Victory Bell Comeback: Cincinnati Erases 21-Point Deficit to Beat Miami 35-31

Cincinnati football returned to the West End Saturday for the first time since 1910 and nearly lost the Victory Bell.

Miami led 28-7 at halftime before Cole Tabb’s 53-yard touchdown run with 1:29 left put Cincinnati up 35-31.

The Victory Bell comeback was Cincinnati’s largest since the Bearcats erased a 21-0 hole against Ohio in 2018. It also carried more history than the scoreboard showed. Saturday marked the first football game at TQL Stadium, FC Cincinnati’s $250 million home. It doubled as the program’s first West End game since Nov. 24, 1910, when UC beat Denison at the Palace of the Fans. UC’s game notes count at least 51 games in the neighborhood between 1893 and 1910, seven of them against Miami.

A crowd of 19,188 watched the 129th Battle for the Victory Bell split into two unrecognizable halves. Head coach Scott Satterfield called it “really neat to be able to come downtown right here and play a football game.” Miami outgained Cincinnati 247-166 before the break, and Cincinnati flipped that margin to 280-163 afterward, based on the quarter-by-quarter totals in the official game book. The Bearcats left at 3-0, with the bell, and with a first half their head coach refused to defend.

Miami Needed Less Than Five Minutes to Take Control

Scoop Smith faked a reverse on the opening kickoff and ran 98 yards untouched. Cincinnati went three-and-out, and Miami covered 67 yards in four plays, with Lazaro Rogers breaking a tackle on a 12-yard touchdown run. The RedHawks led 14-0 before the game was five minutes old.

Cincinnati answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive. JC French IV found Tabb for 16 yards to the Miami 1, a replay review upheld the spot, and Tabb scored on the next snap.

Miami dominated the rest of the half. David McComb capped a 10-play, 91-yard drive with a 6-yard keeper. After Stephen Rusnak’s 52-yard field goal try fell short, McComb went 3-for-3 on a six-play, 65-yard drive and hit Maleek Huggins from 36 yards out with 21 seconds left. Miami carried a 28-7 lead into the locker room, and Miami’s release noted McComb finished with a career-high 334 passing yards.

The shape of the damage mattered as much as the score. Only one of Miami’s four touchdowns came on special teams; the other three capped drives of 67, 91 and 65 yards. “He throws a great deep ball,” Satterfield said of McComb. French said Miami loaded the box against a Cincinnati rushing attack that had powered the first two wins. “They called for a day of passing,” he said. Satterfield spared nothing in his own review. “We really didn’t do anything good offense, defense or kicking in the first half,” he said, and he told reporters the performance deserved the boos it drew from the home crowd.

Poise Carried the Bearcats Out of the Locker Room

Satterfield described a calm halftime, not a tirade. Coaches met with their position groups, walked through adjustments and sent the team back out. “I thought our guys didn’t panic,” he said.

Antwan Peek Jr. repeated one word: poise. “In the past, we weren’t very poised, but today we made sure to stay poised,” Peek said. “We still have another two quarters left, 30 minutes left in this game.”

French pointed to trust. “I have so much faith in this offense,” he said. “I know they all have my back and I have theirs.”

Satterfield later tied the recovery to the group’s makeup. “It’s a mature team,” he said. “They just proved it today for everybody to see.”

A Failed Gamble Nearly Stalled the Victory Bell Comeback

The second half opened with a decision that could have buried Cincinnati. Facing fourth-and-3 at his own 33, Satterfield kept the offense on the field, and Grant Lyons sacked French for a turnover on downs. Miami took over at the Cincinnati 31.

The defense turned the mistake into a gift. Miami managed 13 yards in five plays, and Kellan McLaughlin’s 36-yard field goal try bounced off the back of his own lineman’s helmet.

Cincinnati finally moved. French hit Larenzo Fenner for 38 yards down the left side, then finished the 80-yard drive with a 1-yard sneak. On Miami’s next possession, cornerback Kenny Worthy made a diving interception at the Miami 31, and French found Tabb for an 8-yard touchdown seven plays after that. A 28-7 game became 28-21 before the third quarter ended. Peek said Worthy’s takeaway “gave us a whole lot of juice.”

