only trailing Utah and Navy), and it didn’t matter who the ball carrier was behind the line. The team’s top four rushers averaged 5.9, 5.8, 6.9, and 7.1 yards per carry, regularly churning out 5-10 yards before first contact.
“What we pride ourselves on is the run game,” Tyo said. “We’re a bunch of physical guys that want to get after it. We find a lot of pride and joy in taking care of our quarterbacks and running backs.”
Cincinnati returns three offensive starters in 2026, yet all three are members of this acclaimed offensive line — Joe Cotton, Evan Tengesdahl, and Taran Tyo. The line lost seventh-round NFL Draft selection Gavin Gerhardt at center and right tackle Deondre Buford to graduation, but every starter with the option to run it back did.
Other schools had interest in breaking up the cohesive unit through transfer portal poaching, with Tengesdahl as an especially hot commodity on the market. But the Dayton, OH native preached loyalty to his hometown school, as well as offensive line coach Nic Cardwell, who developed the guard from a scout team player in 2023 to an effective reserve in 2024 to a Third Team AP All-American selection in 2025.
“I had a really good season last year, so that kind of played a factor,” Tengesdahl said. “I put all my success to Cardwell and he made me the player I am. He developed me from my freshman year from a raw prospect. He made me who I am, so I give that success to him. I had to come back because my teammates, I made a promise to them that we were gonna continue this thing and finish it out. With such a good o-line, what’s the point of me leaving? I feel like I have the best o-line coach in the country. I feel like we have the best unit in the country with Taran and Joe returning with me. There was really no point for me to go anywhere else. Money’s not a factor to me. It was really about the connection part and loyalty to a program.”
That loyalty and cohesiveness demonstrated by the returning linemen was immediately noticed by the team’s new starting quarterback JC French IV, who transferred from Georgia Southern in early January.
“The first thing that comes to mind is loyalty,” French said of the returning offensive linemen. “They all probably could have gone somewhere else, and who knows what could happen? But during my portal process, they all reached out to me and were kind of recruiting me. That shows their character and how much they love the University of Cincinnati. That’s super important when you play for passion at a place you love. You play that much harder for the brothers around you. And they’re a close-knit group. You never see them away from each other which is great.”
Cincinnati is an ideal fit for French. Last season, Georgia Southern was one of 33 programs to surrender at least 30 sacks in a season — more than triple the amount Cincinnati did. With more time to dissect coverages, French feels like he can unlock the best version of himself behind the Bearcat o-line.
“One of the first things he said was, ‘I do feel really comfortable in this pocket. You guys are giving me a ton of time to get the ball out,’” Tyo recalled. “Giving him a bunch of time means that he can take time reading defenses and get the ball to the right people. I think it’s huge to have a composed quarterback like that, so he can stay poised in the pocket.”
Cotton will retain his role anchoring the left tackle position, Tengesdahl remains at right guard, and Tyo will shift from left guard to center. Tyo’s center experience is limited to two quarters when he played for Ball State, but he is ready to fill in for the NFL-bound Gerhardt.
“Learning how to ID quickly,” Tyo said of his biggest challenge shifting to center. “Last year, I knew the IDs but maybe had to think about it a time or two. It’s really just understanding, I get up there, I see the defense, I know what to call and have the confidence to do that.”
As effective as the returning three linemen are, Cincinnati must break in two new starters on the offensive line. Leading candidates to fill in the right guard and right tackle positions are Xavier Lozowicki and Judea Milton, respectively, but those jobs remain open entering fall camp. Aiden Pastoriza is another candidate for the right guard spot, while Nolan Latulippe and Zac Clarke are gunning for right tackle.
Satterfield and Cardwell discussed the arrangement of the new-look front and ultimately decided placing the three veterans adjacent to each other on the left side is the optimal move for now.
“I want to get where they play the best and are most comfortable,” Satterfield said. “That’s kind of what our thought process is. We’re gonna put them in the best spot where they can be good, but I think that first unit’s gonna be outstanding. Then we got a couple other guys I think we can rotate in, and Evan can play center if we need him to as well. We feel like we have a good rotation that we’ll be able to keep those guys fresh.”
The veterans aren’t concerned about too much of a learning curve for the new starters on the right side of the line. They’ve lauded the commitment of the younger linemen in film sessions and their understanding of the playbook. And they believe one secret to honing those skills is strong team camaraderie.
“We’re one of the most connected units on the team,” Tyo said. “We have a really, really strong connection. That starts from the top down with Nic Cardwell as our offensive line coach and then us as leaders. The younger guys understand there’s a lot of leadership in the room, and they respect it, and they all want to be players like us someday. It’s really awesome for them to look up to us.”
Off the field, the offensive line engages in various competitions quite frequently. They compete in video games Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, Mecha Chameleon, and even EA Sports College Football 27 — where Tengesdahl is tied for the highest-rated player in the Big 12 and highest-rated offensive guard in the country at 93 overall. Additionally, Tengesdahl has taken up golf and regularly takes teammates out on the links. Meanwhile, the avid outdoorsman Tyo dreams about arranging an o-line hog hunt in Texas as an offseason activity, although he understands the logistics wouldn’t work out favorably.
“The logistics of what would that be like — eight side-by-sides running around at night?” Tyo said. “I think the hogs would probably go back into the woods.”
That chemistry translates to gamedays, and the statistics back it up. Cincinnati ranked among the nation’s elite in pass protection and rushing efficiency last year, and with three starters returning, the Bearcats are ready to prove they have the best offensive line in the country.
“For a position that doesn’t get too much acknowledgement, it means a lot for us having such a really good o-line that we’re getting a lot of attention,” Tengesdahl said. “It means a lot seeing all the guys on the o-line getting what they finally deserve.”
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