Cincinnati's Zach Collaros Back At Practice, Hopeful To Play In Liberty Bowl

Cincinnati senior quarterback Zach Collaros returned to practice today for the first time since breaking his ankle in a game against West Virginia on Nov. 12. Collaros is ahead of schedule in terms of his recovery time. He is hopeful that he will be able to play for the Bearcats in the Liberty Bowl against Vanderbilt on Dec. 31.

"He continues to make remarkable progress," Jones said. "It was the first time he had game-speed repetitions. He threw the ball crisp, he moved his feet. He's not 100 percent, but it was great to see him out there."

It would be huge for Cincinnati to get Collaros back for the Liberty Bowl. No Big East quarterback was close to Collaros in touchdown production in 2011. Collaros scored a touchdown 6.9% of the time he touched the ball. Ryan Nassib was the next highest Big East quarterback with a rate of 5%. Collaros had the Bearcats in the driver's seat to win the Big East outright until he missed the last three games with his injury.

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