The Cincinnati football team will be without arguably its best player for its Week 5 matchup with Kansas. The Bearcats have already ruled out star defensive tackle Dontay Corleone for the contest with an injury.
Corleone had been questionable all week with a leg injury and was recently downgraded to out, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported. He initially suffered the injury during the team's Week 2 win over Bowling Green.
Corleone is inarguably the most important member of Cincinnati's defense, having earned all-conference honors the last three seasons. He is coming off a first-team All-Big 12 campaign that had many believing he would enter the 2025 NFL Draft before he confirmed his commitment to the Bearcats.
Without Corleone in the lineup, Cincinnati will likely have to start either senior CJ McCray, sophomore Kamari Burns or senior Rob Jackson in his place. Regardless of the initial rotation, Tyson Veidt's 3-3-5 defense allows for switchability up front.
Cincinnati looks to maintain momentum against Kansas
Since losing its season opener to Nebraska, Cincinnati has won consecutive games over Bowling Green and Northwestern State. Although the Bearcats merely took care of business in each victory, both were essential for their season-long outlook.
Cincinnati only lost to Nebraska by three points, but it did not look good for most of the game. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby only managed 69 passing yards in the game, something he was not pleased with after the fact.
Cincinnati and Sorsby have gotten back on track in their ensuing two victories. The Bearcats racked up 439 yards of total offense against Bowling Green before accumulating a jaw-dropping 605 total yards against Northwestern State.
After going just 5-7 in 2024, Cincinnati is projected to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 in 2025. However, the team's roster is significantly improved on paper, leading many to believe it will be more competitive than its preseason projections suggest.
