No. 6 Utah vs. Cincinnati: How to watch, listen to or stream the game

No. 6 Utah (7-0, 4-0) at Cincinnati (5-2, 2-2)

• Kickoff: Saturday, 1:45p.m. MDT
• Venue: Nippert Stadium
• TV: ESPN
• Livestream: ESPN app with participating TV provider
• Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM /KZNS 1280
• Series: Utah leads 1-0
• Weather: Saturday’s Cincinnati forecast is high 60s through the entire game

The trends

For Utah: The Utes are the final Big 12 team that remains unbeaten. To achieve this status, Utah defeated previously No. 14-ranked Houston, the first opponent with a winning record the Utes have faced so far this season. The win vaulted Utah in the rankings as the team travels to Cincinnati.

There is not a lot of history between the two schools, in fact, this is just the second meeting. The first meeting came in 2025 when Brendan Sorsby made the trip to Salt Lake City and left with a 45-14 thumping.

For Cincinnati: Beginning the season 4-0, the Bearcats got to a strong start against weaker competition before experiencing a two-game losing streak at Arizona and West Virginia; however, Cincinnati bounced back in a big way with a win against then No. 8 Texas Tech and look to keep momentum rolling come Saturday.

What to watch for

This could be a tricky game for Utah as the team heads to the same venue another top-10 team traveled to and lost in the Bearcats’ game previous to this one. The Utes are coming off their biggest win so far in the season and will need to be prepared for a Cincinnati team that has a lot of momentum after a big win. The Bearcats are looking for a second straight top-10 victory on Saturday.

For the Utes to return to Salt Lake City unscathed Devon Dampier (and whoever else is taking snaps) will need to take care of the football. Cincinnati turned the Red Raiders over twice along with a dominant 21-0 second quarter that ultimately led to their demise.

After Utah’s game against Houston, it appears Utah has the defense to stop any offensive dominance from Cincinnati, but taking care of the football could be difficult.

Throwing two interceptions against the Cougars, Dampier cannot get lackadaisical with the football or a Cincinnati home crowd could get rowdy and make things difficult.

On the defensive side, the run game will be an area of focus for Morgan Scalley’s Utes.

Cincinnati only had 172 yards passing in its rout of Texas Tech, but gained 255 yards on the ground against a talented Red Raiders defense. Running back Cole Tabb, coming off a 173-yard game, will be a player the Utes’ defensive game plan will take into account.

And if Utah is able to create pressure on Bearcat quarterback JC French IV, the Utes could create some turnovers.

Player to watch

Utah QB Devon Dampier is the player to watch Saturday.

Last week the quarterback exploded for the most rushing yards he has had since joining the Utes with 150, adding two rushing touchdowns for good measure. The performance seemed like it was the missing piece to a Ute playbook that has shown multiple personnel packages, including routine field general switch-ups, but hardly any quarterback designed runs for Dampier.

The dual-threat signal caller had negative eight yards of rushing against Colorado, and in 2026 he has not shown off his running ability nearly as much as he has in previous seasons.

Could his performance against Houston be a sign that the Utes are opening up another part of the playbook for Dampier? The Utes game vs. Cincinnati may give more of an idea.

Regardless of how much he passes, hands it off to his running back, or keeps it himself, staying away from turnovers will be an important key to the game. Two interceptions against Houston hurt the Utes, and this time around as the visiting team, Dampier needs to value the football against a capable Cincinnati defense.

Quotable

“Pressure’s a privilege. There’s pressure because you’re winning. We believe in what we do. We believe in the process and we got to keep it going though. Everyone’s going to pat us on the backs now and tell us how awesome we are. Beware the soothing sounds of praise.” — Utah coach Morgan Scalley on earning praise

“They did make a coaching change in the offseason but that was seamless, you know, a guy taking over who has been (at Utah) his whole career. And you can tell that it was real simple for them how he just took that thing over and they just keep on going. Defensively, a lot of the same stuff they’ve been doing for years. They’ve always been good on defense, and the last couple years they’ve been really, really good on offense. The quarterback is outstanding, the other quarterback they play as well is really, really good. The running back is a great player, he’s strong, powerful, very fast ... (Utah) is a solid team. I think certainly worthy of a top-10 ranking.” — Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield on Utah

Next up

• Utah: vs. BYU
• Cincinnati: at Houston

Utah schedule

• Sept. 3 — vs. Idaho, W 66-14
• Sept. 12 — vs. Arkansas, W 43-10
• Sept. 19 — vs. Utah State, W 33-0
• Sept. 26 — at Iowa State, W 31-17
• Oct. 10 — vs. Kansas, W 41-24
• Oct. 17 — at Colorado, W 27-24
• Oct. 24 — vs. Houston, W 21-13
• Oct. 31 — at Cincinnati
• Nov. 7 — vs. BYU
• Nov. 14 — at Arizona
• Nov. 21 — at TCU
• Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia