No. 8 Texas Tech looking to improve to 7-0 against Big 12 rival Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (AP) — No. 8 Texas Tech and Cincinnati are meeting Saturday for the first time since quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s transfer from the Bearcats to the Red Raiders fell through amid gambling allegations.

Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire said his players are focused on the pursuit of a College Football Playoff spot and not any lingering bad blood.

“We have too much in front of us,” McGuire said. “We’re still nowhere close to the team that we can be, and so to focus on anything other than the football and going 1-0 no matter who we’re playing I think would start taking away from what we’re trying to do.”

Sorsby played the 2024 and ’25 seasons for the Bearcats before transferring to Texas Tech. The NCAA declared Sorsby ineligible for making bets worth at least $90,000 during his college career at Indiana and Cincinnati. The NCAA cleared Cincinnati of any wrongdoing and Sorsby is now pursuing an NFL career.

The Bearcats and Red Raiders have moved on.

Red Raiders QB Will Hammond has passed for 1,334 yards and six touchdowns with five interceptions. Backup QB Tommy Castellanos has thrown two TD passes and rushed for two more scores. They are averaging 230 passing yards and nearly 38 points per game.

Bearcats QB JC French IV set new career highs with 389 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 45-42 loss at West Virginia. Helped by a strong rushing attack led by Cole Tabb who has a team-leading eight rushing TDs, French has passed for 1,339 yards and nine TDs with no interceptions.

Cincinnati (4-2, 1-2) lost to the Mountaineers despite having 622 total yards.

“It’s a new week, man,” Bearcats coach Scott Satterfield said. “You’ve got to come back strong. We know what we’re going up against. It’s a good football team. The offensive line has to have a great week. This is the best defensive line we’ve played. We have to put up a great plan.”

The Red Raiders are looking to extend their four-game road winning streak while remaining one of six unbeaten teams. This would be the fifth 7-0 start in program history, first since 2013.

“I’m expecting a great environment,” McGuire said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Gaining ground

The Bearcats rank 11th nationally averaging more than 231 rushing yards per game, third-most in the Big 12. They have rushed for 225 or more yards four times; only West Virginia, Army, and Navy have reached that mark more often. The Bearcats still want to maintain some balance on offense.

“You have to do both,” Satterfield said. “I still feel like you have to find ways to run the football. I think you have to get some tough yards in there. But then at the same time, when it does present itself, we got to be able to throw and catch. We want to be able to do both really well.”

Takeaways

The Red Raiders are tied for 14th nationally in forced turnovers and second in interceptions. They also are tied with Alabama for the most defensive touchdowns in FBS this season. All three of the Red Raiders’ starting linebackers have pick-6 returns for touchdowns this season.

“Just got to hone in and have disciplined eyes as a quarterback,” French said. “You have to be really dialed in. I think their linebackers do a really good job of covering. It presents a big challenge for offenses.”

Late-season slides

The Bearcats have lost two straight following a 4-0 start. They are hoping to avoid a repeat of the past two seasons which ended with five-game losing streaks. Last season, the Bearcats were 7-1 before dropping their final five games including a 35-13 loss to Navy in the Liberty Bowl. In 2024, they were 5-2 before going 0-5 and failing to become bowl eligible.