The Buffalo Bulls football team has the opportunity to do something that they have never done since their inception into Division I-A football; start the year 1-0.
To do so the Bulls will have to have a repeat performance of their blowout victory against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers from a season ago. Last year the Bulls were able to trounce Rutgers 34-11 in Piscataway, NJ.
Buffalo started the game off slow as Rutgers controlled the time of possession during the first quarter. However, after that the Bulls got their act together and scored 27 unanswered points before the Scarlet Knights finally scored early on in the fourth quarter. UB tacked on another touchdown late in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
With an impressive ground game led by redshirted freshman phenom Aaron Leeper, the Bulls were able to orchestrate a balanced attack against the Scarlet Knights in a 16-point second quarter explosion.
Leeper finished off the night with a career high 153 yards on 34 carries and scored Buffalo's first touchdown on a 26-yard scamper for UB's first score.
Bulls quarterback Randall Secky threw for three touchdowns while going 18 for 34 with no interceptions and passing for 201 yards. The offensive line did its job without yielding a sack during the game. Rutgers' on the other hand did not.
The Bulls dominated the contest in every way possibly, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Buffalo recorded three sacks for a total loss of 28 yards. The defense also recorded three interceptions on the night.
Buffalo will look to duplicate that aspect of the game as the team returns its top five tacklers led by senior Mark Graham. True freshman Bryan Cummings and senior Lamar Wilcher also return for the stacked defense.
"Obviously, Rutgers doesn't want the same result as last year," said starting left defensive end Phil Jacques. "The expectations are a bit higher for us because we know that we are capable of winning there, since we've done that before."
Overall the Bulls return 17 starters on offense and defense, which should give the team a leg up, so to speak, on their opponents. That alone is gong to make this season for the Bulls exciting for both the fans as well as the players. Head coach Jim Hofher says the team is ready for the season to start and show the Buffalo community that UB football is ready for, get this, "good football".
"We're anxious to get started with the 2003 season," Hofher said. "We've had a very positive preseason camp. Our challenge now is to play good football. That alone will make us competitive with anybody on our schedule."
Rutgers is just the first of a string of highly competitive opponents on the upcoming few weeks of the schedule. While Rutgers will be a good test to see where the Bulls are at, the real test will be in the following three games where the Bulls will square off against Big Ten Co-Champion Iowa and revamped BIG EAST team Connecticut and Division I-AA powerhouse Colgate out of the Patriot League.
"It says a lot for our program to face schools from the BIG EAST and Big Ten," said Knueven. "Those are Bowl Championship Series conferences. It is tremendous for us to get that exposure."
However, Rutgers and Buffalo are the only Division I-A teams to lose to a Division I-AA team within their regular season schedule.
One thing that the Bulls will have to not repeat in their pounding of Rutgers is the number of penalties. Last year Buffalo had ten penalties for a total of 93 yards. If the Bulls can keep down penalties then UB should have no problem in duplicating their performance against the Scarlet Knights.
Game time is set for this Saturday at 7pm in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
