Bearcats looking to fit puzzle pieces together
CINCINNATI – Brendon Kay and Munchie Legaux were in a weekly battle to be Tommy Tuberville’s starting quarterback. That battle came to an abrupt and horrific end last Saturday in Champaign when Legaux suffered a left knee injury against Illinois that ended his season.
Legeaux’s season is finished but his Cincinnati Bearcats teammates will get their first chance to put their 45-17 loss to the Illini behind them Saturday night at Nippert Stadium against Northwestern State, a FCS program. After beating Purdue soundly, 42-7, in the season opener, UC committed repeated mistakes against Illinois that weren’t present against Purdue. Five penalties, including four false starts, and a turnover in the first quarter set the stage for the Bearcats eventually falling behind 21-0 before they started fighting back.
This week, as Tuberville said on Tuesday, the Bearcats start getting some of the pieces of their puzzle put into the right places.
“We’re finding out more and more about players that are starters, that are backups and even some third-team guys. That’s the focus,” said Tuberville. “We found out last week we didn’t handle success very well in the first week and we played a better football team
last week. We didn’t adjust very well as coaches or players as the game went on. We knew we were going to have problems, we just weren’t able to work our way out of those on either side of the ball or on special teams.”
The Bearcats have the portion of their schedule in the next three weeks in which to work on finding those right pieces to their puzzle. Following Northwestern State, UC has a road game at Miami in Oxford on Sept. 21 and then a bye week before starting American Athletic Conference play at South Florida on Oct. 5.
Tuberville said there will be changes to Saturday’s starting lineup and rotation beyond Kay starting at quarterback, although he wasn’t going to be specific. Cornerback Trenier Orr was also injured at Illinois and is not on this week’s two-deep depth chart, replaced by Howard Wilder and Grant Coleman. Senior defensive tackle Mitch Meador started the first two games but he’s not on the two-deep. Cincinnati-area products Adam Dempsey (Fort Thomas Highlands) and Brandon Mitchell (Withrow) are there this week but nothing is guaranteed at any position.
“A lot of these kids haven’t played so we’re trying to make sure we get them in the right spots in the right situations,” said Tuberville. “What’s their best scenario? What do they play the best on defense, and the same thing on offense. (Wide receiver Alex) Chisum had an ankle sprain and he’ll be out two more weeks. We need to get him back but now we’ve got to find out what can Mekale McKay do. How can he play?”
Kay said he is physically prepared to start Saturday. A sore shoulder slowed him during preseason training camp, a condition that opened the door for Legaux to regain the starting position. Legaux was 30-of-51 passing for 382 yards and two touchdowns plus three interceptions in the first two games besides adding 107 yards and one touchdown rushing. He was hurt with just over nine minutes to play last Saturday when Illinois defensive end Tim Kynard hit him straight on in the knee as Legaux was attempting a pass.
This wasn’t the way Kay wanted to get the job back. Legaux was transported back to Cincinnati on Sunday and has been said to be in good spirits but at the family’s request for privacy UC is not providing further updates.
“This is a good friend of mine,” said Kay. “We both supported each other 100 percent. It’s football but it’s still incredibly hard to see.”
Kay was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA last December after two knee injuries cost him seasons.
“(He was) the first person I texted and called after the game, told him if he needs anything I’ve been through a lot of it. I let him know, call me, let me know,” said Kay. “There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, a lot of tough times but I told him I’m there for him.
“You’ve just got to go one day at a time. There’s no miracle cure for it. You’ve got to put in a lot of work. It’s going to take time. He has to realize that from the beginning. It’s tough.”
Redshirt freshman Bennie Coney is now the backup to Kay. Tuberville said Coney will play against both Northwestern State and Miami in the coming games just so he can gain some game experience in case he’s needed later in the season.
Northwestern State is 2-0 after beating Missouri State and Southern, fellow FCS programs, to begin its season. Tuberville’s Texas Tech team opened against Northwestern State last season, beating the Demons 44-6.
“We have to regroup,” said Kay. “That’s a terrible thing to see, especially for a great friend of mine, a brother of mine. It’s extremely hard to see. I know he’d want it no other way than we’ve got to regroup and keep playing ball.”