In baseball terms, spring training is over.
While Cincinnati Bearcats football technically played three tune-ups in the summer, autumn arrives Sept. 23, and the rest of the campaign for the "boys of fall" is a week-by-week, juggernaut slate of power-conference football.
UC is 3-0 for the first time since 2021, when Luke Fickell took the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff semifinal, undefeated until No. 1 Alabama beat them in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.
They did it this season despite falling behind 28-7 at halftime in the Battle for the Victory Bell at TQL Stadium, then outscoring the RedHawks 28-3 in the second half to win 35-31. The Bearcats had three sacks of Miami quarterback David McComb in the fourth quarter, along with a key interception
by Kenny Worthy in the third stanza that flipped momentum.
It was another heartbreak for Miami, similar to when UC scored 15 points in less than three minutes late in 2017 to knock off the RedHawks at Yager Stadium.
How did predictions hold up in UC's Victory Bell win vs. Miami University?
The line was 14.5 to 15.5, depending on your favorite oddsmaker. So, many outlets missed on the spread. In our preseason prognostications, I had UC as a 31-24 winner. That was later adjusted to 34-17 based on the first two weeks.
Outcome: The Enquirer was correct on the win and missed UC's point total by one. Very few had Miami racking up 31 points, which is too many, be it non-conference or Big 12 play.
We also said Gi'Bran Payne would have his third straight 100-yard game.
Outcome: Payne was limited like most of UC's run game and finished with nine carries for 32 yards. UC's top rusher was Cole Tabb with 78 yards and two touchdowns, with 53 of those yards coming on his game-winning run.
JC French IV improved as expected, reaching 200-plus passing yards with no interceptions.
Outcome: French had a UC-best 309 yards passing, going 31-for-43 with touchdowns to Tabb and, for a third straight week, JV Gibson. He was also UC's second-leading rusher with 39 yards and a score.
Finally, we said David McComb, Miami's redshirt freshman quarterback, would be sacked three times.
Outcome: McComb didn't hit the deck until the fourth quarter, but Josh Hough, Jonathan Thompson and Antwan Peek Jr. all delivered, with Peek poking the ball loose that was scooped by Drew Logan to seal the win.
Of our bold predictions for the Battle for the Victory Bell, that's two out of three, which Meat Loaf once sang, "ain't bad", particularly considering the score at halftime.
Will UC play Miami University again?
For now, they lead the series 62-60-7. There's no room on the future schedule until 2029. If it does take place, TQL Stadium has "right of first refusal."
Miami head coach Chuck Martin – "No one asks me. I have no say in anything. Play Cincinnati in Nippert every year, have them pay us like a Big 12 team. We keep the rivalry going. They're going to pay somebody, pay us."
UC Bearcats head coach Scott Satterfield – "I don't really have a whole lot of control over scheduling games. We just play the ones they tell us to play. We're in the Big 12 now and they're still in the MAC conference, so it makes it a little bit more difficult when you start scheduling games. If we play them, it'll be another great rivalry game. If we don't ever play them again, the Victory Bell stays in Cincinnati."
Should UC Bearcats fans be worked up at 3-0 start?
It's a first for Scott Satterfield. Plus, since 2000, every UC coach that has had a 3-0 start has made a bowl game, except for 2003 when Rick Minter's last team started 3-0, but finished just 2-7 from there.
Who else in Big 12 is 3-0?
It's quite the long list.
BYU, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Utah and West Virginia are also unblemished through three games, with BYU's Cougars, the Red Raiders and the Utes all ranked in the Top 25. 2-1 teams include Colorado, Iowa State, Houston and Arizona, with Houston's Cougars also ranked and coming off a narrow 28-26 loss to Texas Tech.
UC has nine games to play and four dates against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. They will likely be underdogs in all of those, as they are this coming weekend, Sept. 26 against 3-0 Kansas State at +6.5.
The Wildcats from Manhattan have 6-foot-3, 200-pound Avery Johnson, who beat UC in 2024, 41-15. The Bearcats have faced mobile quarterbacks in Mason McKenzie of Boston College, Western Carolina's Lex Thomas and pocket passer David McComb of Miami University was an effective scrambler.
Johnson is the most effective yet, running for 152 yards and two scores vs. Tulane in a 31-20 victory. He was 21-for-28 passing for 227 yards. On the season, he has 618 passing yards for six touchdowns and 253 on the ground with three scores.
JC French IV, who just won a favorable duel with Miami's McComb, has 631 yards passing for five touchdowns, with 143 on the ground and four scores. French hasn't thrown an interception, while Johnson was picked off twice in Week 2 by Washington State.
Big 12 schedule heats up for Cincinnati Bearcats after September
Scott Satterfield's goal dating back to Big 12 media day in July in Texas was a 4-0 start with all of the games being in Cincinnati.
The first road game is at Arizona, across two time zones and West Virginia just beat No. 25 Virginia for a 3-0 start. UC will be in Morgantown on Oct. 17.
Then it's back-to-back home games with Texas Tech and Utah and a road game at Houston on Nov. 7. As things stand currently, you can see the Bearcats being underdogs in every game until a Nov. 14 home date with Colorado and a road game the following week at Iowa State. The Cyclones, projected last in the league over the summer, recently lost to ranked rival Iowa by only a field goal.
UC's regular season ends in Provo against BYU, which is another time zone and talent challenge on Nov. 22.
The Bearcats will need a fuller four-quarter effort than what they showed vs. Miami University to get out of town 4-0. After that, they have eight games to gain bowl eligibility.
However, another six-win season doesn't sound palatable, especially after two straight winless Novembers. But it's college football, where a second added to the clock can lead to a comeback win (Michigan vs. Western Michigan) and a botched kneel-down in the end zone can be a recovered fumble for a touchdown (Vanderbilt over North Carolina State).
If you've watched enough games, you may cry "unbelievable" after improbable comebacks, but that's what keeps fans coming back.
"You play four quarters," Satterfield said. "You don't play just a half, you don't play just a quarter. My golf game, if you're up on somebody after four holes, that doesn't mean you're going to win. They play 18 holes for a reason. When they do handicaps, they do 18 holes. You play four quarters and you finish the game. Then, you look down and see if what you did was good enough or wasn't good enough."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Post-Victory Bell, how are UC Bearcats equipped for Big 12 play?
