No. 8 Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) at Cincinnati (4-2, 1-2 Big 12). Saturday, Oct. 24, noon ET, Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, FS1.
Your hosts are Lionel "Skyline" Abernathy, a Cincinnati engineering co-op kid who ranks everything in chili ways, and Bodie Ratliff, a Texas Tech bareback rider who answers most questions in one word.
Skyline: Welcome to Homecoming No. 100, Bodie! That's a five-way occasion, onions and beans.
Bodie: Windy.
Players to watch
Texas Tech's defense is the headliner. Opponents gain only 2.87 yards per carry and 82.0 rushing yards per game, and the Red Raiders' 11 interceptions rank second in the nation. A.J. Holmes Jr. leads with four sacks, and Austin Romaine leads with 41 tackles. On offense, running back J'Koby Williams has 538 yards and five touchdowns, wide receiver Kenny Johnson leads with 418 receiving yards, and quarterback Will Hammond has thrown for 1,334 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions.
Cincinnati quarterback JC French IV has 1,338 yards and nine touchdowns with zero interceptions. The Bearcats have lost only two turnovers all season, the fewest in FBS. Running back Cole Tabb has eight rushing touchdowns, wide receiver JV Gibson has 342 receiving yards, and fifth-year linebacker Jonathan Thompson leads with 42 tackles.
Skyline: Zero interceptions. French gets upgraded to a five-way.
Bodie: Eleven interceptions. Ours.
What happened last week
Cincinnati gained 622 yards at West Virginia on Oct. 17 and led 42-35 late, but lost 45-42 on a field goal at the final horn. French went 22 of 30 for a career-high 389 yards and accounted for four touchdowns. Tabb had 118 rushing yards, 54 receiving yards and three touchdowns, his third three-touchdown game of the season. Thompson made a career-high 15 tackles. Coach Scott Satterfield said, "We kept scoring, and we needed to get a stop".
Texas Tech beat Arizona State 53-25. Williams ran for a career-high 165 yards and two touchdowns, and Johnson caught seven passes for 120 yards. The Red Raiders averaged 7.8 yards per play.
Injuries and availability
The first official Big 12 availability reports post three days before kickoff. No injury news has surfaced for either team, so check back closer to kickoff.
What the coaches are up to
Joey McGuire is in his fifth season at Texas Tech, 41-18 overall and 26-5 at home. His 2025 team went 12-2, won the Big 12 title 34-7 over BYU and made the College Football Playoff. Texas Tech has won four straight road games dating to last season and is chasing only the fifth 7-0 start in school history.
Scott Satterfield became Cincinnati's 43rd head coach on Dec. 5, 2022. His Bearcats are 4-0 at home and 0-2 on the road, and Utah visits next.
Player storylines
The marquee matchup: a Cincinnati offense that hasn't thrown an interception against a Texas Tech defense with the second-most interceptions in FBS. Cincinnati averages 5.93 yards per carry, and Tech allows 2.87. Something gives.
Bodie: Wind.
Skyline: That's his longest sentence of the week, folks. He's nervous.
What's happening on campus
It's Homecoming weekend at UC, Oct. 22-24. The Homecoming Parade heads down Clifton Avenue at 8 a.m. Saturday, and the Homecoming Court will be announced at halftime. The weekend also includes Friday's Athletics Hall of Fame induction at Fifth Third Arena and a BearCast Media 25th anniversary celebration. Football has been played on the Nippert site since 1901, which Cincinnati calls the second-oldest playing site in college football.
Skyline: A parade, a Hall of Fame night and a ranked opponent. That's a five-way weekend.
Anything else fun and true
This is only the third meeting. The teams tied 10-10 in 1968, and Texas Tech won 44-41 in Lubbock in 2024 behind 172 rushing yards from Tahj Brooks. It's also Texas Tech's first trip ever to Nippert. Cincinnati was the first non-Power Five team to reach the College Football Playoff, in the 2021 season.
Skyline: Have some chili, Bodie. Three-way at minimum.
Bodie: Guns up. Wind's up.
The Cover Window
My call: Texas Tech Red Raiders 35, Cincinnati Bearcats 23.