TicketsCINCINNATI -- The past few weeks have been tough for Gunner Kiel.
It was bad enough that injuries knocked Kiel out of the Miami (Ohio) and Memphis games, but when he lost his starting job to redshirt freshman Hayden Moore based on how they practiced, that was difficult for him to accept.
"Honestly I was very mad," Kiel said. "I thought I was doing everything right. I competed and thought I had some of the best practices I've had. I kept bustin' my butt and believing that good things were going to happen and they did."
Kiel was told Thursday that he would start this week against UConn. He celebrated by passing for 327 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bearcats to a 37-13 homecoming victory over on a rainy Saturday before a sellout crowd of 40,124, the largest this season in the new Nippert Stadium.
The victory was the first conference win of the season for the Bearcats, who are 4-3 overall, 1-2 in the American Athletic Conference. UConn (3-5, 1-3) lost for the fourth time in its last five games. The Huskies have never won in seven games at Nippert, but UConn coach Bob Diaco said he was encouraged.
"You're not going to see it in the game, you're not going to watch it at home and see it," said Diaco, a former UC defensive coordinator, "but there were a lot of things I was very impressed with and pleased as it relates to the players and how they responded, how they continued to fight."
UC coach Tommy Tuberville said Moore got beat up physically last week in UC's loss at BYU when he was sacked eight times. Still he put up a fight during practice in an attempt to keep his starting job.
But Kiel was simply better this week.
"Gunner had much more focus," Tuberville said. "Hayden practiced hard and practiced well, but I thought Gunner, the zip on his ball was much better. I probably would have changed it even if I had gone the other way when I saw it raining because Gunner throws a good wet ball. We'll go back to the drawing board and get back to competing next week. I think Gunner's going to be real hard to get that position away from."
Making his first start since Sept. 24 and playing against the second-best defense in the league statistically, Kiel completed 26 of 35 passes with no interceptions. UC's Shaq Washington caught eight passes for 78 yards, giving him 197 receptions for his career. He needs eight more to break the school record. Running back Hosey Williams gained 140 yards, including an 84-yard run near the end of the game that was the second-longest from scrimmage in UC history. And Mike Boone carried 13 times for 117 yards.
The Bearcats out-gained UConn, 612 yards to 266, and committed only one turnover - a Kiel fumble when he was sacked.
"To finally be back and playing is awesome," Kiel said. "I live and die for football. That's all I ever do. Football is my life. To finally be back out there is the best feeling ever."
UC received the opening kickoff and went three-and-out. The Huskies then drove 58 yards in nine plays behind quarterback Bryant Shirreffs, who ripped off huge chunks of yardage when he was forced out of the pocket. They scored on a 4-yard run by running back Arkeel Newsome to take a 7-0 lead.
Kiel hit his stride when UC got the ball back. He completed five straight passes and drove the Bearcats 81 yards, finishing the drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Holton to tie the score at 7-7.
UC scored again on its next possession, needing only a minute and 11 seconds to move 75 yards, with tight end D.J. Dowdy catching a 26-yard touchdown pass from Kiel. At that point, Kiel was 8-for-9 for 98 yards.
After UC's Eric Wilson recovered a fumble at the UC 27, the Bearcats were forced to punt. Long snapper Kirk Willis' snap sailed over the head of punter Sam Geraci, who downed the ball on the UC 10-yard line.
The UC defense held and UConn's Bobby Puyol kicked a 27-yard field goal to get the Huskies within four points. The Bearcats then drove 66 yards in nine plays, with Tion Green scoring from one-yard out to push UC's lead to 21-10.
UC scored again when Andrew Gantz kicked a 23-yard field goal at the end of a nine-play, 67-yard drive to put the Bearcats ahead, 24-10. That was the lead they took into halftime.
UConn recovered Kiel's fumble at the Huskies' 45, but on the next play UC freshman Tyrell Gilbert picked off UConn Shirreffs at the Huskies' 7-yard line. The Bearcats drove to the UConn 27 and Gantz kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 27-10 with 6:53 left in the third quarter.
A 30-yard field goal by Puyol cut the UC lead to 14 with 8:48 left in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats then recovered UConn's on-side kick at the Huskies' 39-yard line and Gantz kicked a 26-field goal to stretch the UC lead to 30-13 with 6:08 left. UC's final score came on a 1-yard run by Williams with 53 seconds to play.
The UC defense forced two turnovers and clamped down on the Huskies after that first touchdown drive.
"Our D-line stepped up big tonight," said safety Zach Edwards. "We knew coming in our D-line had to play well because everything starts and ends with them."
After getting badly outplayed in the fourth quarter last week at BYU, Tuberville emphasized finishing strong this week. The Bearcats apparently got the message. They outscored UConn, 10-3, in the fourth quarter, even though the victory was pretty much in hand by then.
"We actually looked like a football team tonight for four quarters," Tuberville said. We're getting better. We need to. We've already got three losses. We can't afford another one."
Bill Koch covered UC Athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com in January, 2015 as featured columnist. Follow him on Twitter @bkoch.
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