First-half scoring burst carries Cincinnati previous Arizona State 24-14

Brendan Sorsby had a pair of rushing touchdowns as Cincinnati scored 24 unanswered first-half points in a 24-14 win over visiting Arizona State in a Big 12 matchup Saturday afternoon at Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sorsby, was 23-of-31 passing for 206 yards with an interception for the Bearcats (5-2, 2-1 Big 12), while also rushing seven times for 26 yards.

Corey Kiner rushed 22 times for 99 yards for Cincinnati and eclipsed 2,000 rushing yards for his career. Xzavier Henderson caught eight passes for 67 yards.

Cam Skattebo carried 17 times for 75 yards with two TD for the Sun Devils (5-2, 2-2), who are in their debut Big 12 season and saw their two-game conference winning streak come to an end.

Arizona State quarterback Jeff Sims was 12 of 23 for 155 yards, while Jordyn Tyson had six receptions for 108 yards.

The Sun Devils put together an impressive six-play, 66-yard drive on their first series after forcing a Cincinnati punt. Sims led the offense to the 2-yard line before Skattebo took a pitch, danced by a defender and cashed in with the first score at 10:35.

The defense did its part again on the next series as Keith Abney II picked off Sorsby, but the Bearcats’ Kameron Wilson recovered a Skattebo fumble. Sorsby then dashed 14 yards to tie the score 7-all.

Nathan Hawks’ 46-yard field goal with 2:18 remaining in the first quarter gave Cincinnati its first lead.

Less than four minutes into the second quarter, Evan Pryor pushed the advantage to 17-7 by blazing away on a 55-yard TD run as Cincinnati. Sorsby rounded out the first-half scoring on a TD run from 1 yard out for a 24-7 lead with just under two minutes remaining before the half.

The Bearcats led 274-138 in total first-half yardage and had 148-56 advantage in yards passing.

The Sun Devils went 74 yards in eight plays late in the third quarter to get a 1-yard TD run from Skattebo, cutting the deficit to 24-14.

Arizona State attempted to make it a one-score game inside the final six minutes, but Ian Hershey missed field goals from 48 and 41 yards.

–Field Level Media