It came to Josh Gardner at a tender age that if ever he got the opportunity to lock horns in the Cincinnati vs. Miami college football rivalry, it would be something to truly relish.

        “I've known about this rivalry for as long as I can remember -- certainly ever since I was a little kid,” said sophomore Gardner, one of the UC offensive linemen who has been opening big holes this season for running backs Ray Jackson and DeMarco McCleskey.

U.C. vs. Miami

Records: UC 3-4; Miami 4-3    When: 2 p.m. Saturday    Where: Nippert Stadium (35,000)    TV: Channel 19    Radio: WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450)

        Gardner, a graduate of Moeller High School, isn't a “little kid” anymore. He's 6-foot-4 and 276 pounds. And he'll be trying to leverage every ounce of it Saturday in the 2p.m. game at Nippert Stadium.

        “I've always wanted to play in a game like this, and I can't wait to play them,” he said. “I'm really pumped up about it.”

        Another newcomer to this rivalry — Woodward grad Antwan Peek, UC's fearsome defensive rush-end — can't wait, either.

        “I know some guys up there (in Oxford),” said Peek, a sophomore. “I saw one of them one day when I was going over to my girlfriend's house. He said: "There's this football player at UC who thought he was a hot shot coming out of high school. He graduated from Woodward. You know him?'

        “I said, "Hey, I graduated from Woodward!' He didn't even realize it was me he was talking about. I said to myself, "Oh, OK,' and I just filed it away.”

        Expect Peek to “unfile” it Saturday.

        “This is my first college rivalry game to play in, and I'm very excited,” Peek said. “I've been practicing hard all week, and Coach (Rick Minter) has been recognizing it. I think it's so important to me because it's my first one. It's more important to me than people might realize. I like the idea of ringing that (Victory) Bell.”

        Senior Freddy Smith, UC's strong safety out of Princeton, has played in several of these games now, and he can tell Peek it never gets old. He knows that, because the butterflies still come calling Saturday morning.

        “I had a couple of friends who I played with and against at Princeton, who played at Miami and have since graduated,” Smith said. “When you know guys personally like that, it just adds to the rivalry.”

        If UC wins, will he call them up and rub it in?

        “Yeah, if I can get a hold of them,” he said. “But I think they'll already know. They'll be watching (on television).”

        UC NOTES: UC sophomore wide receiver LaDaris Vann, who has been reinstated by order of a federal judge, has resumed prac tice. He returned to classes Tuesday.

        He had been suspended by the university because he had been accused of a rape for which police had investigated but declined to arrest and a grand jury had heard some evidence but declined to indict. The judge said Vann must get a new hearing by UC. Vann, who was suspended by the university Sept.25, missed three football games.

        “He'll play as much as he can fit in, depending on his condition and how much (of the offensive game plan) he's retained,” Minter said.

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