TicketsBox Score | Quotes | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI - Apparently, all he needed was a chance.
Making his first start of the 2016 season, senior quarterback Gunner Kiel looked like the Kiel of old when he completed 23 of 40 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns without an interception to lead the UC Bearcats to a 31-19 Homecoming victory over East Carolina on Saturday night before 32,022 fans at Nippert Stadium.
"It felt amazing," Kiel said. "It felt so good just to be out there, just to be with my guys again, just to be in control of a game. Things were clicking."
Kiel clinched the victory with a 32-yard touchdown pass with 2:44 left to Kahlil Lewis, who caught 11 passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs. Running back Mike Boone gained 88 yards on 14 carries for UC. The Bearcats gained 513 yards to 504 for ECU and forced three turnovers.
The victory was the first in four tries this season in American Athletic Conference play for UC. The Bearcats, who have won six games in a row over the Pirates, are 4-3 overall. East Carolina lost for the fifth straight time and fell to 2-5 overall, 0-3 in the league.
It's been a long, strange ride for Kiel, who tied a UC record for touchdown passes with 31 during his sophomore year after he transferred from Notre Dame. He continued to put up big numbers as a junior but had problems with injuries and interceptions. He missed the Hawaii Bowl last year and most of spring practice with an injury, causing him to fall to No. 3 on the depth chart even though he had made 22 starts during his UC career. UC coach Tommy Tuberville said earlier in the season that Kiel didn't know the new offense well enough to play.
But Kiel kept his poise, continued to work, and supported his teammates. His patience finally paid off when his fellow seniors stood up at the weekly senior meeting on Oct. 9, the day after the Bearcats lost at Connecticut, and made a pitch for him.
"Actually it was a defensive guy who said, `Coach we want Gunner to play,'" Tuberville said. "I said, `So do I but I'm not gonna give anybody a starting spot. I'll tell you what we'll do, we'll make it very competitive."
Kiel was in the room during that senior meeting and was grateful to see his fellow seniors stand up for him.
"That's probably going to be the highlight of my entire career just because those guys have so much respect for me," Kiel said. "It takes a lot for those guys to speak up and say, `Hey, we want our leader to play, just give him a shot and he'll prove you wrong.' When that happened and those guys gave me the key to the car I was not going to let them down.
"It was a long meeting and we got to the end and Tion (Green) said something and then Zach (Edwards) spoke up and then DJ (Dowdy) and then Ryan Leahy and then (Alex) Pace. It was just kind of a whirlwind honestly. To see those guys say something and to have my back is huge."
Kiel took about 60 percent of the snaps with the first team during practice the past two weeks.
"He got better and better and made a lot of plays," said Tuberville.
On Thursday, the UC coach told Tuberville he would start against East Carolina.
The Bearcats led 14-3 at halftime, but had to hold off the Pirates, who closed the lead to 14-10, 17-13, and 24-19 before Kiel threw the clinching touchdown pass to Lewis, who produced the breakout game that he and Tuberville have been waiting for.
"I've been waiting on it all year," Lewis said, "just doing my part, and it finally lined up perfectly. Stuff has been clicking, it just hasn't clicked like today."
The Bearcats produced a big defensive play when they stopped the Pirates on fourth and one from the UC 41-yard line with 4:36 left while clinging to a five-point lead.
"We really felt like we could beat UConn," said linebacker Eric Wilson. "We had a couple of busted plays on defense that kind of hurt us and we had a few missed plays on offense. Having that bye week really helped us out focusing on what we need to improve on, looking at our mistakes and seeing where we can get those extra inches back because the game is all about inches."
When the game ended, Kiel went with his teammates to the south end of Nippert Stadium to sing the alma mater in front of the band. As soon as it was over, he sprinted down the field and gave his parents, Kip and Aleta, a long embrace as they leaned over the railing at about the 25-yard line. His brother, Dusty, was also at the game.
"My mom and dad have been there by my side," Kiel said. "They're my biggest supporters and my two brothers have always been there for me. It's been a rocky road and those are two people who have not stopped believing in me and I love them to death. There was a lot of emotions going on when I hugged them."
Kiel will still have to earn the start next week at Temple but he will enter the week slated to receive the bulk of the snaps with the first-team offense. At this point, that's all he asks for.
"I can't control the past," he said. "I can't control the future. I'm just gonna live for today."
Tuberville said he was proud of Kiel for the way he played and proud of the seniors for standing up for him.
"Gunner earned it," Tuberville said. "I'd like for him to win the next five so everybody can point at me and say, `Why didn't you play him the first six games?' I'd love for that to happen."
WASHINGTON HONORED: Former UC wide receiver Shaq Washington, who set the school record for career receptions last year with 240, was presented with a plaque on the field during the second quarter for having his name added to the Bearcats' Ring of Honor.
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.