In 2013 the Cincinnati Bearcats got the news that former 5 star quarterback Gunner Kiel was going to transfer out of Notre Dame and play with Tommy Tuberville in Clifton. Having to sit out the 2013 season the anticipation grew for his first season with the Bearcats. In his first game against Toledo, he went 25-of-37 passing for 418 yards and six touchdowns (no interceptions). After that game the program and fan base thought they had their quarterback for the next three years or at least two because a pure talent like Kiel had NFL written all over him. He led the team to a 9-4 record, but was injured against Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl loss, no that isn’t a typo. With the great season he had nobody wanted to see him go into the off-season injured, but that was the reality for the guy who went 233-of-390 passing for 3,254 yards, 31 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. During his junior season due to various injuries he ended up splitting time with redshirt freshman Hayden Moore. Besides injuries Kiel had personal issues that didn’t help him ascend as expected from his sophomore to junior season. His stat line during his junior year was 206-of-316 passing for 2,777 yards, 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in three less games played (10 games played). While his accuracy improved from 59.7% to 65.2%, his yards and touchdowns went down and he mysteriously missed their bowl game. From a monster first year to a slump of sorts in his second year, what would his senior year hold?
In his senior season we was sort of an enigma as he only played five games going 66-of-127 passing for 802 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. The Bearcats didn’t make a bowl game for the first time of his tenure. A career that started with so much potential ended up being a bust and even ended with the former 5 star not getting a shot in the NFL.
