Brendan Sorsby picks playing at Tennessee as his dream opponent

Big 12 Media Days allows for some fun hypotheticals. ESPN’s Greg McElroy played a fun game with some of the league’s starting quarterbacks, asking who their dream opponent would be. The stipulation is that the game would be on the road, potentially walking into one of college football’s top atmospheres.

Cincinnati‘s Brendan Sorsby certainly picked a tough place to play. He decided to go with the Tennessee Volunteers, wanting to play in Neyland Stadium. The decision goes back to his younger days where a few Saturdays were spent on Rocky Top.

“I’d say Tennessee,” Sorsby said. “Got to go to a couple games growing up. Really cool atmosphere. That would be a fun place to play, for sure. Big stadium, usually sold out.”

Going back to his high school days, Sorsby did not hold an offer from Tennessee. He played high school football at Lake Dallas (TX), where his lone power conference offer came from the Indiana Hoosiers. Cincinnati was able to grab him ahead of the 2024 season and Sorsby now enters his second season as the starting quarterback.

Looking big picture, there is a little bit of history between Cincinnati and Tennessee. Five matchups have taken place, dating all the way back to 1904. The Bearcats got a massive 35-0 win but since then, it’s been downhill. Tennessee has dominated ever since, most recently in 2011. Derek Dooley was in charge of the program and beat future Vols coach Butch Jones inside Neyland Stadium, 45-23.

Unfortunately, Sorsby does not currently have the opportunity to see his dream fulfilled. The only way Cincinnati could wind up playing in Knoxville would be via the College Football Playoff. Certainly something both programs would take right now at the snap of the fingers.

Focus, for now, will be on attempting to fare better in the Big 12 moving forward. Cincinnati finished the regular season with a 5-7 record, three of which were conference wins. The year ended quite poorly too, as the Bearcats rattled off five consecutive losses. Only two of those were one-possession games, having a couple of blowouts mixed in there.

Sorsby threw for 2,813 yards, 18 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while completing 64% of his throws. The run game came into play as well, going for 447 yards and nine touchdowns on just over 100 carries. More of the same will be expected moving forward in order for Cincinnati to produce wins.