Gunner Kiel was excellent in his first season as a Cincinnati Bearcat. Against Toledo he threw for six touchdowns and account for over 400 offensive yards. Essentially 10 games later, because he battled injuries all along the way, Kiel still threw for over 3,200 yards and more touchdowns than any UC quarterback over the last decade.
By all accounts his first season as Cincinnati’s field general couldn’t have gone better from a performance standpoint. It was relieving knowing that his right arm would be able to carry the Bearcats to victory in any given game. Even while UC’s defense looked like it would struggle to stop a horde of crawling babies let alone even Miami (OH), we as fans knew Cincinnati was never truly out of games with Kiel lining up at quarterback.