Cincinnati Football falls to Navy in Liberty Bowl, 35-13

By Keegan Nickoson | Bearcat Journal

The weather was sloppy in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday evening, as was Cincinnati’s execution, discipline, play-calling and decision-making — basically all of it — in the Bearcats’ 35-13 loss to Navy.

In a season that has taken a sharp downward spiral over the past two months, Friday’s rainy loss to the Midshipmen felt like a microcosm of the entire year. The first six plays of the game for Cincinnati netted minus-1 yard, as the Bearcats struggled to find any offensive identity.

While Navy also struggled on offense early, it settled in much quicker, as Cincinnati’s ability to adjust and identify the Midshipmen’s complicated triple-option offense was seriously tested. As many expected, Navy stuck with the run consistently as the weather incentivized it to do so. When the Midshipmen did throw, their receivers often had significant separation, as shown on a touchdown late in the first half. That score came one play after a Navy running back ran a wheel route out of the backfield, streaking up the field wide open as Blake Horvath’s throw sailed over his head, incomplete.

“Everything goes through their quarterback, he makes it go,” Satterfield said. “We’re trying to make him get rid of the football, whether it be on pitches or handoffs, and get the ball out of his hand. Because if he has a good day, it’s hard to stop their offense. I was proud of our guys. We had a bunch of different guys on defense for whom it was the first time they’ve played, and I thought Quavo Saboor was playing outstanding until he got knocked out of the game with the targeting call.”

The Bearcats continued to rotate quarterbacks, trying to ride the hot hand. Brady Lichtenberg’s early struggles forced the ball into Samaj Jones’ hands. The redshirt freshman found some success using his legs, helping Cincinnati score on a 17-play, 8:32 drive to tie the game at 7.

“Yeah, the first half we really couldn’t throw the football, we didn’t get anything going with that,” Lichtenberg said. “It felt like Samaj gave us an opportunity to be able to run a little bit. We get the one drive there for a touchdown. It was hard to get any kind of rhythm at that point of the game in the first half.”

From there, it was all Navy. Cincinnati was undone by a litany of penalties (Nine for 76 yards to be exact), an inability to make an impact through the air and continued struggles converting on third down. With a chance to make it a one-score game early in the fourth quarter, Noah Jennings dropped a wide-open pass that likely would have gone for a touchdown, with nothing but green grass ahead of him.

One silver lining emerged late: Cyrus Allen tied the school record for touchdowns with his 13th score of the season in the fourth quarter. Cincinnati took advantage of the rain letting up to go to the air. Patrick Gurd hauled in a 23-yard pass deep into the red zone, setting up Allen’s score.

“Yeah, there’s no one more deserving of that,” Lichtenberg said. “Coach has talked about our team. No one practices harder than Cyrus, and he’s one of those guys — he’s going to be in the NFL, he’s going to get drafted. He could have easily, like a lot of guys in college football nowadays, just sat out and opted out, whatever you want to call it. He didn’t. He came to practice every day during bowl prep with the same intensity, which I think speaks volumes about Cyrus.”

Manny Covey confirmed postgame that he will return to the team in 2026 and should have a strong chance to carve out a larger role after playing sparingly over the past two seasons. However, Bearcat Journal was told Cincinnati will search for a defensive coordinator for next season, as Tyson Veidt will depart the program to take the linebackers coach job at Penn State under his former head coach, Matt Campbell.

Satterfield pointed to potential changes coming in his opening statement following Friday’s game, while a source described the move as a “mutual parting of ways.”

“For us now as a program, we’re looking forward to 2026,” Satterfield said. “I think, as a head coach, we’ve got to look at our program and see any changes, anything that we need to be making in order to make us a better program and a better team.

“That’s what we have to do. As the head coach, I’m committed to looking at everything we’re doing and how we do things to make this program one of the best in the Big 12. That’s what we’re committed to do, and that’s what we’re looking forward to doing.”