Iowa
5 reactions/overreactions from Cincinnati Bearcats football game at Iowa State Saturday
UC coach Scott Satterfield,Sorsby, Gerhardt, Minkins on Iowa State
UC coach Scott Satterfield, Brendan Sorsby, Gavin Gerhardt, Josh Minkins on Iowa State loss
AMES, Iowa – The first University of Cincinnati Bearcats Big 12 football game at Jack Trice Stadium was far from a pleasant experience. Iowa State came from behind in the first half, then outplayed UC in the second half to win going away, 34-17.
UC quarterback Brendan Sorsby had pulled the Bearcats within three points, 20-17, with a 41-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run, but Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht engineered a pair of late scoring drives in the game’s final four minutes. Just like that, a three-point game disintegrated.
Tensions were high afterward based on the vocal displeasure that could be heard from outside of the locker room. It’s understandable, as a three-game losing streak has the Bearcats at .500 on the season after they were 5-2 a month ago. Again, the late loss to Pitt in Week 2 haunts UC’s bowl possibilities with the Bearcats still needing one more victory to qualify.
Both teams had under their normal total offense figures (439 average for both coming into the game). Iowa State outgained UC 387-353, but the Bearcats outrushed the Cyclones by 135 yards. At night’s end, Iowa State led in the most important category: points. That leads to another week for UC coaches to try to get the team bowl-eligible. They have two more opportunities: at 7-3 Kansas State and then at home with 6-4 TCU.
5 reactions/overreaction to another Saturday night Big 12 loss
1. One-dimensional offense for UC in recent weeks
REACTION: The downfield throwing game has all but disappeared. Brendan Sorsby’s 141 rushing yards were fun to watch, but the 66 passing yards featured just two completions to tight end Joe Royer and one to top receiver Xzavier Henderson.
OVERREACTION: Sorsby can’t throw. That wouldn’t quite be fair, as he spent most of the early season as one of the top NCAA passers statistically. The defenses have dropped back in the last two games.
“If you’re dropping eight (players) and everyone’s in the defensive backfield, there’s nowhere to throw it,” UC coach Scott Satterfield said. “They’ve struggled stopping the run. You have to take what they give you. You don’t want to force the ball and have another turnover.”
After three turnovers vs. West Virginia, Sorsby was clean until he fumbled midway through the third quarter at the Iowa State 13-yard line. The fumble was forced by Hamilton High School product Malik Verdon of the Cyclones.
2. A record-setting night for UC for the wrong reason
REACTION: The Bearcats were penalized 13 times, four more than their previous high of nine at Colorado. Several were on false starts which caused great angst post-game.
“We can’t do that if we want to win football games,” center Gavin Gerhardt said. “All five of us know that, Four of us had a false start and that’s unacceptable.”
OVERREACTION: They’ve played in loud venues before. What gives? As it turns out, some defensive gamesmanship coaxed UC into some of those flags. UC’s offense goes on Sorsby’s clap. According to Satterfield, Iowa State was mimicking a clap by slapping the pads of their nose guard.
“A noise that sounds like a clap makes your guy jump offside,” he said. “That’s illegal. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. The last one we got they smacked the defensive tackle to move him over. When they smack him, what does that sound like?”
After a week of preaching poise and patience, the Bearcats were undisciplined and repeatedly flagged.
3. Nothing special on special teams
REACTION: Mason Fletcher had a rough night. No argument there. He had a 56-yard punt but a 37.3 average. That’s because a bad snap forced him to quickly recover and get off a 24-yarder. The most costly was a kick before halftime that bounced backward and went recorded as an 18-yard punt. That gave Iowa State field position at the UC 38-yard line before halftime and they were able to kick a field goal to tie the game at 10.
OVERREACTION: Boot the punter. Satterfield said Mason Fletcher was healthy after making a hard tackle the week before against West Virginia. On the other hand, you would go from one Fletcher to another as Max Fletcher is waiting in the wings. Max Fletcher actually averaged over 46 yards per punt last season at Arkansas, about three yards better than Mason.
