Hazelton takes the field

Monday afternoon Coach Butch Jones announced that Vidal Hazelton will begin practicing in earnest tomorrow.

"He will be out at practice on Tuesday," said Coach Jones. "He has been practicing at different periods throughout practice. He will have more of a role when we start practice Tuesday."

Hazelton has not played football since hurting his knee in the first half September 4th at Fresno State.

He had an MRI September 5th and found out he had torn his ACL.

Recovery times vary greatly for individuals, but Hazelton is hoping to get back to playing right at three months.

There are just two regular season game remaining for the Bearcats and Hazelton has barely practiced so far. If the Cats are able to win at Connecticut and versus Pitt, then they will become bowl-eligible and almost certainly play one more game.

That scenario provides Hazelton with the best opportunity to see the field again.

Cincinnati and Vidal Hazelton are attempting to gain the sixth year of eligibility, but the NCAA rarely grants them.

"Obviously if we could get another year that would be a huge benefit to him, not just athletically but academically, as well, but right now we want to make sure we do our due diligence of petitioning," said Coach Jones. "We are hoping to know here in the next couple of days if there is even a chance he could get possibly a year back."

Hazelton transferred to Cincinnati from USC in January of 2009.