There was some bad blood between No. 8 Texas Tech and Cincinnati over the summer, but neither side is saying if any of that remains as Texas Tech prepares to visit the Bearcats on Saturday.
"We have too much in front of us," Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire told reporters. "We still are nowhere close to the team that we can be, and so to focus on anything other than football and going 1-0 (this week), no matter who we're playing, I think would start taking away from what we're trying to do."
The animosity stems from the Red Raiders (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) landing Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby in the transfer portal this past offseason. Bearcats coach Scott Satterfield told reporters that Texas Tech committed tampering by contacting Sorsby before the season ended.
It became moot after the NCAA permanently banned Sorsby in May for gambling violations. Sorsby and Texas Tech got an injunction from a Texas court to block the NCAA's actions, but the school reversed course after the Big 12 filed a federal lawsuit in June.
The Red Raiders are coming off a 53-25 rout of Arizona State last Saturday. Besides posting a season high in points, they also racked up their highest yardage total of the season, 502. Their 404 yards in the first half marked the first time the Red Raiders had such a productive first half since Patrick Mahomes led the school to a 54-35 win over Baylor on Nov. 25, 2016.
J'Koby Williams needed just 11 carries to amass a career-high 165 yards in the win. He scored touchdowns on runs of 62 and 38 yards. The running back ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 538 rushing yards.
The Bearcats (4-2, 1-2) have lost two in a row after falling 45-42 last Saturday at West Virginia despite never trailing until Mountaineers kicker Jack Cassidy hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired. Saturday's contest begins a stretch of three straight against teams currently ranked in the top 14 of the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Cincinnati's defense has allowed 1,120 yards in its last two games, including a 34-7 loss at Arizona on Oct. 3. Satterfield's team permitted its last two opponents to convert 15 of 27 third-down attempts (55.6%), leaving the team to worst in the Big 12 and 127th nationally with a season rate of 45.7%.
The decisive field goal was set up by a 41-yard pass on third-and-9 from the West Virginia 2.
"That was the most disappointing thing," Satterfield said. "Didn't tackle well. Our pass defense was not great. Obviously, in the fourth quarter, we had guys on the field there to make plays, and we didn't make them."
Saturday's game will pit the Bearcats' rushing offense, which at 231.2 yards per game ranks third in the conference and 11th nationally, against a Red Raiders defense that holds opponents to just 82.0 yards per game on the ground. That leads the conference and ranks fifth nationally.
Cole Tabb leads Cincinnati with 448 rushing yards and eight touchdowns and is averaging 9.1 yards per carry. He ran for 118 yards and two scores on 15 carries against West Virginia and added a touchdown reception along with 51 receiving yards.
--Field Level Media