ESPN College Football

WEST HARRISON, Ind. -- The heat got to Mardy Gilyard on Monday.

The Cincinnati receiver sat out the final few periods of the morning practice at Camp Higher Ground after sweating through the 90-degree temperatures. He was one of the first players off the field and headed straight for the trainer's room, where he stayed about 45 minutes while receiving an IV.

It might not sound like it, but Gilyard considered this progress.

"I'm trying to go harder, faster and longer," he said. "That's probably why I got sick out there today."

There wasn't much more the Bearcats could have asked for from Gilyard during his breakthrough junior year in 2008. He led the Big East with 11 receiving touchdowns while hauling in 81 catches for a school-record 1,276 yards. He also topped the league in kick return yardage (averaging 27.6 yards per attempt) and touchdown returns, with two.

Except that Cincinnati would like to see more of Gilyard this year. A bona fide star while on the field, he needed too much time on the sidelines because of a lack of stamina.

"I felt like I played in flashes last year, almost like a camera," he said. "I'd be in for a few plays here, a few plays there and then I was out. I wasn't capable of going as long as I could, and that's what I've been working all summer on."

Gilyard is unquestionably one of the fastest players in the Big East, but at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, he doesn't have a lot of huge frame. Throw in the extra work he does on special teams and the fast pace that coach Brian Kelly demands from his offense, and Gilyard has a lot on his plate.

So to try and increase his lung capacity, Gilyard has recently begun swimming. The idea
came from his cousin, Ed Johnson, who knows a little bit about stamina from playing on the U.S. Soccer team.

Gilyard has a long way to go before he's Michael Phelps. But he said that every couple of days, he'll swim about 10 laps in the school's Olympic-sized pool. He also jogs with his dog, and he spent time running on the beach while home this summer in Bunnell, Fla.

"I'm trying to go a little bit harder each day," he said. "By the time these 20 days (of training camp) are up and it's time get to Rutgers, I'm going to be good."

The Bearcats want more than just more playing time from Gilyard. They want him to be a more well-rounded player.

Kelly points out that six of Gilyard's receiving touchdowns last year came on screens on which he simply outran the defense. As the season went on, his role expanded and he became more of a downfield threat.

"We don't want to pigeonhole him into, he's just a screen guy," Kelly said. "I think he's a complete player, a guy who can block on the perimeter, go vertical and make tough catches on fourth down.

"He really started out last year as a specialist, and we want him to evolve into a guy who does everything."

Gilyard had senior Dominick Goodman on the other side of the field last year to divert the attention of defenses. Goodman actually had three more catches on the season than Gilyard, finishing with 1,028 yards.

With Goodman gone, Gilyard is being called upon to lead all the receiving drills for the first time. There's no doubt who the No. 1 guy is. But both he and Kelly say that this year's receiving corps -- which includes Armon Binns, Jamar Howard, Marcus Barnett and D.J. Woods -- is too strong for defenses to double-team Gilyard.

"You really have to make some conscious decisions on how you're going to play against him," Kelly said. "If you roll the coverage to him, you're soft on one side and we should be able to run football."

All that depends on Gilyard staying on the field as long as possible -- and out of the trainer's room.