Cincinnati quarterback Gunner Kiel appears to be hurt badly after taking a hit to the head from Memphis' Chauncey Lanier. His head also appeared to hit the ground afterwards.
Cincinnati QB Gunner Kiel taken to hospital after hard hit and striking head on turf
The Bearcats’ signal caller was sliding when he took a hard hit.
ESPN
Statement from #UC: Gunner Kiel is awake, undergoing evaluation and moving all four limbs.
— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) September 25, 2015 Update from UC: Gunner Kiel has been taken from the Liberty Bowl to a local hospital for evaluation. Assumption is he's done for the night.
— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) September 25, 2015 Gunner Kiel is headed back to Cincinnati on the team plane. He made it back to the stadium just as the team was loading up.
— Kaylee Hartung (@KayleeHartung) September 25, 2015 Kiel was carted off the field after being attended to by trainers from both teams for several minutes. While on his way to an ambulance, Kiel appeared to be alert and communicating, with movement in his extremities.
Lanier was called for targeting on the play, hitting Kiel as he was in the process of sliding, but the targeting penalty was overturned after the referee said he led with his shoulder. He’d only begun sliding and was therefore not defenseless, according to ESPN’s rules analyst during the broadcast.
This is the hit in question.
Kiel suffered what was originally thought to be a head injury against Miami (Ohio) in his previous game on Saturday, but he passed all concussion tests and the pain was apparently more in the shoulder than his head. He also missed time with several injuries last year.
He was replaced by Hayden Moore.
We’ll update with more as available.
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