Cincinnati has received a jolt defensively in the form of an All-American defensive tackle.
Dontay Corleone has been cleared to play in games by the Cincinnati sports medicine staff, the program announced Tuesday. Corleone returned to practice today, and his status for Saturday’s game against Pitt will be decided later this week.
“I’m excited to be back on the field with my brothers,” Corleone said in the Cincy release. “I will continue to lead on and off the field. My family and I are very thankful for Aaron Himmler, Dr. Divine and the entire UC sports medicine staff. I also want to thank all of our fans for their love and support throughout this process. For the last few months, I have worked extremely hard to make a return. With the help of our strength and conditioning staff, especially (assistant director of sports performance) Brandon Garcia, who worked with me daily, I feel fully prepared to play this season.”
Corleone was treated for blood clots in his lungs in June and ruled out indefinitely.
Corleone — a 6-foot-1, 320-pound defensive tackle from Cincinnati, Ohio — emerged as one of the best 0-technique defensive tackles in college football over the last two seasons.
Corleone racked up three tackles (one solo), a tackle for loss and a sack in a 27-21 win over the Panthers, dominating the Pitt offensive line throughout the contest. Pat Narduzzi pointed to Corleone as a difference-maker before the game and that prediction came to fruition.
He racked up 39 tackles (22 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup at nose tackle last season — earning second-team All-Big 12 honors. And in his collegiate career, he’s accumulated 84 tackles (41 solo), 12 tackles for loss, six sacks, three forced fumbles, two recoveries and a pass breakup.
Narduzzi expected Corleone to be able to go this week, pointing to the star defensive tackle as “the dude” upfront.
“Obviously the Corleone kid on defense, he’s a heck of an outstanding football player,” Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly press conference. “He was out, as you guys know, during the summer, but I expect Dontay to be back. I think he’ll be back for us.
“I think he spent plenty of time talking to people, expect him to be back. He’s the dude up front. They’ve got some other great players up front. Eric Phillips a big defensive end, No. 97, is a great player. Bartlett at linebacker stands out to me, their middle linebacker, gets things rolling. Then the back end, they’ve got skill guys to cover you up.”
Pitt and Cincinnati are scheduled to kick off at noon on Saturday at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. For those not in attendance, the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Crushed Pitt’s OL last year. He’s a beast
Did he cause us to lose?
Glad to hear that his health is improving. Not glad to hear that he could be active on Saturday. H2P !
Hopefully he’s not in game shape and gets tired with our fast paced offense. He destroyed us last year!
H2P!!!
Did he cause us to lose?