Cincinnati traveled to Morgantown hoping to collect its first victory over West Virginia since 2009, back when the programs shared the Big East Conference together.
The Bearcats either led or were tied for all 60:00 of game clock. Yet, they lost 45-42.
Jack Cassidy sunk a 35-yard field goal as time expired to hand West Virginia a thrilling shootout victory, giving the Mountaineers a 19-3-1 lead in the all-time series.
Until that point, Cincinnati remained one step ahead the entire contest. The Bearcats
opened the game with a quick 7-0 lead. They never led by more than seven but never trailed until the score was marked final. West Virginia responded to every touchdown with seven points of its own, all the way until the scoreboard read 42-42.
The Mountaineers knotted the score with 3:44 remaining. Cincinnati answered each of West Virginia’s previous five touchdowns, but the Bearcats could not deliver in crunch time. They were subject to a quick three-and-out, punting on 4th-and-3 from their own 33-yard line with just over two minutes remaining in the contest. Max Fletcher’s punt was a beauty, traveling 66 yards down to the West Virginia 1-yard line.
However, in a game dictated by the offenses, the Mountaineers escaped from the inopportune field position. On 3rd-and-9 from his own 2-yard line, quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. launched a deep ball down the left sideline to Preston Strachan, who boxed out his defender in one-on-one coverage. An incompletion would have likely provided the Bearcats advantageous field position to win with a field goal, but West Virginia suddenly had breathing room. The momentum sustained, and Strachan subsequently made a 39-yard catch-and-run to set up Cassidy’s buzzer-beating field goal.
The final drive was a microcosm of the game for the Cincinnati defense, which allowed 464 passing yards and three touchdowns to Hawkins. Prior to Saturday, the Mountaineers were renowned for ranking top-5 nationally in rushing production, but a different formula was used by Rich Rodriguez’s offense to fend off the Bearcats. Strachan was the hero on the final drive — securing two of his three catches to advance the Mountaineers into field goal range. But earlier in the day, DJ Epps carved the Cincinnati secondary with eight receptions for 163 yards.
Hawkins recorded seven completions of more than 30 yards, and each of his last four completions — including the 40-yard tying touchdown to Cam Cook — went for at least 36 yards. The quarterback was at his best in the final frame, where West Virginia scored 24 points of its 45 points.
Despite capturing the win, the Mountaineers allowed more than 40 points for the fourth consecutive week. Cincinnati’s offense was also highly successful until its late three-and-out. JC French IV threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, setting his new career-high through the air and remaining interception-free on the season through six starts. Cole Tabb led the effort on the ground with 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns, as the Bearcats’ high-powered run game outrushed West Virginia’s by 99 yards.
The contest featured 1,220 yards, with Cincinnati creating a 622-598 advantage. Neither offense turned it over, but the Bearcats had a critical turnover on downs on the second drive of the game. They failed a 4th-and-1 from the West Virginia 15-yard line, where a conversion could have resulted in a 14-0 lead in a game where the margin of separation never exceeded seven.
In the second half, Cincinnati never possessed the ball with a lead. West Virginia responded to all three Bearcats’ touchdowns in the fourth quarter — and all in warp speed. None of the final three Mountaineer touchdown drives exhausted more as many two minutes of game clock, and their game-winning field goal drive consumed just 2:05.
West Virginia (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) snapped its three-game losing streak to capture its first Big 12 victory of 2026. The Mountaineers continued their defensive struggles but enjoyed one of their most prolific passing performances in program history. Hawkins’ 464 yards ranked fifth all-time and were the most in a single game under Rodriguez. Rodriguez already matched his win total from his first season of his second stint in Morgantown and now has a chance to exceed it next Saturday at TCU.
Cincinnati (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) has now dropped six of its last seven Big 12 contests. After dropping consecutive matchups, the Bearcats are still searching for their first road win of 2026. However, they’ll look to revert to their winning ways back at Nippert Stadium next Saturday, when they faced undefeated No. 8 Texas Tech.
