College GameDay rolled into town to embellish the hype of a never-before-seen Big 12 matchup.
The Utah Utes and Cincinnati Bearcats collided in front of a raucous sold-out crowd of 51,672 Saturday night in Salt Lake City, and the Utes thrived in their habitat. Utah (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) cruised to a wire-to-wire 45-14 domination of Cincinnati (7-2, 5-1), recording its seventh win of the season by 25+ points. Meanwhile, Cincinnati snapped its 7-game win streak and suffered its first blemish on a previously
perfect Big 12 résumé.
Utah’s offense started strong with touchdowns on its initial two possessions, manufacturing a 14-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The separation occurred in the second frame when Bearcats mistakes started to pile up. With two chances to trim the 7-point deficit, Cincinnati kicker Stephen Rusnak missed his first field goal in 1,457 days — ending a streak of 22 consecutive makes. On the following drive, Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby fumbled at the Utah 19-yard line, marking just the second empty-handed red zone trip of the year for the Bearcat offense.
The Utes padded their lead to 24-7 at the break, but Cincinnati threatened a comeback at the beginning of the third quarter. Sorsby showcased his elite deep ball mechanics, firing a bomb to speedster Cyrus Allen for an 88-yard touchdown connection. Trailing by 10, strong safety Christian Harrison intercepted a Devon Dampier pass at the goal line, providing Cincinnati the necessary momentum to make it a one-score game. However, the Bearcats never saw a productive possession again, punting the ball away on four consecutive drives — including a pair of three-and-outs in the third quarter.
One of those three-and-out punts was the deciding blow. With 1:36 remaining in the third quarter, Mana Carvalho paraded through a sea of white jerseys, taking a punt back 75 yards for a touchdown to rewrite the score to 38-14. For each yard Carvalho traveled on the return, the broadcast camera shook with increasingly ferocious energy as the Salt Lake City crowd reached its peak decibel levels.
Cincinnati’s typically efficient offense — which amassed 37 points in four of its first five Big 12 matchups — managed a season-low 14 against a sturdy Ute defense. The Bearcats, ranked top four nationally in yards per rush, succeeded on the ground with 6.9 yards per carry despite the lack of starting running back Evan Pryor. However, Sorsby completed just 11-of-31 passes in a boom-or-bust passing game, averaging over 20 yards per completion on the times he connected. The star quarterback ended his seven-game streak without an interception, although it proved trivial to Cincinnati since Utah fumbled the ball on the runback. Still, the Bearcats lost three turnovers on the night after committing four giveaways across their first eight outings.
Utah’s offense, which ranked 102nd in scoring in 2024, is now 10th with 39.6 points per game. The Utes exceeded 40 for the fourth time in Big 12 play this season thanks to the dual-threat abilities of Dampier (213 passing yards, 78 rushing yards) and a 104-yard showing by running back Wayshawn Parker in the ground game.
Now that the dust settled after College GameDay’s first Big 12 showcase of the season, where do the Bearcats and Utes sit in the conference title race? Utah still needs help after losses to current AP Top 10 teams BYU and Texas Tech, and the Utes conclude with longtime Big 12 staples Baylor, Kansas State, and Kansas as they seek their first 10-win campaign since 2022.
Interestingly enough, Cincinnati leaves this defeat still in control of its own destiny for a trip to Arlington for the Big 12 Championship Game. The Bearcats await with a November slate of Arizona, BYU, and TCU, with an opportunity to win a valuable tiebreaker over the undefeated Cougars on Nov. 22 at Nippert Stadium. With all signs pointing to the Big 12 champion receiving a College Football Playoff bid based on the current rankings, Cincinnati remains in play for their first CFP appearance in four years after the setback in Salt Lake.
