CINCINNATI – The Bearcats lost 44-41 to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday night.

Cincinnati’s kicker missed a 51-yard field goal attempt as time expired. The kick would have sent the game into overtime. Instead, the Bearcats are 3-2 on the season.

Here are our post-game takeaways:

Sorsby dazzles

Brendan Sorsby may have thrown his first interception of the season, but he played great on Saturday night. He completed 31 of 45 passes for 426 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Sorsby also ran for 52 yards on 12 rushing attempts. He led the Bearcats in rushing and passing.

Xzavier Henderson was Sorsby’s main target. He caught seven passes for 127 yards and one touchdown. Manny Covey wasn’t far behind with six balls for 100 yards and two scores.

Defensive battles

There were only two punts in this game, and the Bearcats’ defense deserves credit for forcing Texas Tech into a punt late in the fourth quarter, but they struggled for most of the game.

The Red Raiders paced up and down the field. Outside of the fourth quarter punt, they were only stopped on a fourth down attempt in the first quarter. Texas Tech scored at least 10 points in all four quarters.

Key violation

Star running back Corey Kiner left the game in the first quarter and did not return. Evan Pryor and Covey combined for 156 carries for 61 yards.

Nathan Hawks

The Hawks missed two field goal attempts Saturday night – a 51-yard field goal as time expired and a 42-yard attempt at the end of the second quarter.

In a shootout, every point counts, and unfortunately the Hawks left six points Saturday night.

Next

The Bearcats have a bye and then play at Central Florida on October 12th.