MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The final third of the 2024 college football season begins this Saturday when 4-4 West Virginia travels to Nippert Stadium to face the 5-3 Cincinnati Bearcats.
 
It will be the Mountaineers' first visit to the Queen City since 2011 when the two programs were members of the Big East Conference. WVU eked out a 24-21 victory that afternoon on the way to a 10-win season and a 70-33 victory over Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
 
Both are among the 14 teams still in contention for the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship to be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 7.
 
West Virginia and Cincinnati are in a three-way tie with Arizona State for sixth place in the conference standings, one game behind 4-2 Kansas State and Texas Tech, and two games below second-place Iowa State and Colorado at 4-1.
 
BYU sits atop the league with a 5-0 record. 
 
The ninth-ranked Cougars will put their unblemished record on the line Saturday night at Utah, 17^th-ranked Iowa State faces Kansas and 21^st-ranked Colorado battles Texas Tech.
 
Arizona State will face UCF, while Kansas State hits the pause button on game action this weekend.
 
Baylor, West Virginia's Nov. 16 foe, also has the week off. After that, the Mountaineers will conclude their home schedule against UCF on Saturday, Nov. 23, before playing their regular-season finale on Saturday, Nov. 30, at Texas Tech.
 
As of today, all four remaining opponents are still mathematically in contention to reach Dallas.
 
"This league is wide open," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said earlier this week. "BYU is the only undefeated team left, and I would not be surprised at all if there were a two-loss team playing in Dallas when it's all said and done."
 
Cincinnati, coming off a disappointing 3-9 record in coach Scott Satterfield's first season there in 2023, has benefited from some outstanding offseason acquisitions to turn things around.
 
UC went into the transfer portal to get Indiana quarterback Brendan Sorsby and Ohio State tight end Joe Royer, and those two have helped revitalize Satterfield's offensive attack.
Defensively, Satterfield hired longtime Iowa State linebackers coach Tyson Veidt to run the Cyclones' three-front, three-safety scheme, and it has led to an improvement in takeaways and red zone efficiency.
 
Meanwhile, WVU has had issues handling the three-front schemes it faced against Iowa State and Kansas State.
 
Junior nose tackle Dontay Corleone ranks among the best in the country at his position and made Bruce Feldman's "Freaks List" for the second straight year. The 6-foot-1, 320-pounder shows nine sacks, 16½ tackles for loss and 106 total stops in 30 career games.
 
He has three sacks and 4½ TFLs in seven games so far this year.
 
Cincinnati's leading pass rusher is a familiar name to Mountaineer fans – senior outside linebacker Jared Bartlett, who made 14 ½ sacks in four seasons at WVU. He is probably having his finest season statistically this year with 5½ sacks, 8 TFLs and 42 total tackles.
 
The Bearcats have gotten to the quarterback 18 times so far this year, while generating eight fumbles and three interceptions.
 
That has helped offset teams averaging 162.3 yards per game on the ground and 240.5 yards per game through the air.
 
"They made the transition to a three-down, three-safety look," Brown pointed out. "They've been really good in the red zone and really good taking the ball away. They are up in the top of scoring defense as well. I think Corleone is special, and he's a load. We'll have to account for him. Jared is playing well so far this year, too."
 
Offensively, Sorsby ranks among the conference passing leaders with 2,108 yards and 15 touchdowns, connecting on 65.6% of his attempts.
 
Xzavier Henderson is Sorsby's No. 1 target with 43 catches for 552 yards and four touchdowns, while Royer shows 36 catches for 437 yards and three scores. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder is also a major factor in Cincinnati's ground game that is averaging an impressive 172.3 yards per game and a 5.0 yards-per-carry average.
 
Corey Kiner, who played in last year's game in Morgantown, has rushed for 692 yards while averaging 5.6 yards per tote. Evan Pryor, another Ohio State transfer, has carried just 36 times but is averaging 9.2 yards per rush and shows five rushing touchdowns, one shy of Sorsby's team-leading six.
 
UC's offensive line features fifth- and sixth-year players across its front.
 
"It's balanced – a typical Satterfield offense. There is a lot of outside zone, and all the bells and whistles off the outside zone," Brown noted. "For them, it starts with their running backs, and they've hit a bunch of explosives this year. Their quarterback is playing really well. I think they are second or third in the Big 12 in passing, and he's doing a nice job. He's a sneaky good athlete, too. He can run. He's a big kid and a really difficult tackle.
 
"I think they are all fifth or sixth-year players up front playing," Brown continued. "They added the Royer kid from Ohio State, and he's made them different offensively. He's kind of the go-to-guy on third down, and he's doing a nice job in the blocking game, and he's really been a good pass catcher for them."
 
Brown said Cincinnati's coverage units are vastly improved from a year ago, while senior Mason Fletcher shows a 40.3 net punting average, and senior place kicker Nathan Hawks has already kicked three field goals of 50 yards or longer this season.
 
"They are playing really well," Brown said. "If you look at all the statistics, whether it's special teams, offense or defense, they are near the top or upper quarter in a lot of those statistics.
 
"I obviously know coach Satterfield really well. We've played against each other a bunch; he does a great job, and I have a lot of respect for him, and I know a lot of those guys on his staff," Brown said.
 
This is a 180 from the Bearcat team we saw in Morgantown a year ago when the Mountaineers rushed for 424 yards in a runaway, 42-21 victory.
 
Quarterback Garrett Greene played masterfully that night with 210 yards passing and 154 yards rushing, but Brown said earlier this week that Greene is doubtful for Saturday's game after suffering an upper body injury in the Kansas State loss.
 
Nicco Marchiol stepped in and completed 18 of his 22 pass attempts against Arizona for 198 yards and two touchdowns in WVU's 31-26 triumph.
 
Starting All-Big 12 left tackle Wyatt Milum also didn't play at Arizona, but Brown indicated he should be good to go on Saturday, as is running back CJ Donaldson Jr.
 
Brown listed safety Aubrey Burks, cornerback Ayden Garnes and wide receiver Jaden Bray as unavailable for Saturday with various ailments.
 
Brown also shook up his defensive staff last week by naming linebackers coach Jeff Koonz interim defensive coordinator for the remainder of the season. Koonz will cede special teams responsibilities to Tony Thompson and Chris Haering to concentrate on a Mountaineer defense that ranks near the bottom nationally in pass efficiency, third-down conversion rate and takeaways.
 
WVU has generated just six turnovers so far this year, while allowing teams to average 261 yards per game through the air and convert close to 50% of their third-down attempts.
 
The Mountaineers have given up at least one explosive play for a touchdown in each game so far this year.
 
Saturday's game will kick off at noon and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Chris Myers and Robert Smith).
 
"We're looking forward to getting back to it on Saturday," Brown said.
 
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage begins at 9 a.m. with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning at 11 a.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
 
The team plans to bus to Columbus on Friday for an early afternoon practice before continuing to Cincinnati.
 
Following the game, the Mountaineers will fly back to Clarksburg.