CINCINNATI — After starting 5-0 in Big 12 play, Scott Satterfield’s Cincinnati Bearcats have lost three straight, most recently falling Saturday night to No. 11 BYU.
But despite the loss, Satterfield felt it was as good of a game atmosphere as he’s been around since arriving in the Queen City.
“I’ve been here three years, and that was the best experience I’ve ever had here in Nippert Stadium,” Satterfield told reporters after the game. “It was incredible, starting with all the things that we had to do today with the ‘Big Noon Kickoff’. A lot of things happened around our campus today. Our students were out in full force. It was a great atmosphere. It was big-time college football today, and I appreciate everybody. That is what college football is all about.”
While the score was tied midway through the second quarter and the Bearcats clawed within six points in the fourth, BYU led for practically the entire game and ended up winning by double digits, earning some style points and getting one step closer to the Big 12 championship game.
“That BYU football team is the 11th-ranked team coming in here. We went toe-to-toe with those guys,” Satterfield said. “We did not play our best ball, we missed three field goals, and we had a 4th and 1 inside the 5 we didn’t get.
“... Respect to BYU. We just came up short tonight. I thought our guys came out and eagerly wanted to go out and get a win tonight against a good team.”
LJ Martin was BYU’s crown jewel, toting the rock 32 times for a career-high 222 yards and two touchdowns to put the Cougars on his back and bolster his Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year résumé.
With Martin’s effort and another 46 rushing yards from QB Bear Bachmeier, BYU averaged 5.4 yards across 49 attempts on the ground and racked up more than 38 minutes of possession to keep Cincinnati’s offense off the field.
“That’s their plan, and they do a great job of huddling, slowing the game down, and handing the ball to LJ (Martin), who’s an outstanding back. I think he leads the Big 12 in rushing,” Satterfield said.
“So they’re just going to let him carry the football, and they’re just going to fall forward three yards. I felt like we had some great initial contact. They may go another two or three yards, and you do that multiple times and it’s a first down. I thought (Martin) did an outstanding job with that. I mean, the guy had 32 carries tonight. That’s an incredible workload from a running back there.
“That was their plan, keep it away from our offense, and that’s what they did.”
With the loss, Cincinnati falls to 7-4 on the season — the best record of Satterfield’s Bearcats tenure — but is now eliminated from the Big 12 championship race.
But perhaps more painfully for the Bearcats, they were unable to secure a senior night victory for their graduating players playing one last game at Nippert.
“I love those guys. They’re awesome. They’re great guys, and I hurt for them,” Satterfield said of his senior group. “That’s what I told them in the locker room. We hurt for those guys, and we love them. We want it bad for them and everybody else that was in this stadium tonight.
“We came up a little short, and it’s about the execution. You have to execute the plays. It’s not about the effort those guys give. They give great effort. They come to work every day. We care a great deal for those seniors, and we are disappointed we didn’t get them a winning note there at our senior night.”
