Oklahoma running back Marcus Major (24) breaks a tackle against Cincinnati cornerback Justin Harris (12) during Saturday’s game in Cincinnati. (AP photo)
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati got its first taste of Big 12 football on Saturday against Oklahoma, the program that has set the standard in the conference for most of the last two decades.
The Bearcats held up OK, but were outplayed in a 20-6 loss to the No. 16 Sooners and Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 322 yards and a touchdown and ran for another TD.
Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield said his players and their fan base should be encouraged by the performance.
“They’ve won a lot of championships,” Satterfield said of seven-time national champion and 14-time Big 12 champion Oklahoma. “They’ve been around a long time, and this is our first game in the Big 12, and our guys went toe-to-toe.
“This should be encouraging to our guys and to our people to say, ‘Hey, listen, we’re not that far off.’”
Gabriel, a UCF transfer, completed 26 of 38 passes, rebounding from his three-interception performance in his last trip to Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium in 2019 and notching his first career victory in three tries against the Bearcats.
“It was different from the last time I was here for sure,” Gabriel said. “It was just a great atmosphere. I loved that I was able to finish it out.”
Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) outgained Cincinnati 322-235 through the air.
Cincinnati’s points came on two field goals. The Bearcats (2-2, 0-1) have gone 15 straight drives without scoring a touchdown, dating back to last week’s overtime loss at home to in-state foe Miami (Ohio).
Carter Brown made a 40-yard field goal to open the scoring with 7:39 in the first quarter.
Oklahoma responded at the end of the quarter, capping a six-play, 66-yard drive with a 5-yard strike from Gabriel to Nic Anderson.
The Sooners grabbed a 10-3 lead on a 34-yard field goal with 8:40 to go before halftime.
Cincinnati quarterback Emory Jones threw a pass into double coverage in the end zone on the ensuing drive, resulting in an interception by safety Key Lawrence. The turnover was the closest the Bearcats would come to a touchdown.
Brown missed a 26-yard field goal just before intermission, continuing the Bearcats’ woes near the end zone.
Brown bounced back by netting a career-long 54-yarder to pull the Bearcats within 10-6 at the 8:22 mark of the third.
Oklahoma’s offense countered with a nine-play, 75-yard surgical drive. Gabriel punctuated it by calling his own number on a 1-yard score to put the Sooners ahead 17-6 with 5:23 before the fourth.
“Dillon was able to extend a couple plays,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “There are some designed plays we run for him too. There was a speed option. He ran a quarterback draw which he did a really nice job. It is always good to have that. It is what we call a plus-one run game.”
Oklahoma surged ahead 20-6 following a 30-yard field goal in the fourth, and then the Sooners defense picked off Jones for the second time.
Oklahoma’s defense sacked Jones twice.
Takeaways
Oklahoma: The Sooners’ march toward a 15th and final Big 12 title got off to a solid start. Oklahoma, which is scheduled to join the Southeastern Conference on July 1, 2024, has more conference championships than any other Big 12 program. No other program has more than three. Oklahoma has now held opposing teams to 17 or fewer points in each of its first four games.
Cincinnati: A morning of celebrating ahead of their first Big 12 game ended in an afternoon of despair as the Bearcats failed to get anything going offensively under the offensive-minded, Satterfield. Cincinnati lost back-to-back games at home for the first time since 2017.
Up next
Oklahoma: The Sooners return home Sept. 30 to host Iowa State. Oklahoma has won three straight meetings against the Cyclones. The Sooners haven’t lost in the series since Oct. 3, 2000 (37-30) in Ames, Iowa.
Cincinnati: The Bearcats look to capture their first win in Big 12 play Friday night at fellow Big 12 newcomer Brigham Young. Like Cincinnati, BYU joined the conference in July.
Ohio 38, Bowling Green 7
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Kurtis Rourke threw two of his three touchdown passes in the first quarter, Keye Thompson and Roman Parodie returned fumbles for scores and Ohio breezed to a victory against Bowling Green in a Mid-American Conference opener.
Rourke completed 14 of 16 passes for 196 yards for the Bobcats (4-1, 1-0). Rourke connected with Sieh Bangura for a 29-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage and tossed a 10-yard touchdown to Will Kacmarek on Ohio’s second possession. Thompson returned a fumble 35 yards for a score for a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
Ohio got a 27-yard field goal from Gianni Spetic and Parodie’s 42-yard return for a score in the second quarter to lead 24-0 at halftime.
Rourke’s third touchdown pass was a 19-yarder to Miles Cross for the only scoring in the third quarter.
Terion Stewart had a 4-yard touchdown run for the Falcons (1-3, 0-1) in the fourth quarter. Stewart carried 12 times for 107 yards. Connor Bazelak completed 17 of 32 passes for 104 yards with two interceptions.
Miami (Ohio) 62, Delaware State 20
OXFORD — Brett Gabbert passed for 180 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half, and Keyon Mozee rushed for two second-half scores as Miami (Ohio) beat Delaware State.
Gabbert completed 15 of 20 passes by the break as Miami led 34-13. Mozee had rushing scores of 23 and 6 yards in the third quarter to help build a 55-20 lead entering the fourth.
The RedHawks (3-1) finished with 466 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Jordan Brunson had 109 yards on the ground with a touchdown. Nate Milanowski, Rashad Amos and Kenny Tracy also rushed for scores.
Marqui Adams threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns for Delaware State (0-4), which also has losses to Bowie (22-11), Army (57-0) and Richmond (38-6). Wade Inge had seven grabs for 67 yards and two touchdowns. Khyheem Waleed added 125 yards receiving on four catches.
Miami begins Mid-American Conference play next Saturday at Kent State. Miami has not entered MAC play at 3-1 in non-conference action since Ben Roethlisberger and the RedHawks went 3-1 in 2003.
Toledo 49, Western Michigan 31
Peny Boone ran for a career-high 211 yards including two fourth-quarter touchdowns, backup quarterback Tucker Gleason threw for two scores and Toledo defeated Western Michigan in a Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.
Boone’s 54-yard run to the Western Michigan 1-yard line set up Connor Walendzak’s score for a 35-31 lead. Boone added a 19-yard score to extend the lead to 11 points with nine minutes remaining then a 2-yard score in the final minute.
Toledo (3-1, 1-0) trailed 24-14 at halftime and starting quarterback Dequan Finn left with an injury early in the third quarter. Gleason came on to throw a pair of TD passes in the quarter for a 28-24 lead. WMU (1-3, 0-1) took the lead back with a CJ Hester 1-yard run before Toledo’s final three touchdowns.
Gleason and Finn both threw for two scores though Finn was intercepted twice. Jerjuan Newton had three TD catches.
Jalen Buckley ran for 190 yards on 29 carries and two scores for the Broncos.
Each team had four turnovers. Keni-H Lovely forced a fumble and returned it 16 yards for a WMU touchdown and Tate Hallock added two interceptions and a forced fumble. Emanuel McNeil-Warren had an interception and forced a fumble for the Rockets.
