Cincinnati brings top-rated rushing attack to WVU football’s underperforming defense
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia football's defense has been gashed in the first three games of Big 12 play. In its defense, two of those three games, the Mountaineers faced two of the best quarterbacks in the conference. Against Iowa State, that wasn't the case. The Cyclones’ passing attack wasn't anything crazy, and instead they really exposed WVU's rushing defense.
The Mountaineers’ defense allowed the Cyclones to rush for 265 yards and had walk-on Aiden Flora receiving Heisman Trophy attention. WVU's defense missed tackles, wasn't aligned correctly and didn't fill gaps, resulting in another loss.
This weekend, WVU faces the third-best ground brigade in the conference, behind the Mountaineers and Utah, when Cincinnati comes to town at noon. The Bearcats average more yards per carry than WVU for fourth in the Big 12. Nationally, Cincinnati is 12th in the country in rushing yards per game.
The Bearcats’ rushing attack is led by Notre Dame transfer Gi’Bran Payne. Stanford transfer Cole Tabb is right there with Payne, creating a one-two punch.
But a major reason for their success is their veteran offensive line. Cincinnati returned multiple linemen from last year, including Evan Tengesdahl, who was an AP All-American in 2025, and other potential NFL Draft picks. Cincinnati's offensive line was named Offensive Line of the Week after Week 1.
"They got like three NFL offensive linemen potentially," defensive coordinator Zac Alley said. "I read that somewhere. They’re good at running the rock as long as you let them. They want to run the ball first, and they’ll throw it if they have to."
Running the ball is the team's first priority. Cincinnati ran the ball for 254 yards against Boston College in Week 1. The Bearcats completed 10 passes. Cincinnati ran the ball for 271 yards in the Big 12 win over Kansas State, and completed just eight passes in that game.
The Bearcats’ rushing attack creates a big challenge for Alley's underperforming defense.
"I think Boston College, they had like 64 passing yards, but they didn’t need it because they had 400 rushing yards," Alley said. "Obviously you got to stop the run, and they’d certainly rather run the ball than throw it on you."
Cincinnati can throw. The Bearcats lost quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who ended up not playing college football this year, to Texas Tech, so head coach Scott Satterfield picked up Georgia Southern quarterback J.C. French IV.
French doesn't have massive numbers because, as Alley said, he hasn't needed to throw too much. French has thrown for 984 yards and six touchdowns in five games. He takes care of the ball and hasn't thrown an interception.
French has some weapons, too. Oklahoma fifth-year transfer J.V. Gibson and junior Isaiah Johnson are French's top two targets. Gibson leads the team, catching half of French's touchdowns.
"The passing game is good enough to hurt you," French said. "They got some skill at receiver, but they definitely want to run it for eight-nine yards a carry and throw it twice or whatever it was."
French helps on the ground, too. He doesn't run as much as WVU quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., but can hurt a defense. French has carried the ball 50 times for 193 and is a threat in the red zone, with five scores.
The Mountaineers have had their ups and downs containing mobile quarterbacks. In Week 1, Coastal Carolina quarterback Deuce Bailey ran all over WVU in the second half, and then two weeks later, Virginia quarterback Beau Pribula looked lost.
That was before the last three games, where the defense hasn't been able to do anything right. If the defense can't stop the run, it won't matter if they can contain French or stop the pass. Cincinnati will just pound the rock until they stop them.
Defensive lineman Corey McIntyre Jr. thinks his unit is prepared to blow up running lanes.
"We would expect a lot of stretch for sure this weekend," McIntyre Jr. said. "Got a big O-line. I think as long as we execute our job. We gotta have quick feet, quick hands, distract them before they can get to us. I think we'll be good."