The Cincinnati Bearcats' 2026 football season nearly came to a grinding halt after barely finding a Battle for the Victory Bell win, 35-31, over Miami (OH ).
Scott Satterfield's team came out flat and unprepared to throw different looks at Miami's passing game, but found a way to keep Miami from any second-half TDs to steal the victory. They trailed 28-7 at one point.
Miami passer David McComb (17-28, 334 yards and one TD, one INT) gave Cincinnati all it could handle as a 14-15 point betting favorite entering the game (93% chance to win on ESPN's Matchup Predictor).
The all-time series in the nation's longest-running non-conference FBS rivalry is now 62-60-7 in favor of UC with no other matchups scheduled.
Cincinnati allowed an eye-popping 10 yards-per-play in the first half and nearly made too many ill-timed mistakes.
Cincinnati Bearcats running back Gi'Bran Payne (6) runs downfield as Miami RedHawks linebacker Blayne Myrick (15) goes to tackle him in the first quarter of the football game between Cincinnati Bearcats and Miami RedHawks at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Saturday, September 19, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
UC really needed to start 4-0 in all the September games across the Queen City this season, and they still have a chance to pull that off. They face one of the tougher remaining schedules in the Big 12.
I had them going 6-6 even with a 4-0 start, and now they have to continue the second-half momentum for what was a projected coin-flip matchup against Kansas State next week. Saturday was almost embarrassing for this program; the first half was a debacle.
They allowed a kickoff return touchdown on the opening play of the game and never led in the contest until the last five minutes against a team roughly ranked just outside the top-100 when averaging top analytic metrics.
Pitt has comparable talent to Cincinnati and beat Miami 59-14 in Week 1, yet UC couldn't get anything going in basically any phase of the game during that scary first half. They gave up that return, missed a field goal, and turned the ball over in the third quarter. In the end, they found a way to get the job done.
JC French IV (31-43, 309 yards, two TDs, one rushing TD) willed the second-half comeback. He started 8-of-9 from the field and then cratered, but found new life in the latter frames. This was the most pressure he's faced from a front yet, getting hit six times and sacked three.
Still, he weathered the storm and found a way to lead four second-half TD drives.
The Miami freshman came ready to ball on Saturday, leaving basically no good options for a Cincinnati player of the game. McComb showed off some dimes in the first half and had no fear attacking the UC secondary.
He had a WHOPPING 227.8 passer rating in those quarters. It led to a career-best passing-yardage game for him and a receiving-yardage high for Maleek Huggins.
Cincinnati got little to no pressure on him in the first half and it allowed the young rising star to instantly settle into a rhythm. It was a stunning defensive afternoon from a unit that looked like it could help carry the Bearcats to big wins this season.
They allowed five different receivers to have at least 30 yards and couldn't adjust to the process like they were able to do against an FCS opponent last week.
McComb entered the game with pretty strong metrics and could end up one of the MAC's best passers this year. Still, letting him torch the secondary on multiple drives was a shocker, especially the 36-yard corner TD strike to close the half.
There was no player of the game for Cincinnati when you barely escape like this, but French has a case along with running back Cole Tabb (six carries for 78 yards, two scores), while cornerback Jacob Finley got absolutely torched on the other side.
McComb spammed his right side for most of the big plays through the air and made the senior defender look like a fellow freshman. Finley got spun out of his shoes by a few RedHawk routes and has to fix that against much tougher competition every week moving forward.
He did make a huge game-saving pass breakup in the endzone on Miami's final drive.
The excitement for Nipp At Night against Kansas State next Saturday at 7 p.m. ET stays alive (depending on your big-picture feelings).
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/cincinnati as Cincinnati Bearcats Football 2026 Instant Takeaways: Miami (OH) RedHawks .
