The Cincinnati Bearcats won't take the field this weekend, as it's their lone bye of the 2026 season.
It comes after their first loss of the season, a painful pounding in Old Pueblo that saw the Arizona Wildcats outgain them by nearly 300 yards (522-227) with a 238-74 advantage on the ground. The Wildcats won with the Bearcats not even scoring until the game had been well decided.
Arizona won 34-7 with JC French IV running for a late score; otherwise, UC would have been shut out for the first time since getting whacked at Ohio State in 2019.
Cincinnati Bearcats with bye week clean-up on schedule
Rather than having a weekend off to enjoy 5-0, UC will be in quick-fix mode at 4-1 with another tough Big 12 road game ahead on Oct. 17 at noon in Morgantown against West Virginia.
On Oct. 6, UC head coach Scott
Satterfield, quarterback JC French IV and safety MJ Cannon discussed the desert disappointment and looked ahead to West Virginia.
Scott Satterfield says Arizona tape wasn't pretty
"We just didn't play well," Satterfield said. "A lot of mistakes out there that compounded. We need to play a clean game. We're not talented enough to have mistakes, then overcome them."
Satterfield mentioned the first half could have ended 10-10 had the Bearcats capitalized on Cannon's interception of Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita. They went backward with a sack, then Stephen Rusnak's 53-yard attempt went off the post. That would've made it 7-3.
Later in the second quarter, they got to the 2-yard line, but went for it on fourth down and French's pass for Gavin Grover was ruled out of bounds. That might've tied the game 7-7. Instead, Arizona got a late field goal for the halftime lead of 10-0.
In the third quarter, Jacob Finley knocked the ball loose from Antwan Roberts after a 70-yard run, but Antwan Peek Jr. batted it out of the end zone. That gave Arizona the ball up close, and Fifita ran it in with Arizona going up 17-0.
Satterfield called it the turning point of the game.
"Had he went down and knocked it out, it would've been our ball on the 20," Satterfield said. "Rules are different in the end zone. You get the ball on the 20 going the other way and now they get the ball on the five."
UC had major offensive struggles vs. Arizona
Running-wise, Arizona's front line won the trenches, holding the Bearcats to 74 yards with quarterback French the leading rusher. The longest run from a running back was eight yards by Gi'Bran Payne, who finished with 24 on 11 carries.
"The first four weeks we were able to pop some big runs that kind of get you in rhythm," Satterfield said. "We never were able to do that and lean on that running game. I thought they did a good job of muddying up the front, and we just could never get past that linebacker level."
Satterfield also said receivers weren't always in sync with French, with some routes being incorrectly run combined with French being hesitant in making the throws. JV Gibson, UC's top receiver with 18 catches, had but one target.
"JV did not play a great game," Satterfield said. "That's the worst game he's played for us in the first five. He's certainly played way better than that and he will play better than that. We're counting on JV. JV's one of our most talented players. He's got to play well. For us as coaches, we have to do a better job putting him in spots to make plays."
As for changes, Satterfield said there would be some self-scouting this week to determine who's making plays and who's underutilized. Another receiver he mentioned was Malachi Henry, who also went without a catch when Satterfield saw him open. The Bearcats could possibly take more chances in coming weeks downfield.
"He's made some tight throws," Satterfield said of French. "He ended up with four drops. That hurts. There's a couple times throughout the first five games where maybe we could've pushed the ball downfield a little bit more, and we were a little bit conservative. We're going to need to be able to hit some more chunk pass plays.'"
Satterfield says the uniqueness of Arizona's defense led to the poor performance by the offensive line, though he thought pass protection was OK.
"The run blocking was the disappointing part," he said.
JC French IV reacts to Arizona loss, bye week
"Moving forward, there are a lot of things I can get better at after this game," French said. "It's going to help me the rest of the season so that won't happen again."
French thinks the offense may get a little more aggressive but insists the Bearcats aren't going to let one game take away from all of their offseason work that got them off to the fast start. Despite their off game, French says the offensive linemen are generally positive and are the best at keeping the team on the same page.
"I think it's going to show us a lot about this team how we practice this week," French said. "It can't be a laid-back week. It has to be uptempo."
MJ Cannon, defense, also needs bye week to rest, improve
"We're not too worried about what the offense is doing," Cannon said. "When we go out there it's, 'How can we perform? How can we give the best effort? How can we give the ball back to our offense to give us a chance to win the game?' "
Cannon is looking forward to the bye week for recovery and balance as they focus in on another tough Big 12 road game Oct. 17.
Tough slate ahead for Cincinnati Bearcats
With seven games to play, there are five Big 12 teams in the Associated Press poll and four in the AFCA Coaches poll. As things stand now, after the West Virginia game, UC plays three Top 25 teams in a row.
No. 11 Texas Tech is at Nippert Stadium Oct. 24, followed by No. 12 Utah on Oct. 31. The Bearcats then go to Houston for a Nov. 7 kickoff with the 22nd-ranked Cougars. UC's regular season ends Nov. 28 at No. 8 BYU, another Mountain Time kickoff. Since joining the league, UC has lost all four of its games in that time zone.
No. 18 Oklahoma State is also ranked at 3-1, rebounding from a 1-11 record in 2025. The Cowboys just beat West Virginia in Morgantown 41-24 and are at UCF this weekend.
What about West Virginia Mountaineers game Oct. 17?
First off, West Virginia hosts Arizona this weekend, Oct. 10 at noon. As UC had to play at Arizona at 11 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, the Wildcats will be playing football at 9 a.m. for those watching in Tucson.
West Virginia lost at Iowa State 45-42 and is 3-2, with the other loss coming at home to Oklahoma State. They've been averaging 294 rushing yards, most of that coming from new running back Cam Cook and quarterback Michael Hawkins. Jr.
"They just kept going down and scoring," Satterfield said. "It was almost who had the ball last. For West Virginia, Cam Cook and the quarterback (Hawkins) had every carry. That's it. It kind of tells you what they want to be and what they want to do on offense."
Said UC safety Cannon, "I've seen Hawkins. He's a good player. He uses his feet very well, he likes to make plays on the run. I'm sure we'll have a good game plan in place for that."
Hawkins played at Oklahoma last season and had 149 yards rushing at Iowa State, while Cook was with coach Rich Rodriguez at Jacksonville State and finished with 142 yards at Iowa State.
Hawkins has been over 100 yards in every game except for Tennessee-Martin, where he was only four yards off at 96. Cook has also been over 100 yards in every game except for UT-Martin (a 52-7 blowout), with a high of 193 in their loss to Oklahoma State.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Long, hard stretch of games ahead for Cincinnati Bearcats football
