After being used sparingly in 2022, UC Bearcat back Corey Kiner approaches 1,000 yards

Running for more than 1,000 yards is nothing new to University of Cincinnati Bearcat running back Corey Kiner.

At Roger Bacon High School, Kiner did it four straight years with 1,226 as a freshman, 1,740 as a sophomore, 2,298 as a junior and 1,866 as a senior leading to an Ohio Mr. Football honor.

Since then, the yards have come tougher and the carries fewer. In his freshman year at LSU under former UC coach Brian Kelly he had 320 yards in 11 games. Upon transferring to UC to play for now-former coach Luke Fickell last season, he had 362 yards in 10 games with many wondering why he wasn't more involved.

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What held Kiner back last year?

In UC's last four games of 2022, he had just 16 carries, seven fewer than he had overall in the Bearcat win at Houston.

"Last year, it just wasn't my time yet, let's put it that way," Kiner said. "Coach said it wasn't my time so I just had to wait it out. In the offseason, I didn't take any days off. I made every day a work day. I took every opportunity I could to get better on and off the field, mentally and physically."

Thus far, he has flourished under UC coach Scott Satterfield's run-oriented offense, even though the carries have been shared.

"I made the most of it," Kiner said. "I wasn't letting any opportunities go to waste."

Can Mr. Football become Mr. 1,000?

With 129 yards at Houston, Kiner has surpassed the century mark five times this season and stands at 885 yards, 115 away from a grand year.

As West Virginia coach Neal Brown acknowledged in his remarks this week, Kiner is among the nation's leaders in broken tackles. While admittedly not the fastest back, speed is not a factor when you've run over your opponent.

"He's got better vision than I thought," Satterfield said. "He's able to hit those holes. He's not a burner, we all know that, but he's got some long runs this season. He's just a hard, tough runner that's going to get those first downs and churn out those yards."

The coaching staff and players have admired Kiner's dedication which involves being in the training room Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to recover from hits he takes on Saturday.

Kiner knows squat

Another way Kiner has helped his 5-9, 216-pound frame stay upright is by following the rigid squatting regimen of Director of Football Sports Performance Niko Palazeti. A former Michigan State fullback, Palazeti knows the formula that keeps Kiner churning his legs.

"We have a saying, 'Depth Reigns Supreme,' " Palazeti said. "No matter what you're doing you're going to go to depth. You've got to have conviction to put heavy weight on your back and believe in yourself enough to bury it, go as deep as you possibly can, and come up with conviction. Corey bought into that and it allowed the explosion and accelerator power that he has."

While Palazeti says Kiner's broken tackles aren't all from squatting, he's happy No. 21 embraced the offseason grind he first questioned.

When Palazeti loaded the bar last winter, Kiner first thought the new strength coach was crazy (as an aside, most are). By summer he was squatting the same weight with ease. This fall you've seen the results.

"I might not be the fastest but I can get away from tacklers when I need to," Kiner said. "People expect me to be Tyreek Hill (Dolphins receiver who runs a 4.29 40-yard dash). I will improve my speed but right now I'm doing the best I can."

The center gives Kiner the attention

Captain Gavin Gerhardt is glad Kiner has a chance at 1,000 yards. It's something last achieved by Jerome Ford in 2021 when UC made its Championship Football Playoff run to the Cotton Bowl.

"I'm just happy for anyone in that running back room to get the ball," Gerhardt said. "They've all done an amazing job. He (Kiner) has been the leader for us and he's just going to keep getting the rock. Running over safeties and linebackers, I don't know how he does it, but every day I see him in there (the locker room). We come in from morning walk-throughs at 7:30 a.m. and he doesn't leave the facility 'til after practice (5-6 p.m.) It's just a testament to what he'll do for this program to keep running the ball hard."

The No. 5 rushing offense won't go bowling

A junior, Kiner won't be going to a bowl game for the first time in his career. He played for LSU in the Texas Bowl against Kansas State in Jan. 2022 then for the Bearcats in the Fenway Bowl last December. This year's motivation involves the last two games starting with Saturday in Morgantown.

Kiner says one of his goals was getting 1,000 yards on the college level and hopes to achieve it with more Bearcat bursts. More importantly, he would like to see his team put another victory on the board.

"Hopefully we can get these last two wins and send these seniors out right," Kiner said. "We're not going to a bowl game. My thing is to send these seniors out with two more wins on their resumé. Those guys have done a lot for this team and I just have so much respect for those guys."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Tackle-breaking Corey Kiner of UC Bearcat football nears 1,000 yards