Cincinnati Football: 3 takeaways from AAC showdown win at Houston

Cincinnati football struggled to put away Houston on the road. Here is what we learned about the Bearcats and Cougars from the Saturday showdown in Texas.

After taking down UCF and ending any hopes the Knights had of reaching the New Year’s Six for a third straight year, Cincinnati jumped into the AP Top 25 for the first time in 2019. For a while it looked like they might have a short stay in the media poll, as Houston pushed them throughout their contest on Saturday afternoon at TDECU Stadium.

Despite putting a bunch of players, including star quarterback D’Eriq King, on redshirts after their first four games of the year, the Cougars proved resilient as they pushed Cincinnati to the brink. The Bearcats ultimately held on for a 38-23 victory, but for much of the game things were either knotted up or within a single score.

Houston kept pushing the Bearcats all day long, giving Luke Fickell’s team their best shot. But the AAC East co-leaders kept pace with Temple after holding on for the road win, and they will remain entrenched in the AP Top 25 for another week as a result.

What did we learn about the Bearcats after they prevailed away from Nippert against a solid Houston squad? Here are three takeaways from Cincinnati’s survival in the Lone Star State.