Munchie Legaux was carted off at Illinois with a season-ending knee injury. Photo: USA Today Sports
Cincinnati entered the 2013 season with a bit of optimism. The Bearcats opened the year with a dominating victory at home against Purdue and has been thought by many to be Louisville's biggest threat to an American title run this fall. The two rivals square off in the final week of the regular season, in what could be one of the final games in the series for a long time as Louisville is flying to the ACC next year and there are no future games between the two currently lined up. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, quarterback Munchie Legaux has already played his final game against Louisville. After suffering a severe knee injury Saturday against Illinois, head coach Tommy Tuberville confirmed yesterday that Legaux's season has come to an abrupt end.
At this time we do not know the specific details of the knee injury, but as the images on television Saturday showed it was not pretty. He was hit low and his knee bent in a way it should not have, so the prognosis was assumed to be pretty rough. Legaux last tweeted on Saturday, after initially being treated for his knee injury, thanking fans for well wishes, but he has not sent anything since.
Doing good thanks for all your prayers and concerns…
— Munchie Legaux (@MunchieLegaux) September 8, 2013
While Legaux will focus on rehabbing in hopes of attracting some NFL interest in the spring, Cincinnati must move on with ten games to play in the regular season. Taking over for Legaux will be Brendon Kay, a senior who has played in 20 games entering this season and has seen some time in each of Cincinnati's first two games this season. Kay was a two-star prospect out of high school and had been in a bit of a quarterback competition with the injured Legaux. Having him playing as much as he has, although not as much as Legaux, will be a benefit for Cincinnati given the circumstances. He may not be able to make quite as much happen as Legaux could, but he should be more than serviceable as a replacement moving forward.
According to Cincinnati.com, redshirt freshman Bennie Coney will move up to fill the back-up role for Tuberville's offense. Cincinnati also has a walk-on junior college transfer in Michael Colosimo if things really turn south this season.
You may remember that Cincinnati also has former Notre Dame quarterback Gunner Kiel on the roster. This is true but because of the NCAA transfer rules in place, Kiel is required to sit out the 2013 season before he can be an available option for Cincinnati. That means Kiel will not be available until 2014, which is when it is likely he will compete to be the team's starting quarterback. So that looks to be the Cincinnati quarterback situation for the remainder of 2013 and 2014.
Cincinnati still has a number of games they should win in front of them even without Legaux available. Next week Cincinnati hosts FCS Northwestern State and after that they play on the road at Miami Ohio, at South Florida and then return for back-to-back games against Temple and Connecticut. The toughest games come at the end of the year with road games at Rutgers and Houston and a home game against Louisville to close out the regular season. By then though, Cincinnati could be bowl eligible.
Kevin McGuire is the managing editor of Crystal Ball Run. Follow him on Twitter, Facebookand Google+.
