The aptly-named Gunner Kiel is not Tom Brady, but he might as well be when Ohio State and Cincinnati convene under the lights of old and mighty Ohio Stadium Saturday evening.
Kiel, a redshirt sophomore quarterback and transfer from Notre Dame is the definition of prototype with a 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame and a rocket launcher for a throwing arm. Out of high school (where he threw for 61 touchdowns and nearly 5,000 yards in two seasons), Kiel was a five-star recruit recruited by just about every major power in the country.
Its no wonder such a combination of size and skill prompted Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer — a careful curator of quarterbacks — has issued an urgent “call to arms” for a pass defense that doomed his squad a year ago.
“I see a strong guy, he looks big. Big, strong arms courageous player that throws into the oncoming pass rush,” Meyer said.
Kiel — who’s completed 66 percent of his passes for 635 yards 10 touchdowns, and two interceptions — and the diverse cast of talented wide receivers that surrounds him — will challenge Ohio State’s overhauled defense.
“Like most really good quarterbacks, he has really good personnel around him. Really good. I see one of the top quarterbacks in the country,” Meyer, who’s coached the likes of Tim Tebow, Alex Smith and Braxton Miller, said.
Of course, Cincinnati’s strength will be matched up against Ohio State’s weakest link. The Buckeyes finished as one of the worst teams in defending the pass last season and were often hapless in big moments against Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Brewer, who carved them apart on third down.
“This is the test, this is the one that we're all shooting for and they're really good at throwing the ball and it will be a challenge for us,” Meyer said.
A passing grade is achieved by disarming Kiel.
“He’s a smart quarterback, and he’s got a really good arm and we watched some film yesterday,” junior linebacker Joshua Perry said Monday.
“I saw him make one throw that was pretty good-looking on there and I said if he stands back there, he can make throws like that.”
No kidding. So the onus to stop Kiel falls on the entire defense — not just the secondary.
“It’s a challenge to the front seven as well as the back seven, we’ve got to be able to cover him, but we got to definitely find some ways to get pressure,” Perry said.
And if the Buckeyes can do that, that might be enough to break a Bearcats team that gave up 34 points to Toledo and 24 to Miami (Ohio). After all, getting into a shootout won’t bode well for Ohio State and an offense that’s still trying to find an identity.
“He’s looked pretty impressive in these first couple of games so we’ll have to find some new ways to maybe get after him a little bit,” Perry said. “You know, if they can't throw the ball out to some of those receivers that they have, then they might not be as effective.”
