Cincinnati is trying to keep climbing out of a rebuild. West Virginia is trying to prove 4-8 was rock bottom. Only one of them gets to feel good on Friday, October 16.
Bush’s Picks
CINWVU
CINWVU
OverUnder
Best BetWest Virginia
West Virginia's offseason overhaul brought in more proven difference-makers at the skill spots than Cincinnati's did, starting with a workhorse back in Cam Cook who was a 1,600-yard producer a year ago. Cincinnati's quarterback has a steadier track record, but he's throwing to a mostly new receiver room behind a defense still installing a new scheme in real time. Lean Mountaineers to win this at home.
Cincinnati
+3 straight years of win-total growth under Satterfield
+JC French brings a proven multi-year starting résumé
+Offensive line core retained through the portal churn
−Ranked among Big 12's worst offseasons per outside grades
−Nearly the entire two-deep is new outside OL/LB
−Brand-new 3-4 scheme install with a defense full of transfers
West Virginia
+Added a proven workhorse back in Cam Cook (1,659 yards)
+Motivated bounce-back after program's worst season since 2013
+Portal haul specifically targeted production over potential
−Starting quarterback still not formally named this deep into camp
−Run defense was historically bad, 0-8 when allowing 85+ rush yards
−New secondary pieces unproven against Big 12 competition
Both benches will be led by quarterbacks nobody in this building was coaching a year ago. Cincinnati handed the job to JC French IV, a Georgia Southern transfer who went 15-11 as a two-year starter there and threw for more than 2,800 yards in each season. West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez still hasn't publicly named a starter between Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins and Scotty Fox, though every signal out of Big 12 Media Days points toward Hawkins getting the reins.
The bigger swing factor might be the guy lining up behind whichever quarterback wins that job. West Virginia went out and got Cam Cook, who ran for 1,659 yards and 16 touchdowns last season at Jacksonville State in a scheme that looks a lot like Rodriguez's. That workhorse back matters more in a division where West Virginia was 0-8 last year any time it allowed 85-plus rushing yards. Cincinnati, meanwhile, is trusting a defense that just swapped its 3-3-5 identity for a brand new 3-4 blitz look under coordinator Nate Woody, and October is still early days for a scheme install with a dozen new defensive transfers learning it on the fly.
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Neither program is hiding from where it stands. Cincinnati climbed from 3 wins to 5 to 7 across Scott Satterfield's first three years, but the roster turned over almost completely outside of the offensive line and linebacker room, and outlets pegged the Bearcats' offseason near the bottom of the Big 12. West Virginia's 4-8 finish was its worst since 2013, which is exactly why Rodriguez rebuilt the roster around, in his words, competition and production instead of potential.
Cincinnati Bearcats
Oct 2?@ Arizona—
Sep 25?vs Kansas State—
Sep 19?vs Miami (OH)—
Sep 12?vs Western Carolina—
Sep 5?vs Boston College—
West Virginia Mountaineers
Oct 9?vs Arizona—
Oct 2?@ Iowa State—
Sep 25?vs Oklahoma State—
Sep 19?@ Virginia—
Sep 12?vs UT Martin—
Sep 5?vs Coastal Carolina—
Recent form.
Satterfield's seat has gotten warmer, not cooler, and part of that is a bizarre trend: Cincinnati hasn't won a game in November since 2024 and has dropped 6 straight, including a full sweep last year. That's a problem for December, not necessarily for a mid-October trip to Morgantown, but it speaks to a program that still finds ways to fade once the newness wears off. West Virginia doesn't have that specific demon, just a defense that has to prove last year's tackling issues were personnel, not scheme.
Cincinnati Bearcats
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
West Virginia Mountaineers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Put it together and this reads like two teams still figuring out who they are, which is exactly the kind of game where the team with the better new pieces at the skill positions tends to win out. Cincinnati has the more proven quarterback resume on paper; West Virginia has the more proven skill-position talent and the extra motivation of a coach determined not to repeat 2025.
