Favorite Cincinnati Bearcat Football Player Since 1997 Tournament: Kevin Huber Wins Mark Dantonio Region

Quick. Name a punter. Now name another. Now another. Now one more. If you checked out after the first one, don’t be ashamed. Punters are not the best known players for better or worse. But not here at Down the Drive. We appreciate the art of punting here, as evidenced by the fact that Kevin Huber won the Mark Dantonio region of the Favorite Cincinnati Bearcat Football Player Since 1997 Tournament.

Huber had only faced wide receivers in the first three rounds, but he showed he wasn’t just the wideout kryptonite, as he took on and defeated defensive lineman Derek Wolfe in the regional final. While Wolfe provided the most closely contested matchup that Huber has been involved in, the former UC punter still won with nearly 65 percent of the vote. He joins Zach Collaros as a member of this tournament’s Final Four. Here are the final results from the Mark Danontio region.

The other two Final Four participants (and a secret challenger) will be revealed over the next two days, but for now its time to celebrate Huber’s success with five fun facts.

1. Huber was a first-team All-American in 2007 and 2008. That’s not as in all-American Athletic Conference. That as in he was one of the best players in all of college football and he did it twice, something no other Bearcat has ever done.
2. In a 2007 game against Marshall, Huber averaged 59.7 yards per punt, booting the ball three times. His 179 punting yards were more than UC’s leading rusher and receiver had in the game combined.
3. Huber owns the first and third best punting average for a full season, with his 46.9 standing above all. Mike Connell (who played in the 1970s) is the only other player to appear more than once in the top 10.
4. After being a standout at UC, Huber has gone on to have a very successful NFL career. He was an All-Pro first team selection in 2014 and has averaged 45.2 yards per punt in nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. He can (and probably will) play for a while longer before hanging up his punting shoes, having signed a three-year extension with the Bengals in March.
5. A true son of Cincinnati, Huber was born in the Queen City on July 16, 1985 and went to high school at Archbishop McNicholas, which is just 10 miles away from UC’s campus.