Zips rush for Buffalo
Potential return of Mackey leaves team excited
Vincent Dorsey
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: Sports
The Bulls' offense is led by redshirt sophomore running back James Starks. Starks earned back-to-back MAC East Division Player of the Week honors in UB's wins against Ohio and Toledo. The starting tailback rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulls 43-33 home win against UT.
Brookhart said that limiting Starks' success is one of the Zips keys to victory.
"I think we have to stop Starks," the fourth-year head coach said. "That is the best chance we have to win. He is their guy. Their quarterback is effective and they have good receivers but Starks is the guy that for two weeks ran over 200 yards."
Junior linebacker Kevin Grant has also taken notice of the Bulls' offensive catalyst and the development of this year's young Bulls team.
"Starks is probably one of the better backs, if not the best back, in the MAC," Grant said. "You can just see by his numbers the last couple of weeks. Watching them on film this week and last week, you can see they've started to gel more and more."
National Exposure
After Saturday's game, the Zips will play four straight weekday games to close the 2007 regular season.
Brookhart said that playing the next three games in a 12-day plan will be challenging, but several other schools will go through the same scenario, and the coaching staff will make changes to the team's routine in preparation for the games.
"It's an adjustment," he said. "We are going to have different times we have to practice, on Saturdays, on Sundays, on Monday nights, meet Monday mornings, different things like that to accommodate the class schedules. It will be a challenge, but we are not the only ones going through it."
One of the main reasons for the weekday night games is that all four of the MAC East matchups will air on a channel in the ESPN family of networks.
Brookhart said that limiting Starks' success is one of the Zips keys to victory.
"I think we have to stop Starks," the fourth-year head coach said. "That is the best chance we have to win. He is their guy. Their quarterback is effective and they have good receivers but Starks is the guy that for two weeks ran over 200 yards."
Junior linebacker Kevin Grant has also taken notice of the Bulls' offensive catalyst and the development of this year's young Bulls team.
"Starks is probably one of the better backs, if not the best back, in the MAC," Grant said. "You can just see by his numbers the last couple of weeks. Watching them on film this week and last week, you can see they've started to gel more and more."
National Exposure
After Saturday's game, the Zips will play four straight weekday games to close the 2007 regular season.
Brookhart said that playing the next three games in a 12-day plan will be challenging, but several other schools will go through the same scenario, and the coaching staff will make changes to the team's routine in preparation for the games.
"It's an adjustment," he said. "We are going to have different times we have to practice, on Saturdays, on Sundays, on Monday nights, meet Monday mornings, different things like that to accommodate the class schedules. It will be a challenge, but we are not the only ones going through it."
One of the main reasons for the weekday night games is that all four of the MAC East matchups will air on a channel in the ESPN family of networks.
Be the first to comment on this story