This is when the games will really begin to matter for the University at Buffalo football team.
The Bulls (2-1) open their Mid-American Conference schedule at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Illinois. The Huskies (2-0) are No. 23 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll after they pulled off one of the most remarkable upsets so far this season with a 16-14 win at then-No. 5 Notre Dame on Sept. 7 in South Bend, Indiana.
A 34-3 win Saturday against Massachusetts helped boost the Bulls, who will face their second ranked opponent in three weeks after being blanked by then-No. 9 Missouri on the same day as Northern Illinois’ upset. Here are three takeaways from UB coach Pete Lembo’s news conference Tuesday at Murchie Family Fieldhouse:
1. The Bulls know who they are. Wins are valuable for UB. Six wins earn a team bowl eligibility, so UB is one-third of the way there. MAC wins are even more valuable, considering the MAC has done away with divisions and the top two teams based on conference winning percentage will earn berths in the MAC Championship game on Dec. 7 at Ford Field in Detroit. UB last played for a MAC title in 2020, losing to Ball State in a Covid-shortened season.
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UB has played three very different opponents in Lafayette, Missouri and UMass, but Lembo said the Bulls are starting to find their identity.
“We’re a pretty tough team,” he said. “We’re a pretty physical team. We are a resilient team. We handle adversity pretty well. I think we’re showing that we’ll play for 60 minutes but, at the same time, we’ve got a lot of areas to improve: Our technique, our understanding of the technique, our application of the technique and the consistency in which we use the technique.”
UB will complete its nonconference schedule Sept. 28 at Connecticut, then resumes its MAC schedule Oct. 12 against Toledo.
“We’ve got to understand here, that the margin of error, moving forward here, is going to be razor, razor thin,” Lembo said.
2. The Huskies are worth the hype. Lembo described NIU as being “as good as advertised.” The Huskies (2-0) have the MAC’s leading defense, allowing 292 yards per game (UB is second at 311.3 yards), and have the MAC’s top scoring defense (14.5 points).
Lembo colorfully described NIU’s defensive tackles; the five listed on the depth chart average 6-foot-2 and 294.2 pounds. “These guys all look like they should be bouncers at some high-end bar, where they can’t quite button up their shirt or get their tie up tight, because they’re so big.”
He admitted he voted for NIU in this week’s USA Today US LBM Coaches Poll, but the Huskies are not among the Top 25 in that poll.
“They’re executing at a really high level through two games,” Lembo said. “I don’t mind saying publicly that I did vote for them in the Top 25 in this week’s poll. I’m sure there are some members of their fan base who would have loved to see me vote for them higher than I did, and I know they have a passionate fan base. But I do think they’re deserving of it based on what they’ve done through the first two weeks.”
JJ Jenkins reacts after a touchdown catch during the first quarter of Saturday’s 34-3 rout of UMass at UB Stadium.
Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
3. Injury report and how it affects the wide receivers. Lembo confirmed that wide receiver Nik McMillan (left knee) will miss his second straight game. Cornerback Jayden Oliver will not play at Northern Illinois; he has yet to play this season due to an unspecified injury. James McNeil, a freshman running back from Bishop Timon-St. Jude, has missed UB’s first two games with a left foot injury but Lembo said McNeil “continues to recover nicely” and that the Bulls hope to have him back “at some point here, in the not-too-distant future.”
McMillan was UB’s leading receiver entering the game against UMass – Victor Snow now leads the Bulls with 107 yards on 10 catches – but the Bulls flexed their depth and versatility at wide receiver against the Minutemen. UB had 185 receiving yards, and nine players combined for 14 catches, including JJ Jenkins’ 40-yard touchdown catch – UB’s longest reception of the season.
“This game is all about opportunity,” Lembo said. “It’s all about stepping up when opportunities present themselves. All about us trying to find the right guys and the right pieces and putting them in position to be successful.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-17 07:54:00
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