5 overreactions to Cincinnati Bearcats rout vs. Western Carolina

With their scheduled 62-10 trouncing of FCS opponent Western Carolina, the Cincinnati Bearcats are 2-0 for the second time in Scott Satterfield's head-coaching run.

In his opening season, UC beat Eastern Kentucky and Pitt. The rest of the inaugural Big 12 season didn't quite go as planned.

The key to this September is four games in Cincinnati. The next is Saturday, Sept. 19, when they face Miami University at FC Cincinnati's pitch at TQL Stadium. It will be the first American football game played in the venue and the first on grass this season for the Bearcats.

From there, it's the Big 12 opener at Nippert Stadium on Sept. 26 when Kansas State comes to town. Getting out of the chute at 4-0 would help the Bearcats, given they still have Top 25 teams Texas Tech, BYU, and Utah remaining on the schedule.

Grading UC Bearcats vs. Western Carolina predictions

The Enquirer said the Bearcats would have a 100-yard rusher for a second straight game.

Outcome: Gi'Bran Payne ran for 102 yards and has 210 yards for the season with back-to-back games over the century mark. That's more yards than Payne had in any season at Notre Dame. Payne played behind NFL first-round picks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price before transferring home last winter.

Another hometown product, Corey Kiner, was the last Bearcat to have back-to-back 100-yard games, doing so against Iowa State and Kansas State to end the 2024 season.

We also said UC would have over 200 passing yards, though we weren't sure it would be from one quarterback.

Outcome: JC French threw for 245 yards and was out of the game before the end of the third quarter. Adding in the throwing numbers for Liam O'Brien and Samaj Jones, UC threw for 271 yards and the quarterback room as a whole was 28-for-31.

Finally, we thought UC's defense would surpass last year's interception total by the end of the game.

Outcome: A late pick by Marquavious Saboor gave UC two for the season, tying last year's season mark. Had Kenny Worthy's interception counted in Week 1, they would have three. Alas, a narrow miss on that prognostication.

For now, we overreact to the Saturday night Sept. 12 Catamount romp by the Bearcats.

5 overreactions to Cincinnati Bearcats win over Western Carolina

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1. Cincinnati Bearcats football is 2-0!

Well, hold onto your knickers and don't make your bowl reservations just yet. In 2023, Satterfield's first team whipped EKU 66-13, then went to Pitt and beat the Panthers 27-21 in a good road win at Acrisure Stadium. Some who had AP poll votes at the time were ridiculed for not including UC in the top 25.

The following week, UC's 16-game win streak in the "Battle for the Victory Bell" was halted when the Miami RedHawks defeated the Bearcats at Nippert, 31-24 in overtime. Including that game, the Bearcats would lose seven straight before finally winning at Houston on Nov. 11, 24-14 (which is the last time UC won in November).

In 2021, Luke Fickell's Bearcats had a 2-0 start and didn't lose until falling to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal in Arlington, Texas. So, 2-0 is a great start, and maybe it means a good season. Or, you may be in front of your skis a bit.

2. Cincinnati Bearcats QB JC French IV can fling football

After throwing just 14 passes for 77 yards in the Boston College opener, French hushed up the proverbial "Monday Morning Quarterbacks" with a career passing game. He completed 88% of his 24 throws, and his passer rating was another all-time best of 200.7.

For comparison purposes, Brendan Sorsby had a 200-plus passer rating three times in two seasons, doing it vs. Houston in 2024 and Bowling Green and Northwestern State last year.

3. Cincinnati Bearcats offensive line pancakes, plows, protects

Behind UC's pancake power trio of Evan Tengesdahl, Taran Tyo and Joe Cotton, plus Xavier Lozowicki, Judea Milon and Coach Nic Cardwell's other O-Line road graders, UC has run for 672 yards in two games. The 418 yards on the ground vs. Western Carolina is the best of Scott Satterfield's tenure in Cincinnati.

At quarterback, JC French was sacked 29 times last season at Georgia Southern. In two games, he's only hit the ground once and he's yet to throw an interception. French has come to expect Secret Service-level protection while wearing a C-Paw.

"They hold themselves to a very high standard, as I do myself," French said. "Not all sacks are on an offensive lineman. The quarterback has a lot to do with all that. I try to make their life easier as they make my life easier. I thought they did a great job giving me all the time in the world to read a defense."

4. UC defensive coordinator Nate Woody's Bearcats cut off Western Carolina offense

With 6:23 to go in the second quarter, Western Carolina had cut UC's lead to 14-10 and had two drives of six-plus minutes. UC would then reel off 48 unanswered points.

The Catamounts had 176 total yards at halftime and would gain just 65 more yards the rest of the game, including only nine in the final quarter.

"They (Western Carolina) were Top 25 in FCS," UC linebacker Damaine Wilson said. "They came here and was really trying to punch us in the mouth. We had to respond."

Wilson and fellow linebacker Simeon Coleman led UC in tackles with seven each. Wilson also shook the hands of everyone in the interview room after his time at the podium.

5. UC Bearcats running backs: Pick your poison

Though Payne was the only one over 100 yards, six backs got in the game and UC had seven rushing touchdowns, five from the backs and two from backup quarterbacks O'Brien and Samaj Jones.

The team averaged 8.5 yards per carry, the same amount Payne averaged each tote. Louisiana transfer Zylan Perry had 77 yards and averaged 15.2 yards per attempt, and Stanford transfer Cole Tabb had 72 yards and averaged 14.4 per handoff.

Perry had a 110-yard game vs. Eastern Michigan last year and Tabb rambled for 118 for Stanford against Florida State. Zion Johnson had 26 yards and also scored and James Lewis and Jayzon Thompson also got carries.

"Which one do you want to put out there?" Satterfield said. "It's a very unselfish group; they work hard and they're pushing each other."

Added Tabb, "I think we have the most supportive running back room in the country. We're all ecstatic every time someone makes a big play. Every touch, we're screaming on the field. Every touchdown, we're the first ones dapping them up. That's the philosophy of our running back room: good competitiveness. Drive each other up."

Victory Bell game looms at TQL Stadium for Bearcats, Miami RedHawks

By agreement, this is no longer a home-and-home series. After not playing last season, this was the remaining game on the current contract and was moved from the Bengals' Paycor Stadium to FC Cincinnati's venue for financial reasons.

UC leads the all-time series 61-60-7 and had won 16 straight until the RedHawks won an overtime game at Nippert in 2023. The Bearcats avenged the defeat in 2024 at Yager Stadium and have the bell. While many appreciate the rivalry, in the 2026 world of the transfer portal, many new players need a history lesson.

"I know it's a rivalry game," UC running back Tabb said. "A lot of us are transfers. We are slowly getting acclimated to how important this is to the community. We're willing to do anything to get that win, and we're going to go perform."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 5 overreactions to Cincinnati Bearcats rout vs. Western Carolina

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