Takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats Big Saturday night game at Colorado

BOULDER, Colo.– A pivotal turn of events before halftime of the Cincinnati Bearcats game at Colorado resulted in a major swing for the Buffaloes as they became bowl-eligible Saturday night with a 34-23 victory.

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was 25-for-30 passing for 323 yards and a pair of touchdowns to two-way player Travis Hunter. The back-breaker for UC came on a 34-yard touchdown toss with three seconds left in the first half. Both Sanders and Hunter will be high picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.

UC was tied with Colorado twice but never held the lead.

Bearcats lose momentum to Colorado

The Bearcats and Buffaloes were knotted at 14 early in the second quarter, but Alejandro Mata put Colorado up with 3:28 left with a 28-yard field goal. The Bearcats had the ball and a chance to tie or lead at halftime if they delivered. With 33 seconds left and UC on the Colorado 46-yard line, it was fourth and a yard. On the quarterback keeper, Brendan Sorsby was stopped.

“Obviously in your head you think you’re going to get it,” Sorsby said. “I think they did a great job up front not allowing us to get much push. I’ve still got to find a way to get one yard.”

That left 31 seconds for quarterback Shedueur Sanders to operate, which on this night was too much. Sanders connected on a 34-yard touchdown to Travis Hunter before the half. Instead of a tie or lead, the Bearcats trailed by 10.

“We didn’t want to give them the ball back for obvious reasons,” UC head coach Scott Satterfield said. “To me, that was the play of the game. We give the ball back to them and they were able to go. We didn’t put our defense in a good spot.”

The Buffaloes added an Isaiah Augustave rushing touchdown late in the third quarter to make it 17 unanswered points. Down 31-14, UC cut the lead on a Nathan Hawks field goal, then Sorsby connected on a 6-yard touchdown pass to Joe Royer with 3:51 left. A 2-point conversion failed, and Mata barely cleared the crossbar on a 47-yard field goal, which made for the 34-23 final.

“I’m a little disappointed at how we landed,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said of the game’s end. “Mata was phenomenal doing what he did. Great team. They (Cincinnati) wasn’t going to give up. It’s a testament to their coaches and their staff. They played their butts off.”

Colorado improved to 6-2 (4-1 Big 12) with the Bearcats dropping to 5-3 (3-2 Big 12).

Why go for 2 late in the game?

With an extra point, UC could have trailed 31-24 after the Royer touchdown. However, in coaching circles the metrics point toward a 2-point conversion in similar situations.

“It is the math,” Satterfield said. “If you don’t get that, then you’ve got to get the next one. If you get that and you kick the next one and theoretically if you stop them without a field goal you win the game. Especially, on the road. Had we been at home, we’d probably kick the extra point.”

Shedeur Sanders vs Brendan Sorsby quarterback comparison

Maybe Sheduer Sanders looked better doing it, but both quarterbacks had their effective moments. Sanders completed his first 15 passes and had a rushing touchdown before halftime. He completed all but five of his passes.

“We take it for granted how good this young man is,” Coach Sanders said. “I would be saying that even if he wasn’t my son.”

Sorsby struggled passing against the Colorado defense, while a Sanders incompletion was rare.

“They’re a lot better team this year because of what they do defensively,” Satterfield said.

Sorsby was able to string together some completions late and his 6-yard pass to Joe Royer cut the deficit to 31-23. A late field goal by Alejandro Mata made for the 34-23 final. Sorsby finished 16-for-30 for 180 yards. Tony Johnson and Joe Royer both had four catches and a touchdown in the game.

Cincinnati Bearcats vs Colorado Buffaloes rushing offense

UC held the 85-49 edge at halftime, but the yards were hard-earned with Kiner gaining 32 and Sorsby 29. Colorado appeared determined to out-physical the Bearcats. Augustave, an Arkansas transfer, had his best game in Boulder and helped Colorado chew the clock up at the end. He finished with 91 yards on 22 carries with one touchdown.

“We made a conscious effort at the beginning of the week that we were going to run the football,” Coach Sanders said.

Corey Kiner ran hard all night and finished with 94 yards plus four catches for eight yards.

What did Colorado’s Travis Hunter do?

There’s not much that he can’t do. He made the first hit on the first play of the game, a pass intended for Xzavier Henderson. Then at 9:32 of the first quarter, Shedeur Sanders spotted Hunter in the back of the end zone. Hunter had 113 receiving yards in the first half alone with two touchdowns. He finished with nine catches for 153 yards plus two tackles and three pass break-ups on defense.

Hunter, Jimmy Horn Jr., and LaJohntay Wester’s speed was most noticeable. Once they turned on the jets, they were difficult to catch.

“Obviously, they have great players, great talents, receiver corps all over,” UC defensive back Derrick Canteen said. “More than anything, they just did a good job executing. Each week you go and play talented players, receivers, running backs and each week in this conference it’s talent all over, speed all over.”

Was the time zone or altitude a factor?

Altitude wasn’t as much a factor as was the Mountain time momentum. Even though UC has gotten faster, Colorado still has the edge in that department.

The Bearcats wouldn’t get home until early breakfast crowd time on Sunday (estimated 6:45 a.m. before they left). Fortunately, they have a bye week ahead. While the Big 12 tries to accommodate schools that cross time zones, it still can be a struggle on the body clock.

“It’s tough when you have to play this late and travel this far and all the things that go along with it, but I still love the way our kids finished and fought,” Satterfield said.

Luke Kandra update

The guard was down early in the game and returned, but then later left the field and didn’t return.

“Late in the season like this you’ve got a lot of nicks and bruises,” Satterfield said. “Dontay (Corleone) went down, Kandra went down. We’ll have to see how he is. He was not able to finish the game.”

Next in the Big 12 for Cincinnati

The Bearcats have a bye and reconvene at Nippert Stadium Saturday, Nov. 9 against West Virginia. That game will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Nippert as UC faces its former Big East rivals. Game time could be announced Monday. The Mountaineers played Arizona in Tucson Saturday night, winning 31-26 to go to 4-4. Again, UC is a win away from bowl eligibility and their next opportunity is at home.

“There’s a lot of ball left,” Satterfield said. “Four more games. We’ve got two losses in the Big 12. There’s a lot of stuff that can happen in this conference. I think everybody knows how anybody can beat anybody in this conference depending on travel, depending on injuries. It’s still wide open.”

Colorado is also off next week. The Buffaloes will be at Texas Tech Nov. 9.

Former WCW, WWE star Goldberg takes in UC vs. Colorado

Wrestling legend Bill Goldberg has a son, Gage Goldberg on the Buffaloes. Before he was power-slamming foes, Bill Goldberg was a defensive tackle with the Georgia Bulldogs and later the Atlanta Falcons, where one of his teammates was Deion Sanders.

Cincinnati Bearcats hoops note

Wes Miller’s squad played a “secret” scrimmage against Pittsburgh of the ACC Saturday. Sources reported a 71-62 Pitt victory, but the indication is that the Bearcats played 11 guys. For the record, they lost both of their “secret” scrimmages last season. Often the strategy is different as teams use it to prepare for the season. As a measuring tool, USA TODAY Preseason No. 1 Kansas lost to Preseason No. 16 Arkansas 85-69 Friday night. UC is No. 20.