Memphis Tigers 41, Cincinnati Bearcats 14: Gunner Kiel Injured In Humiliating Defeat
By Chris Bains
The Cincinnati Bearcats were bludgeoned by the Memphis Tigers tonight 41-14 in an embarrassing defeat to open American Conference play.
I don’t even know where to begin, folks.
The rushing defense continues to provide wide open holes for opposing ball carriers. Memphis’ 3rd (THIRD!) string running back ran for a career high 38 carries, 170 yards, and a touchdown tonight. Even the 4th string back, Jarvis Cooper, reeled off 3.2 yards a pop on Cincinnati’s defense. The Tigers put up 299 yards on the ground overall.
The secondary continues to allow receivers to run rampant and are unable to tackle. Quarterback Paxton Lynch had a career day with 311 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. He passed for over 12 yards per attempt.
Overall, the Bearcats’ defense couldn’t get off the field like a week ago when Ohio State converted plays for 45 first downs. Memphis had 30 tonight, controlled the ball for 41 minutes, and reeled off 610 yards of total offense. Even when the Tigers blasted FCS Austin Peay 63-0 to open the 2014 football season they only put up 545 yards of offense.
And on top of that, on top of all of the missed tackles, wide open Memphis receivers, and dropped passes, starting quarterback Gunner Kiel was injured on a Hail Mary on the last play of the first half. He didn’t return for the second half and his status for the remainder of the season is up in the air.
As it stands right now I’m confident is saying that the ceiling for Cincinnati’s football team is far lower than what I had predicted to open the season. That’s about the only confidence I have in the Bearcats right now. If the defense continues to play like it’s a flag football game and Kiel is sidelined for an extended period of time, UC could struggle to win even 7 or 8 games this season.
Mercy, it’s remarkable just how far this team has fallen in a few short weeks.