College GameDay is en route to Nashville, TN for a top 15 matchup between College Football Playoff hopefuls Missouri and Vanderbilt. Another top 15 matchup graces the schedule, as Oklahoma and Ole Miss compete in a battle of 6-1 teams vying to qualify for their first-ever SEC Championship Game. And of course, you can’t forget undefeated Texas A&M’s primetime trip to LSU or the always-intriguing Paul Bunyan Trophy rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State.
But one matchup particularly sticks out
on the Week 9 schedule due to its potential for excitement. No. 21 Cincinnati (6-1, 4-0 Big 12) hosts Baylor (4-3, 2-2 Big 12), and Nippert Stadium is the venue hosting what’s likely to be the most thrilling contest on Saturday. Here’s why:
QB battle is as good as it gets
Think about classic 2010s Big 12 matchups, back when Texas Tech could drop 50 points and it wouldn’t be enough for a victory — like the 2016 Baker Mayfield vs. Patrick Mahomes 66-59 Oklahoma-Texas Tech barnburner. This is as close as we’ll get to one of those matchups in 2025. Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby and Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson square up for one of the best quarterback matchups we’ll see in all of 2025.
Robertson is currently the FBS leading in passing yards, firing for 2,376 across his first seven starts. The senior Lubbock native generated 310+ yards in five games thus far, crossing the 390 threshold in four, and delivering multiple touchdowns in all of them. Robertson can light up the air as well as any quarterback in the country. Even after a slow start last week against TCU, he still roared back to fire 318 passing yars and two touchdowns in a 42-36 defeat.
Sorsby can be found at 32nd on the passing yards list, but the second-year Bearcat starter thrives in a different manner. While Robertson clears Sorsby in the yardage department, Sorsby has him beat in accuracy. The Cincinnati star is keeping thing as efficient as possible, connecting on 65.6 percent of attempts while firing 18 touchdowns to one interception. He has two 300-yard games — including a 388-yard outburst at Kansas — but most impressively, he has only taken two sacks and refrained from a pick since the season opener vs. Nebraska.
Both quarterbacks are fully capable of piling 300+ in this one, and every passing play can be an explosive touchdown with these quarterbacks and their home run threat receivers sharing the field.
Defenses leave more to be desired
Want to know how to spice up a quarterback battle? Remove the defensive firepower. Cincinnati and Baylor each have their moments defensively, but they rank 89th and 106th, respectively, in yards allowed per game. Cincinnati has struggled more containing the aerial attack which is Baylor’s specialty, while Baylor takes its lapses against both facets of offense — and Cincinnati is much more balanced in its run-pass success than the Bears. Thus, each offense is built to score in droves on the opposing defense in this matchup.
The Bearcats and Bears are no stranger to shootouts. Cincinnati surrendered 597 total yards in a 37-34 track meet at Kansas and then allowed 470 in a 38-30 home win vs. Iowa State. Meanwhile, Baylor yielded over 400 in all six FBS matchups, even doing so against Oklahoma State’s 124th-ranked offense. Also, neither unit forces turnovers at a high clip. Baylor has seven takeaways on the year, while Cincinnati has five — picking off its first pass vs. Oklahoma State last week (a 100-yard Matthew McDoom pick-six).
Points will not be at a premium in this one, and in all likelihood, it’s going to take a lot more than 30 to emerge in this Big 12 matchup.
No lead is safe with either team
This ties in with the offensive successes and defensive woes, but no lead is safe for either team — whether leading or trailing. Let’s take a look at comebacks and near comebacks this year.
- In Week 2, Baylor trailed SMU 38-24 with under six minutes remaining. Sawyer Robertson fired touchdown passes of 48 and 21 yards in those final six minutes to extend the contest, and the Bears outlasted the Mustangs on a double-overtime field goal.
- In Week 5, Kansas took a 34-30 lead over Cincinnati with 1:45 remaining. The Bearcats flew down the field in roughly a minute to notch the game-winning touchdown with 29 seconds left.
- In Week 6, Baylor trailed Kansas State by 14 points with under 10 minutes remaining. The Bears sliced the deficit to one-score at the 8:50 mark and then captured a 32-31 lead with 4:28 left in the fourth quarter. The teams then traded field goals in the final two minutes to vault Baylor to victory.
- In Week 6, Cincinnati led Iowa State 31-7 at halftime. Albeit unlikely, the Cyclones received a shot at a tying touchdown on the final play (from its own 35). The Bearcats held on 38-30, and Iowa State would have received a more likely chance at a comeback if not for a clutch 4th and 1 red zone stop with 7:40 remaining in a 9-point game.
- In Week 8, TCU led Baylor 42-21 with under four minutes left. After enduring a lengthy weather delay, the Bears stormed back with two late Sawyer Robertson touchdown delivers in the final 3:08 of clock. However, TCU recovered the final onside kick to preserve a victory.
One-score games are common with both teams too. Cincinnati has been involved in three, faring 2-1 in such outings. Baylor has been involved in four, compiling a 2-2 record in close games — with two of those contests (Arizona State loss, Kansas State win) decided by a field goal attempt at the buzzer.
Cincinnati vs. Baylor kicks off from Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
