Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU's Briggs Heavyweight on the Field, Not at Dinner
October 06, 2006 | Football
Oct. 6, 2006
By MAUREEN FULTON, Blade Sports Writer -
BOWLING GREEN - Diyral Briggs keeps his life simple. He has three daily commitments - school, football, and eating.
The third task might seem the easiest, but it's often the most challenging for Briggs, a defensive end for Bowling Green State University. He's always been skinny, and he's always had trouble gaining weight.
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"The position coaches are always breathing down my neck," he said. "'You've got to eat, Briggs, you've got to eat. If you want to gain weight, you've got to eat.' I get tired of eating. I say, 'Gosh, I can't eat anymore.'"
At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Briggs is much lighter than almost all of the offensive linemen he tries to outwork. For example, the starting offensive linemen of BGSU's Saturday opponent, No. 1 Ohio State, average 313 pounds.
So far this year, Briggs has found a way around. A sophomore from the Cincinnati area, he's made 6 1/2 tackles for a staggering combined loss of 50 yards. He leads the Falcons (second in the MAC) in that category and is also on top with 3 1/2 sacks. That's with starting just one game and playing sparingly in the first game of the season.
Last week against Ohio, Briggs led the Falcons (3-2) on defense and was named Mid-American Conference East defensive player of the week.
"He's a little light in the rear end, but he has quickness and tenacity that make up for it," BGSU coach Gregg Brandon said.
Briggs came to BGSU at 200 pounds. Last season he started camp at 220 but could only keep it at 210 during the year.
A typical day of meals for him during the season includes: for breakfast, three pancakes, sausage, orange juice, and milk; for lunch, two turkey sandwiches, a salad, and two baked potatoes, and for dinner, two pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and macaroni and cheese.
Whenever strength coaches hand out protein shakes to the players, everyone drinks one, except Briggs, who gets three. The players are required to lift once a week, but Briggs goes in twice.
He has been performing at a high level despite missing almost the entire offseason. He recorded 4 1/2 sacks his redshirt freshman year, second on the team, and was looking forward to challenging for a starting job in the spring. But in December, he slipped getting out of a car and broke his foot.
The foot had trouble healing, first with a screw in place, then with a plate. An infection further slowed the recovery process, and it's still not 100 percent.
But he can forget about the discomfort during games, and that was evident against Ohio. The Bobcats were nearing midfield in the third quarter and called a reverse with receiver Taylor Price coming around the left. Briggs had pushed his blocker into the backfield, but the lineman was still in between him and Price. Briggs reached around and pulled down Price for a nine-yard loss.
"He had his hands on me, but I still had to have the mind-set that I had to make the play," Briggs said.
At Mount Healthy High School, Briggs earned the nickname "Animal" from his basketball teammates for his persistence on the boards. He plays most often for the Falcons on pass rush, with redshirt freshman Jacob Hardwick playing against the run.
"[Briggs] is relentless," linebacker Terrel White said. "He doesn't worry about his size. He just keeps going. He just never stops."
