Tom Groeschen

tgroeschen@enquirer.com

Gunner Kiel will start again at quarterback for the University of Cincinnati football team this week at Temple.

That might seem obvious, given that Kiel threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns (no interceptions) in a 31-19 win over East Carolina this past Saturday. Yet, there has been so sure thing at quarterback this year for UC, with sophomore Hayden Moore and redshirt freshman Ross Trail also having started.

UC coach Tommy Tuberville was asked Tuesday at his weekly media luncheon if Kiel would start this week.

“Yeah, he’s No. 1,” Tuberville said.

Tuberville said he still wants Moore and Trail to be ready, but Kiel appears to have locked down the job. Until further notice.

“We’ll go through the next three days and I want them all to compete,” Tuberville said. “Gunner, the starter, gets more reps with the ones. He obviously earned that opportunity … In case he comes out and has a bad week, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I want the pressure to stay on all three of them.”

UC (4-3, 1-3 American Athletic Conference East) will face Temple (5-3, 3-1 AAC East) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.

UC: 5 takeaways from win over ECU

Fifth-year senior Kiel made his first start of the year against East Carolina. With UC struggling to score points, Tuberville reopened the quarterback competition and Kiel seized the job.

“Gunner made the plays down the field,” Tuberville said. “You look at a couple of the games we lost, we couldn’t make a big play.”

Kiel was the primary UC starter in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Kiel missed the 2015 Hawaii Bowl for an undisclosed personal matter, then lost his job at the start of the 2016 season to Moore.

Kiel warmed the bench most of the year, until getting his chance last Saturday.

“Being a fifth-year senior, I’m one of the oldest guys on the team,” Kiel said Tuesday. “I think my voice kind of matters a lot.”

For his career, Kiel now has 6,426 yards passing, 54 touchdown passes and 24 interceptions.

“It feels great, it really does,” Kiel said of his comeback. “But you know, anything can happen any day. I’ve just got to come out with the same attitude, and that’s just to compete and play hard and do whatever I can for the team. That’s my job. I just want to win football games.”

Tuberville on Kiel: 'Proud of him'

Kiel said he got lots of texts and calls after his big game Saturday. Kiel said he does not do social media.

What have the last few days been like?

“Kind of surreal,” Kiel said. “They’ve been some really good days, I’m not gonna lie. I woke up Sunday and went to church. Praise God for all the glory, and I’m going to continue to do that.”

EDWARDS SPOKE UP: Senior safety Zach Edwards (Middletown High School) is credited with getting Tuberville to consider putting Kiel back in the lineup.

After a 20-9 loss at UConn on Oct. 8, Edwards spoke up at the seniors’ weekly meeting with Tuberville.

“We love Hayden and Ross, but there was something that Gunner brought to the table, a lot of energy,” Edwards said Tuesday.

Edwards was pleased when Tuberville said that Kiel would get a chance.

“I did that because I felt like everybody was thinking that,” Edwards said. “The elephant in the room. I just spoke up about it.”

BIG D: UC is tied for No. 1 nationally with 14 interceptions, and tied for No. 6 in turnovers gained with 18.

“We’re not a shutdown defense, but we’re an opportunistic defense,” Tuberville said.

Senior linebacker Eric Wilson ranks No. 4 nationally with 11.6 tackles per game.

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Cincinnati vs. Temple

Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field (69,176), Philadelphia

TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network/700 WLW-AM

Records: UC 4-3 (1-3 AAC East), Temple 5-3 (3-1 AAC East)