“The punt team was horrendous tonight,” Satterfield said. “The field position the last two games is unacceptable.”
He also wasn’t happy that Iowa State’s Stevo Klotz scampered away on a fake punt call. There could be some personnel changes by next weekend on special teams, but it seems like he would stick with Mason Fletcher for now.
4. Another pre-halftime Cincinnati Bearcats blunder
REACTION: Why so many late second-quarter miscues? That would be a solid question and the Fletcher 18-yard punt was the latest after the Bearcats failed to aggressively move the football when they had it in the final minutes of the half. Iowa State took the 10-10 halftime tie and momentum shifted. To date, UC has either missed field goals or other scoring opportunities in seven of their games right before halftime (Pitt, Miami University, Texas Tech, UCF, Arizona State, Colorado, Iowa State).
OVERREACTION: That’s just football. That’s a common reply and probably an under-reaction. Too many instances become a trend.
5. Yogi Berra’s philosophy still lives
REACTION: “It ain’t over, ’til it’s over,” the Yankee Hall of Famer was known to say. If you look at the Big 12, that might be true. Saturday night, BYU suffered its first defeat losing to Kansas which has now knocked off the Cougars and Iowa State in consecutive weeks. Arizona State, a team UC beat 24-14, went to No. 16 Kansas State and beat them. Kenny Dillingham’s Wildcats are 8-2 with one of those losses coming at Nippert Stadium. West Virginia, gifted a win by UC, is still looking to get bowl-eligible as Baylor beat them in Morgantown. Eight Big 12 teams have qualified for bowl games with the Bearcats and Mountaineers both one win away
OVERREACTION: It’s over. (Please read the above paragraph.)
Road ahead for Cincinnati Bearcats
UC has another tough task Saturday, Nov. 23 when they travel to Manhattan, Kansas for the Kansas State Wildcats. UC hasn’t had a win in that series since 1966. The teams last played in 1995 and 1996. UC lost a heartbreaker to Kansas State 23-21 at Nippert in ’95, then Rick Minter’s squad was taken to task by Bill Snyder’s Wildcats 35-0 in Manhattan the following year.
Worse yet, just as Iowa State lost the week before their game against UC, Kansas State was defeated at home by Arizona State 24-14 Saturday, fueling their fire for the Bearcats.
Iowa
Vote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)
Here are the candidates for High School on SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for April 13-18. Read through the nominees and cast your vote.
Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 26. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:
Taylor Roose, Pella boys track and field
Roose competed in three events at the Norwalk Invitational, winning all three in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and long jump.
Daxon Kiesau, Urbandale boys track and field
Kiesau swept the throwing events at the Norwalk Invitational, taking first place in the shot put and the discus.
Alex Burger, Southeast Valley boys track and field
Competing at home, Burger dominated, earning four gold medals. He won the 400-meter hurdles and the long jump while running on the winning 4×200-meter relay and shuttle hurdle relay.
Kolby Hodnefield, Clear Lake boys track and field
Hodenfield, a defending state champion, broke the meet, venue and school record in the 200 and the 400 at the Clear Lake Invitational. He added victories as part of the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Both relays also set meet records.
Easton Moon, North Polk boys tennis
Moon has started off his senior season on the courts unbeaten, winning all four matches while dropping just one game in 44 played.
Ava Lohrbach, Gilbert girls golf
One of the top golfers in the state, Lohrbach has had a hot start, firing a 35 in her nine-hole debut and a 72 for her 18-hole opener.
Nathan Manske, Algona boys golf
An elite quarterback and basketball player, Manske is showing his golfing skills this spring, coming out with a state-low 30 in a nine-hole event.
Ella Hein, Tipton girls track and field
Hein set school records in the 400-meter run and long jump at the Tiger/Tigerette Relays while also locking in the Blue Standard and qualifying for the Drake Relays. She won the long jump (18-6) and was second in the 400.
