It was a disappointing night for the Oklahoma State faithful for homecoming in Stillwater, as No. 24-ranked Cincinnati defeated the Cowboys, 49-17, on Saturday in front of 46,901 fans at Boone Pickens Stadium.

The Bearcats improved to 6-1 overall to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2022. Cincinnati also remained undefeated, 4-0, in the Big 12 and tied with BYU (4-0) for first place in the league. OSU is now 1-6 overall, 0-4 in the Big 12.

“First of all, just really proud of our guys, again, coming on the road in the Big 12, we know it’s challenging to come out and try to get a win on the road,” said Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield. “Homecoming, great atmosphere here. I thought the crowd was really into it, and I thought Oklahoma State played hard today.”

Cincinnati scored on all four of its first-half drives, including two touchdowns pass plays to wide receiver Cyrus Allen, and an option play that he turned into a score. The other scoring drive came when quarterback Brendan Sorsby connected with tight end Joe Royer.

“Our offense had the ball four times in the first half and scored on all of them,” Satterfield said. “They really grabbed that momentum, particularly before halftime after being backed up at our own 5- or 6-yard line.”

The only OSU touchdown in the first half came with 11:12 left in the second quarter when Sam Jackson V ran six yards into the end zone.

Cincinnati led 28-10 at halftime.

Cincinnati’s offense cooled down a bit in the third quarter as the Bearcats were forced to punt on their first two possessions of the second half.

Oklahoma State showed some fight in the third quarter and on the team’s first drive of the second half Jackson V found tight end Quinton Stewart for a 30-yard completion and Rodney Fields Jr. scored on a 20-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-17 at 10:39 in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Sorsby evaded and broke several tackles for a 1-yard touchdown to cap a 95-yard drive and put the Bearcats comfortably in front, 35-17, with 13:21 left in the game.

Oklahoma State answered with a 61-yard drive, but Jackson tossed an end-zone interception and Matthew McDoom returned it for a 100-yard pick six.

Jackson V fumbled on Oklahoma State’s next play and Manny Covey scored on a nine-yard rush to make the score 49-17 with 4:39 left.

“Some positives there, felt good at times,” said OSU interim head coach Doug Meacham. “There was a feeling, at times, that they were about to turn the corner, and then things just didn’t work out. That’s (Cincinnati) a top 25 team and they gave up 120 rush yards. So, our guys had a good plan. We ran the football really well and set up some other things, and Sam Jackson made some plays with his legs while improvising a few. You know, there were times there that were pretty exciting. I’m proud of our defense for coming out of the third quarter.”

For the Bearcats, Sorsby completed 20-of-29 passes for 270 yards and Allen caught two touchdown passes. They paced an offense that gained 427 total yards.

For OSU, Rodney Fields Jr. ran for a career-high 163 yards and caught three passes for 27 yards. Jackson completed 11-of-19 passes for 149 yards.

Mecham said he feels the OSU quarterback is gaining confidence.

“Yeah, he’s a little bit more confident,” Meacham said. “He’s had a whole other week of playing the position, and he will just get better and better and better as it goes.”

OSU will play at Texas Tech (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Central, and the game will be broadcast on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.