Hopes are high for the Buffalo Bulls (1-8, 1-4 Mid-American Conference) this week as they come off of their first win of the season - and in over a year - going into their game against the reigning MAC West champion, the Toledo Rockets.
Buffalo's first win came last week at home in front of a crowd of about 4,423 brave UB fans who stood by their team in an exciting match under horrible weather conditions. The heavy rain and sloppy field could not stop the Bulls, as they were able to get into the forth quarter of last Saturday's game trailing Ohio - but with a chance to win a closely contested game.
And did they ever act on that chance. UB capitalized by winning 26-17.
"To be a successful football team we have to work hard to put ourselves in close games in the forth quarter," said UB head coach Jim Hofher. "You have to outplay your opponent to win, both physically and mentally."
"For us to win again, we have to do the same thing," continued Hofher. "We have to prepare well, play really hard together and outplay the opponent."
The Bulls definitely worked hard and outplayed their opponent in the game against Ohio last Saturday. They finished the game plus two in turnovers, made big plays when they needed to and played excellent special teams.
"In order to play well as a football team you have to have good performances by your senior players, they have to set the example in their play," said Hofher.
Senior free safety Mark Graham is having an outstanding season for the Bulls as he leads his team with 78 tackles and has 6.5 tackles for a loss this season. Graham was a big factor for UB in their win last week over Ohio, recording a career high 15 tackles and recovering his third fumble of the year.
"I talked with Lamar Wilcher before the game last week about us seniors only having four games left here and that the younger guys need to see us step up and make some plays," said Mark Graham.
The UB safeties have played key roles in their last two games as the Bulls defense has held their last two opponents to a combined score of 33 points. Junior strong safety J.J. Gibson had a huge defensive impact for the Bulls two weeks ago in a close loss to Marshall with three sacks, and Graham had the big game last week in the win over Ohio.
The Bulls feel like they have a good chance of going into Toledo and making a run at their second win in a row.
"I am really excited to play in Toledo, I grew up 20 minutes from there and my best friend played his college football there before entering the NFL with the Packers," said Graham. "It will be especially exciting because things are finally starting to click right now for us defensively."
The Toledo Rockets are 5-3 overall and have a record of 3-1 in the MAC. Toledo is coming off of a tough 38-14 road loss to Ball State and will be looking to rebound against the UB Bulls this weekend at home in front of their fans. Toledo has averaged 37.6 points per game in their five wins and have been held under 20 points per game in each of their three losses.
Sophomore quarterback Bruce Gradkowski is having a good year, averaging 258.1 passing yards per game and a 69.4 completion percentage; he has also thrown for 16 touchdowns and a total of 2065 yards on the season.
If UB plans to be successful against Toledo and go for their second victory in a row, they will have to find a way to shut down the passing game and scoring capabilities of this Toledo offense.
"We have played against spread offenses in the past like Marshall, so it is nothing we have not already seen," said Graham.
"Toledo is an excellent, highly-talented football team," said Hofher. "We've got to play physical and be opportunistic - we've got to make plays. That's how you can be in any game against anybody."
Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. this Saturday and will be played in the Glass Bowl in Toledo.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
