Big 12 preview: Cincinnati a team in transition as Power 5 entry unlocked

Editor's note: This is part of a series previewing each of the opponents on BYU's inaugural Big 12 schedule, beginning with the Cougars' Sept. 23 opener at Kansas and leading up to defending champion Kansas State before fall camp opens in August.

SALT LAKE CITY — Perhaps no other team in the Big 12 finds itself in as much transition as Cincinnati.

Not only are the Bearcats part of the "Freshman Four" newcomers with BYU, Houston and UCF, but Cincinnati will also be breaking in a new coach after Luke Fickell left for Wisconsin following the 2022 season.

With 21 transfers including quarterback Emory Jones from Arizona State and Florida, "transitory" only begins to describe coach Scott Satterfield's new job.

"I like our mix of players that we've brought in," Satterfield said. "I feel like most all the guys that we've brought in will help us this year, will play, that will, if not start, they'll have extensive roles through our football team at a lot of different positions.

"You don't normally like to have that many come through the portal, but in the transition we had a lot of players leave, and so you have to be able to fill those needs to be competitive."

The Bearcats return just five starters from last year's 9-4 squad, including punter Mason Fletcher, the 2022 American Athletic Conference special teams player of the year after averaging 46.2 yards and had Cincinnati ranked second nationally in net punting.

With just one returning starter on offense, Jones — who threw for 2,734 yards at Florida in 2021 before being limited by injuries at ASU — will be joined by plenty of new faces. Even returning running back Corey Kiner is new to the system, a Cincinnati native who returned home from LSU and ran for 362 yards and five touchdowns a year ago.

But the Bearcats also have a strong core on defense to build in Satterfield's first season, led by defensive lineman Dontay Corleone — and yes, they call the 6-foot-2, 318-pounder who runs like a linebacker "the Godfather."

The redshirt sophomore earned third-team All-America and Freshman All-American honors last year for the Bearcats after racking up 44 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

The Bearcats will also have to make do with the increased travel of a Big 12 Conference now spanning three time zones. After opening with departing member Oklahoma at Nippert Stadium on Sept. 23, Cincinnati — which also has a nonconference road trip to Pittsburgh — will then fly 1,650 miles to Provo for a league game at BYU for a late-Friday kickoff Sept. 29 in the Cougars' home conference opener.

Whether intentional or not, the move accommodates BYU's preference of not playing home games on general conference weekend of its sponsoring institution, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But Satterfield didn't seem pleased by the short week.

To be fair, few coaches are.

"That's a long trip for us and that's going to be a night game," he said. "I think maybe 10:30 ET on that Friday night. We know that's a hostile environment, going out to BYU. They've got a great football team and a great fan support there.

"That's going to be an extreme challenge, and to come out there right after you play Oklahoma and have to leave out on a Thursday to go and play them. But you know what, we're taking it one week at a time. After the Oklahoma game, we'll have a plan in place to get as prepared as possible to go out there and be prepared to play BYU."

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