Good Read - Special Kay on national stage
Football: Special Kay on national stage
Marine City graduate in final home game Thursday on ES
Written by
Paul Costanzo
Times Herald
Brendon Kay will play his final game at Nippert Stadium Thursday when his Cincinnati Bearcats meet No. 19 Louisville.
There’s still a bowl game in Cincinnati’s future, but as the regular-season comes to a close, Kay was able to look back on his six years at the school — a ride that has featured plenty of ups and downs, but that seems to be ending headed toward a happy ending.
“It’s book material, I guess,” the 2008 Marine City graduate said. “It’s crazy just thinking about it, everything that’s happened. One thing that’s really kept me going is knowing that everything happens for a reason.
“It’s all panning out now, it just took some time to get there. At the same time, it’s shaped me and who I am today. Everything that’s happened, even the bad things, it’s kind of a blessing.”
Kay has started nine games for Cincinnati this season, and the Bearcats are 8-1 in his starts. He has thrown for 2,817 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and is 225-of-320 on the season. His 70.3 completion percentage ranks him fourth nationally behind Joe Southwick of Boise State, Shane Carden of East Carolina, and his opponent in tonight’s game, Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville.
He has a QB rating of 161.3, which ranks 12th-best nationally.
“Things are definitely clicking,” Kay said. “It was after, I think week 4, the South Florida game, we changed up our offense pretty much completely. Since then, things have really been clicking.”
Kay’s rise at Cincinnati actually began a year ago when he was a redshirt senior. He started the final five games of the season and finished with 1,298 yards passing, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions on 87-of-138 passing. The Bearcats were 4-1 with Kay as the starter, and he was named MVP of the Belk Bowl.
He went through Senior Day festivities in 2012, just as he did this fall when the Bearcats beat SMU.
“I knew (last year that getting a sixth year) was a possibility, but I still treated it the same,” Kay said. “I remember coming out of the tunnel, because coach (Butch) Jones was there, and he gave me a hug and said hopefully I could be back here to do this again (in 2013).”
Kay is; Jones isn’t. The coach left for Tennessee after the 2012 season, and Tommy Tuberville moved from Texas Tech to Cincinnati. It was the second coaching change Kay experienced in his career at Cincinnati. After his redshirt freshman year, Brian Kelly left Cincinnati to coach Notre Dame.
On top of dealing with coaching changes, Kay has also dealt with injuries. A knee injury took away an entire year (which is why he’s back for season No. 6 ), and shoulder soreness cost him the starting job to begin this season. He took it back after an injury slowed Munchie Legaux.
“I think his family background and his upbringing — he was such an even keel, mature kid to start with — and only a kid with his maturity could hand what he’s gone through,” said Marine City coach Ron Glodich, who was offensive coordinator while Kay was in school. “We’ve got to the point in our relationship where really we’re friends and not just coach and player.”
Kay was on the sidelines last weekend when Marine City won the Division 4 state championship, just as the Kay-led Mariners had done in 2007.
Glodrich remembers talking on the phone with Kay after the Mariners whipped Country Day on their run to the title.
“We literally talked to each other at 1 in the morning,” Glodrich said. “He said he didn’t know what he was more excited about, his win or ours.”
Cincinnati (9-2) is on a six-game winning streak, and with a win tonight would give itself a shot at claiming a share of the American Athletic Conference title. It will need Central Florida to lose Saturday at SMU. Cincinnati and Central Florida did not play this season.
Tonight also provides a national audience (ESPN) for Kay against Teddy Bridgewater, who is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the 2014 NFL Draft, maybe even the No. 1 pick. With Marcus Mariota announcing he will stay at Oregon, and with the future of LSU’s Zach Mettenberger uncertain because of knee injury, a good performance could help Kay move up draft boards.
“(The NFL) is definitely in the back of my mind,” Kay said. “But at the same time, everything will take care of itself if I keep doing what I’m doing on and off the field.”
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