Cincinnati Bearcats wrap up spring football practice at Nippert Stadium

A weekend that began with former University of Cincinnati players and NFL greats Jason and Travis Kelce bringing their live podcast to Fifth Third Arena Thursday, culminated Saturday afternoon with the annual spring game for Coach Scott Satterfield's Bearcats.

"Every position is up for grabs," Satterfield said. "Everyone's competing for that spot on this field. It's going to be that way all through summer too."

As in past spring exhibitions, it wasn't an official split-squad contest, but a controlled scrimmage pitting offense vs. defense.

By quarterback, here's how things went down in Saturday's sunshine at Nippert Stadium:

Brendan Sorsby

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound transfer from Indiana got the bulk of the snaps Saturday and made several nice tosses to Ohio State transfer tight end Joe Royer and promising freshman tight end Gavin Grover.

Receivers Xzavier Henderson and Florida Atlantic transfer Tony Johnson didn't play and speedster Tyrin Smith from UTEP was limited to one pitch-out.

One of Sorby's touchdowns included an impressive tight right-corner end zone throw to freshman early enrollee Kale Woodburn, another burner on the roster.

"I feel like I did a good job," Sorsby said. "I feel like I missed some stuff but a pretty solid day. I feel like once I got on the run I feel good. I felt like I was actually getting to play a little bit. It was nice."

Brady Lichtenberg

Lichtenberg backed up Emory Jones Jr. last season and was the second signal-caller Saturday. He made throws of note to tight end Joey Beljan and redshirt sophomore Lesley Andoh.

The redshirt junior noted the difficulty of the new 3-3-5 defense being implemented by new coordinator Tyson Veidt.

"Presnap it looks like eight guys are in coverage," Lichtenberg said. "They run several different coverages that look the exact same presnap. When you think there's coverage, they're bringing five or six and there's guys in the back still."

Samaj Jones

The 6-foot, 218-pound freshman engineered the first touchdown, scoring on a 17-yard quarterback draw. He also completed throws to Woodburn but had a costly drive-ending interception to redshirt freshman Maxwell Cummings.

"He said he was trying to throw it away," Satterfield said.

Backfield in motion

Top running back Corey Kiner was in pads but did not play. Coach Satterfield opted to look more at Ohio State transfer Evan Pryor and Chance Williams. Both had chunk plays and caught several short passes.

"He takes a lot beating in the fall, we didn't want to have him beat up in the spring," Satterfield said of Kiner.

Of Pryor, Williams and redshirt freshman Manny Covey, Satterfield was impressed.

"They had some really good, hard strong runs," he said. "You really can't tell how a running back's going to be until you tackle. We needed that with those backs."

Superlative slobberknockers

These are things you typically don't see in a spring scrimmage. Only quarterbacks Samaj Jones and Will Kocher wore white, the rest were off-limits in red, even when Jack Dingle and Dontay Corleone could have easily uncomfortably sandwiched Sorsby at least once.

"I wish!" linebacker Dingle said. "(But) you can't sack the quarterback with a red jersey on. You go out there and you play as fast as you can, then you see that red in front of you. It's awesome seeing Dontay (Corleone) in front of me, seeing him work and making it easier for me."

We're talking about practice!

Carter Brown had to end a few Bearcat practices with lengthy field goals. When he missed, practice ended and there was no do-over. Saturday with new snapper Jayden Perry and holder/punter Mason Fletcher, Brown was 3-for-3 including a 55-yarder.

"It's a thing you have to learn from," Brown said. "I think it's a good thing they don't let me go again, because in a game, you don't get to go again. Everyone's going to fail, It's how you bounce back and move on to the next kick."

Notable newbies

Kale Woodburn by all indications has put on 20 pounds since his arrival. That puts him up to a whopping 165 on his 5-foot-10 frame. However, No. 18 is certainly one to watch.

"He's still small, but he can fly," Sorsby said of Woodburn. "That helps you whenever you run that fast, you don't have to be as big."

Said Satterfield, "He's had an impressive camp. He can really run. Tyrin Smith didn't do much for us today, but he's a very solid player as well. Wide receiver, down a little bit today, but overall this spring they did a really good job."

New defenders Mikah Coleman (Eastern Michigan transfer), Simeon Coleman (early enrollee), Jiquan Sanks (early enrollee) and Kye Stokes (Ohio State) also had their moments. The scrimmage was capped off with North Texas transfer Logan Wilson picking off Lichtenberg in the end zone and taking it back the other way.

No days off

In NCAA athletics where rosters get flipped like pancakes on a Sunday, the transfer portal begins April 15.

"We like where we're at with our team," Satterfield said. "I feel good about our guys. This is a tight team. This team cares about each other. I think when you create that culture, guys want to be a part of that. It's aggravating (the portal) that we have to deal with this, but it's part of it. We have a few more scholarships available so we'll look to add a couple more guys to come into the mix."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC Bearcats wrap up spring football with their scrimmage at Nippert