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August 27 is Meet the Team Night
WEST HARRISON, Ind. - The University of Cincinnati football team took another step toward the start of the 2006 season by conducting its second scrimmage of the preseason. UC ran 100 plays at Higher Ground Conference Center with the first, second and third-units all seeing the field along with full-speed special teams.
"We made sure to get equal reps between Nick Davila and Dustin Grutza at quarterback with the first unit," stated Head Coach Mark Dantonio. "I thought Nick looked really sharp in his first series with the ones. Dustin took the twos down the field against the ones and also looked really sharp."
The solid play of the offensive line gave the contenders for the quarterback position an equal shot at the starting role.
"We have eight guys who have played pretty well," Dantonio added. "Trevor Canfield is certainly one of the guys who will factor in up front. Chris Flores has played well at center. Mario Duenas has gone back and forth between center and guard. Jeffrey Linkenbach continues to get better with each practice. Digger Bujnoch has done well. Frank Straub, Jeff Reinstatler and J.P. Simon have all shown us what they need to do."
Grutza capped the scrimmage with a 73-yard touchdown strike up the left sideline to Jared Martin. The sophomore quarterback finished 10-of-15 for 180 yards. Davila completed 10-of-18 pass attempts for 94 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown pass to Brent Celek.
Senior linebacker Kevin McCullough paced the defense with six stops. Donnell McKenzie collected five tackles, including a pair of quarterback sacks. Trevor Anderson, Delbert Ferguson and Leo Morgan totaled five tackles each.
Placekicker Kevin Lovell converted 2-of-3 field goal tries. The senior split the uprights on tries from 35 and 39 yards, but fell short on a 50-yard effort. Sophomore Brandon Yingling showed plenty of distance when he boomed a 45-yard placement.
The Bearcats are scheduled to hold their final two-a-day session of the preseason on Wednesday. They conclude their stay at Higher Ground and return to campus on Thursday.