Archives for November 2003

‘Last year, McGahee set the single-season rushing record at Miami with 1,753 yards on 282 carries. He rushed for 28 touchdowns before leaving the national championship game against Ohio State.’

‘“It’s like a training camp for him right now,” said Williams, whose team plays Dallas on Sunday. “He’s not ready to play yet. Hopefully, if he continues to work as hard as he has been working, he’ll get a chance to get into a game this year.”’

‘McGahee was taken off the reserve/non-football injury list, where he spent the first half of the season recovering from reconstructive surgery.’

‘In their last three road games they’ve been outscored by a combined 85-15, including a 38-5 loss at Kansas City on Oct. 26. Going back to last season, the Bills have lost seven of their last eight road games. During that stretch they’ve been outscored 187-99 and averaged less than 256 yards on offense.’

‘To make room for him, the Bills have released running back Ken Simonton.’

While impressed by the player’s progress, Williams said it’s far too early to tell when McGahee could be ready to play, if at all this season.

‘”That win rates right up there, especially because it was down here and the way they beat us in the Super Bowl,” wide receiver Don Beebe said. “It’s pretty exciting for the guys. I hate the word revenge, but we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have a little more incentive to come in and play these guys well after that debacle in the Super Bowl.”‘

‘A Cowboys win would mark the Cowboys first regular season victory over Buffalo since Nov. 9, 1981.’

‘However, one week after celebrating the championship, the coach resigned. At the time, Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. reportedly called it a “courageous decision.” Saban disagrees. “That’s one thing I didn’t think people have been able to understand. In a person’s own life, there are certain adjustments you think you have to make. At that stage, because of my family, I thought maybe this might be a chance to make one of those adjustments. I tried to see if I could put a very difficult atmosphere, tied in with what I thought was a very congenial situation at home, and keep pressure off my family. That was impossible to do. Youngsters who happen to be children of head coaches in professional sports don’t have it easy. I just couldn’t fathom how difficult it was to make changes in that type of an atmosphere. But I gave it a try.”‘

Children from Mrs. Montgomery’s class at Grenada Upper Elementary crowd around former Buffalo Bills center Kent Hull. The class raised nearly $150 for Make a Wish in a fundraiser sponsored by the PTA and were the winners of the PTA contest for most money raised. The children enjoyed a pizza party with Hull who promised that he would send each child an autographed picture.

‘”There are things that we still want to fix and there’s always things you want better,” Gray said. “I think our guys are getting better. But we’re not satisfied with where we are.”‘

‘Conaty (6-2, 300 pounds), who played at Virginia Tech, spent his first six seasons with Buffalo, primarily as backup. Conaty, who started 18 games with Buffalo, was released in the off-season and went to training camp with New England.’

‘Since the bye week was introduced in 1990, Buffalo is 10-4 in games following a week off.’

‘The 27-year-old was in the final year of a contract that paid him $650,000 this season. Campbell has started seven of eight games for the 4-4 Bills this season, ranking fourth on the team with 23 receptions for 197 yards.’

‘Offensively, the Bills began the season having little difficulty putting points on the board, averaging more than 34 points in their first two games. But since that time, Buffalo has averaged just 12.3 points per game. The Bills have tried to established a balanced attack with Henry and Bledsoe being the focal point of the offense and the receiving trio of Eric Moulds, Bobby Shaw and Josh Reed being Bledsoe’s prime targets. If the Buffalo offensive line can protect Bledsoe, expect that trio to be a major factor on Sunday.’