The Arizona loss stung Cincinnati because the Bearcats had chances. An 86-yard drive died on 4th-and-2 at the Arizona 2. A 4th-down conversion was overturned on review. They forced a fumble into the end zone and lost it to a rare batting penalty. That doesn't make up for being outgained by almost 300 yards, but it does explain why the score looked worse than Cincinnati felt about it.
Western Carolina62-10
UT Martin52-7The two records look different once you check the schedule. Cincinnati is 4-1, but the Bearcats played their first 4 games at home, and the 2 Big 12 wins over Miami (OH) and Kansas State came by 4 and 5 points. This is their second true road game, and the first one went badly. West Virginia is 3-3 and 0-3 in conference play, giving up 41 to Oklahoma State, 45 to Iowa State and 52 to Arizona in back-to-back-to-back weeks. That's the second straight season the Mountaineers have lost their first 3 Big 12 games.
Rich Rodriguez spent the week before the Arizona game hearing about facing his old school, and his old school won the first RichRod Bowl easily. It doesn't get easier with Cincinnati coming to town rested. The Mountaineers can still score: they put up 42 at Iowa State and 31 against Arizona, and Hawkins running the ball is the best thing they have. The question is whether the defense can hold an offense that only managed 7 points its last time out. The forecast says 51 degrees, cloudy and an 11 mph wind, so it won't play much of a part.
The stakes are simple. A Cincinnati win puts the Bearcats at 2-1 in the Big 12 and makes the Arizona game look like one bad trip. A West Virginia loss makes it 0-4 in conference with half the league schedule still left, and people will start asking how long this rebuild takes. Both teams spent the last two weeks watching Arizona score on them at will. One of them leaves Morgantown with a fix.