One of two teams still undefeated in Big 12 play, the No. 21 Cincinnati Bearcats are back home Saturday afternoon to take on the Baylor Bears.
Saturday’s matchup features the top two scoring offenses entering this week in Big 12 play. Cincinnati is No. 1 in the Big 12 with 36.0 points per game, while Baylor is No. 2 at 35.0 points per game.
Both teams’ quarterbacks also rank first and second in the country in total touchdowns, with Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby leading the country with 24 and the Bears’ Sawyer Robertson No. 2 with 23. Robertson leads the country with 339.4 passing yards per game and 21 touchdown passes.
Sorsby is the Big 12’s highest-rated quarterback by Pro Football Focus (91.9) and Total QBR (85.0), and he leads the Big 12 with 14.4 yards per completion.
“It’ll take a great effort out of our guys this week in practice to be ready to go play this team.” Bearcats head coach Scott Satterfield said. “As you start playing and winning, obviously winning is fun. But what’s fun about our guys, too, is the weekly preparation. It’s fun on Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s practice and getting to Thursday and Friday. It’s just fun being around [them] because they’re so intentional in their work about what they’re putting in and their routine.”
The Bearcats (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) clinched bowl eligibility with a 49-17 win at Oklahoma State Saturday night. It’s the Bearcats’ first time being bowl eligible since 2022, and their first time bowl eligible under Satterfield. Cincinnati is bowl eligible for the 15th time in the last 20 seasons overall.
Saturday is Homecoming at Cincinnati, and the Bearcats are 62-32-4 all-time on Homecoming, including 20-5 since 2000.
“I think every time we go out on a practice field or game field, we have something to prove,” Satterfield said. “There are so many things I think this team has done a great job of preparing throughout the week, which is showing up on game day.”
Baylor (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) has been an up-and-down team the entire season. The Bears average 36.3 points per game, but they allow 31.4 points per game.
They have two two-game winning streaks this season and are 4-2 since a 38-24 season-opening loss to Auburn, but they are coming off a 42-36 loss at TCU on Saturday. Despite rallying from a three-touchdown deficit late in the fourth quarter, they ultimately came up short against TCU.
“This team believes, despite whatever the circumstance is or how many points they’re behind, that they’re going to win,” Bears head coach Dave Aranda said. “That’s what gives this team a chance to be special. They have that belief, to play for each other that way. That was a very confident sideline during those moments.”
Robertson has emerged as one of the Big 12’s, and country’s, best quarterbacks, with 2,376 passing yards. Josh Cameron is the Bears’ leading receiver with 40 receptions and 542 receiving yards to go along with three touchdowns.
Aranda, though, wants to see more explosiveness from the Bears’ running game.
“I think that’s one of the things that’s missing,” Aranda said. “We’ve been able to get a few four- or five-yard runs, which are always good to have to move the chains and get in better third-down and fourth-down situations. But we need those explosive runs.”
Saturday is just the second time the Bears and Bearcats are meeting. They met in 2023, also in Cincinnati, with Baylor winning 32-29.
-Field Level Media