Maeve Bowen-Burt, Iowa City High girls track and field
The sophomore helped the Little Hawks land three Drake Relays events on the last night of qualifying, advancing in the 400 hurdles, along with the sprint medley and 4×400 relays.
About Our Athlete of the Week Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.
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Iowa
Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit
The late boxing great George Foreman lies buried in a cemetery in the northwestern corner of Iowa – a place he has no connection to outside of a lone visit to the region nearly 40 years ago.
Foreman died March 21, 2025, at the age of 76 in Houston and was buried in Logan Park Cemetery at Sioux City, Iowa, a month later, city officials confirmed. Foreman’s family returned Thursday to his burial site, holding a news conference with Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott to reveal Foreman’s burial place, marked by a large monument that bears an image of him as a teen following his Olympic gold medal boxing win.
The family explained in a statement released by Sioux City officials that he had visited the Iowa city in 1988, and often recalled the sense of peace he experienced there.
After traveling to the city on April 17 last year to bury Foreman, his family said they immediately understood the region’s appeal.
“Our father lived a life of purpose, faith and gratitude,” the family said in a statement released by Sioux City officials. “To see him laid to rest in a place that brought him peace means everything to us.”
Scott joined the family at Foreman’s monument that lies just a few miles north of the Missouri River in an upper Midwest city of nearly 87,000 people. The cemetery overlooks the scenic Loess Hills, created by windblown silt deposits that reach up to 200 feet high (about 61 meters) and line the river along the Iowa border for 200 miles (322 kilometers).
“Their story is a reminder of how one place can stay with someone for a lifetime,” Scott said.
A native Texan, Foreman rose to fame when he made the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team, winning gold in Mexico City. He became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1973 by defeating the great Joe Frazier, only to lose the title a year later to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”
A full 20 years later in 1994, Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at 45, defeating Michael Moorer in an epic upset.
Foreman retired in 1997 with a 76-5 career record.
He then moved on to the next chapter in his life as a businessman, pitchman and occasional actor, becoming known to a new generation as the face of the George Foreman Grill. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and brought him more wealth than boxing.
A biographical movie based on Foreman’s life was released in 2023.
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Iowa
GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall
DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) — About 50 Iowans braved the threat of severe storms to hear from Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn at his town hall in Dubuque Friday night.
Lahn, a farmer and businessman, said his campaign is about solving the long-term systemic issues facing Iowans.
One priority is addressing what Lahn calls a cancer crisis in Iowa, as the state has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Solving the crisis means ensuring Iowans have access to clean, nitrate-free drinking water, working with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.
“Iowans are just ready for something that they should be able to count on, like clean drinking water,” Lahn said. “We have ways to clean up the drinking water in Iowa that isn’t on the backs of farmers, but is working alongside with them because they’re drinking the water too, and they want to do what’s right.”
Lahn also wants to stop Iowa’s “brain drain,” as more of Iowa’s college graduates left the state for opportunities elsewhere.
“Don’t leave! Give me some time! I’m going to fight to keep you here,” Lahn said. “I was one of these kids. I thought I had to leave the state to find something better. We have to prioritize Iowa’s incentive dollars to make sure they’re going to grow Iowa businesses that are going to be here for the long haul, so our kids have places to work.”
Running a distinct campaign feels challenging this election, as Lahn is one of five GOP candidates who want to be Iowa’s next governor, facing U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.
Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for the state’s top office.
Lahn said he stands out by promising Iowa will be for Iowans, pledging to ban the use of eminent domain for private gain and tax out-of-state landowners and data centers at higher rates to lower property taxes.
“It always goes back to follow the money, so when it comes to not being a weak-kneed Republican today, I believe the paramount piece of that is answering only to the citizens of Iowa, not to special interests to pad their bottom line, but what’s best for the people of Iowa,” Lahn said.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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