A top offensive player and a top defensive player for the University at Buffalo football team did not practice Tuesday, and their playing status for this weekend remains undetermined.
UB coach Maurice Linguist said Tuesday that running back Kevin Marks and defensive end Taylor Riggins will be game-time decisions when the Bulls (3-4, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Akron (2-5, 1-2).
“Kevin, we’re going to make a game-time decision,” Linguist said during his weekly news conference at Murchie Family Fieldhouse. “Doubtful for Taylor but we’ll make that final decision Saturday morning, sometime Saturday, seeing how he feels.”
Neither was in uniform Saturday in UB’s 27-26 win against Ohio at UB Stadium. Linguist did not specify the nature of either Riggins or Marks’ injuries but said Saturday that the decision to sit Riggins and Marks were made that morning, prior to the game.
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Riggins has sat out two games this season. He also did not play in UB’s 35-34 win Sept. 25 at Old Dominion, and he missed the 2020 season due to a lower-body injury.
CJ Bazile started at defensive end in place of Riggins against Old Dominion and against Ohio, and had four tackles against the Bobcats.
Riggins has four sacks, 23 tackles, a quarterback hurry and two forced fumbles in five games.
Marks has 368 yards and five touchdowns on 94 carries. Dylan McDuffie is UB’s leading rusher with 492 yards and six touchdowns on 83 carries, and Ron Cook Jr. has 342 yards and two touchdowns on 56 carries.
“If you have the mindset that you’re going out there to play 50 or 60 snaps, at any moment you can put a helmet on and go do that,” Linguist said. “I think our culture and how we practice demands that, and I think guys respond to that very well. Dylan McDuffie did not miss a beat because he handled his preparation the right way, and he handled it very maturely during the week. He was ready to be his best when we needed him to be his best.”
