By Bill Koch
Enquirer staff writer

UC VS. MIAMI

When: 7 p.m. Saturday. Where: Nippert Stadium. Radio: WCKY-AM (1360). If you go: Fans on Saturday will find limited access to Nippert Stadium from the east due to construction of the Richard E. Lindner Varsity Village. • Fans arriving from the Brodie, Library and CBA parking garages and other parking areas north and west will find new gates on the west - or press box - side of the stadium, as well as the tunnel entrance to the field level, accessible from the Engineering Research Center. • Access through Fifth Third Arena has been discontinued due to the construction. Fans parking east of the stadium should utilize the gates on the south side. • Cash parking is available in the Brodie and CBA garages off Martin Luther King Drive and the Scioto Jefferson Garage off Jefferson Avenue. Additional parking is available at the Eden Avenue Garage at the Medical Center campus off Martin Luther King Drive. There will be shuttle service between Eden Garage and the stadium.

When Doug Jones walked off the field at Dixie Heights High School on Nov. 2, 2001, he couldn't have guessed he'd have to wait nearly three years before he would play in another game.

Dixie had just lost to Louisville Ballard 43-32 in the Kentucky Class AAAA playoffs before about 1,500 fans, and Jones had every reason to believe he would return for his senior year as one of the Colonels' top players.

But the following summer, shortly after the star tight end committed to the University of Cincinnati, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he landed wrong after leaping to make a catch at UC's passing camp.

The injury cost him his senior season at Dixie.

"He handled it well. I think the fact that he had already committed to UC early in the summer gave him something to look forward to," Dixie Heights coach Tom Spritzky said.

"It was terrible," Jones said. "I love football. It was a hard thing for me and my parents. I rehabbed. I worked my butt off trying to get back on the field.

"I knew I had more important things in the future."

Jones wouldn't play again until last Saturday when he started for UC against Ohio State. By then, Rick Minter, the man who recruited him at UC, had been fired. Mark Dantonio had replaced him and Jones was being used as a fullback.

He made his college debut as a redshirt freshman before a sellout crowd of 104,604 at Ohio Stadium.

When he hit that field and drank in the huge crowd, all those painful rehab sessions and the frustration of not being able to play for so long melted away.

"At first, I was nervous," Jones said, "but once I got in there and got my first hit, I was all right."

Jones played on the UC scout team last year as a tight end and served as a backup long snapper. He never participated in a game and was redshirted, preserving his four years of eligibility.

He showed up for spring practice in April raring to go, only to be asked by Dantonio how he felt about moving to fullback.

"We really had no true fullbacks in the program," Dantonio said. "We felt like we needed to be able to run the ball with the guy at the point of attack some. He was a pretty good football player. We felt we needed him on the field in some starting capacity, and we had some tight ends."

Jones embraced the idea immediately.

"I was like, whatever I can do to help the team out, I'll do it," Jones said. "Also, it gives me a chance to get on the field. I didn't disagree with it."

Jones, who still plays tight end in certain formations, has the potential to be not just a solid blocker at the fullback position, but also a capable ball carrier. At nearly 6 feet 5 and weighing 278 pounds, he's a load to bring down. He runs the 40 in 4.78 seconds.

He carried five times for 15 yards against Ohio State and caught one pass for 10 yards.

"I've always been more of a receiving tight end," Jones said. "I was used to having the ball. I look at myself as more of a blocking fullback, but if they give me the ball, I can run with it, too. I'm not slow."

Jones will be on the field again Saturday when the Bearcats open their home season against Miami at Nippert Stadium.

Like the rest of his teammates, he'll be focused on ending Miami's three-game winning streak in the series and providing Dantonio with his first victory as a head coach.

But it will be hard to top last Saturday. "I'm going to remember that for the rest of my life," Jones said. "It was just amazing."

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com