Chuck Martin Kicked From the 1-Yard Line

Miami answered with its best drive of the half. McComb hit Huggins for 41 yards, and a roughing-the-passer penalty on Filip Maciorowski moved the ball to the Cincinnati 19. Inside the 10, Peek and Damaine Wilson punched the ball loose on consecutive snaps, but Miami recovered both fumbles.

Then came the game’s pivotal call. On fourth-and-goal at the 1, Martin sent out the field goal unit, and McLaughlin’s 19-yarder made it 31-21 with 13:51 to play. Asked whether the decision surprised him, Satterfield kept it short: “No, but I was glad they did.”

Miami got one more chance to close. Lyons strip-sacked French at the Cincinnati 41 and Roosevelt Andrews recovered, but Josh Hough answered with a 12-yard sack and McLaughlin missed from 45. After halftime, four Miami possessions reached Cincinnati territory, and together they produced three points.

French then directed a nine-play, 73-yard drive and lofted a 6-yard touchdown to JV Gibson, wide open in the corner, with 6:20 left. Those two have connected for a score in three straight games. French finished 31 of 43 for 309 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing score.

Third-and-1, and Miami Guessed Pass

Cincinnati took over at its 15 with 3:46 remaining and nearly stalled. Gavin Grover dropped a pass early in the drive, but on fourth-and-2 French went back to his tight end for 15 yards over the middle. “He’s a very consistent dude,” French said. “I knew coming back to him he was going to make the play.”

After six passes on the drive, the call changed. On third-and-1 at the 47, Tabb took the handoff, burst through the line and watched the pursuit fade. “We knew that they were probably thinking we’re passing right now,” Tabb said. He told reporters to watch the replay for the block from Malachi Henry, the senior receiver and Central Arkansas transfer.

The 53-yard run gave Cincinnati its first lead of the day, 35-31, with 1:29 left. “Definitely favorite run of my career by far,” Tabb said. Satterfield saw the clock first. “I thought we scored too soon,” he said.

Peek’s Strip Sack Ended the Battle for the Victory Bell

Satterfield had a point. McComb hit Huggins for 24 yards, then Carl Jenkins Jr. for 14, and Miami stood at 33 -20 with under a minute left. Peek got there next. He knocked the ball out of McComb’s hand, Drew Logan recovered at the 34, and French kneeled out the final 36 seconds. Peek finished with nine tackles, two forced fumbles and a sack.

The moment carried weight he had named before kickoff. Peek said he called his father before the game, and his father told him the rivalry was “more than a game,” about playing for everyone who came before them. The teams first met on Dec. 8, 1888, in what UC identifies as the first college football game played in Ohio. The trophy predates the habit of trading it. UC’s notes say the original bell hung in Miami’s Harrison Hall until Cincinnati fans “borrowed” it in the 1890s. Saturday’s win nudged the all-time series to 62-60-7, Cincinnati. It also lifted the Bearcats to 6-2 against Miami in West End meetings; the previous seven all came before 1911.

A Rivalry With Cancellations Instead of a Next Date

No one knows when meeting No. 130 will happen. Miami canceled its 2025 and 2028 trips to Nippert Stadium in 2024, and Cincinnati answered by canceling the 2027 and 2029 games in Oxford. The teams sat out 2025, and Saturday’s game was the last date left from the previously scheduled series.

Miami’s side wants more. A reporter told Satterfield that Chuck Martin, at his own press conference, had called for the series to continue as an annual game at Nippert. Satterfield kept his distance from the idea. “I don’t really have a whole lot of control over that,” he said. “We just play the ones that they tell us to play.” He pointed to a changed sport, with Cincinnati now in the Big 12 and Miami still in the MAC. That, he said, makes future scheduling “a little bit more difficult.” On the trophy, though, he allowed one flourish. “If we don’t ever play them again,” he said, “then the Victory Bell stays in Cincinnati.”

Kansas State Arrives at Nippert on Saturday

For now, the bell stays in Cincinnati, and the Bearcats carry the Victory Bell comeback into Big 12 play. Kansas State visits Nippert Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26, with kickoff at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Miami also wrote the Wildcats a scouting report: attack the opening kick coverage, test the secondary deep and force Cincinnati to play from behind. McComb’s 334 passing yards and Smith’s 98-yard return stay on the film no matter how the second half went. “We certainly can’t play like that,” Satterfield said. Peek kept his own summary simple. “We just got to be better coming out next week,” he said. “It starts with practice as well.” Kansas State gives him until Saturday.