Munchie Legaux comeback adds new chapter
Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com 8:05 p.m. EDT November 1, 2014
Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Munchie Legaux (4) celebrates with wide receiver Shaq Washington (19) after his touchdown catch.(Photo: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)
It may not be a full-blown quarterback controversy, but senior Munchie Legaux temporarily has supplanted sophomore Gunner Kiel as the No. 1 University of Cincinnati football quarterback.
Legaux relieved an ailing Kiel (bruised ribs) and led UC to a 38-14 win at Tulane on Friday night. The crowd of 21,414 at Tulane's Yulman Stadium included about 100 family and friends watching Legaux, who returned in triumph to his native New Orleans.
Legaux, writing another chapter in his comeback from last year's season-ending knee surgery, completed 16-of-24 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Kiel started the game, threw an interception on his first play and never returned.
"I don't know what happened (to Kiel), but it was good that Munchie was able to come and play in front of a home crowd," UC coach Tommy Tuberville said. "He'll always remember coming home and playing, and playing as well as he did. We'll go with him as No. 1 for a while."
How long?
"We've got to have a guy working as No. 1," Tuberville said. "Gunner is going to have to get 100 percent healthy before we're going to work with him much with the ones. We'll let him work with the twos, but we can't get in a situation like this where we just kind of go back and forth.
"Munchie played well enough to be the starter next game."
UC (5-3, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) is off until Nov. 13, when the Bearcats play host to No. 23 East Carolina in a Thursday night game. East Carolina is 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the AAC after being upset 20-10 by Temple on Saturday.
With UCF also being upset 37-29 by UConn on Saturday, the Bearcats now are part of a five-way tie for first place in the AAC. The five teams standing 3-1 in the league are UC, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis and UCF.
With UC taking control early against Tulane on Friday, Kiel watched from the sidelines. Kiel occasionally was seen stretching and bending to alleviate his ailing ribs, while also applauding Legaux's efforts.
"Coach just told me to be ready to play, and I was," Legaux said. "It was great to come out and get a victory in my hometown but most important, it wasn't about me. Hats off to my team for rallying around me."
BOWL WATCH: The Bearcats at 5-3 are within one win of becoming bowl-eligible. It would be UC's fourth consecutive bowl appearance, which would tie the longest streak in program history (2006-09 seasons).
"We've got four left, and we've got an opportunity to win four games or lose all four," Tuberville said. "The main thing we want to do now is, finally we've got an open date."
The Bearcats began the year with two open dates, then played eight consecutive weeks before getting this breather. UC has a 13-day break before playing East Carolina.
"We've got to get healthy," Tuberville said. "This has been the most screwed-up schedule I've ever seen. It's been really unfair to the players but they've fought through it, they haven't complained. They leave all the complaining to me."
UC's remaining games, all in the AAC, are against East Carolina (Nov. 13), at Connecticut (Nov. 22), at Temple (Nov. 29) and the finale at home against Houston (Dec. 6). All are winnable games, but there also is not much talent differential between the top and bottom AAC teams.
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