Broken shoulder KO's Sampsel

After showing progress in Saturday's loss to Rutgers, Bulls starting quarterback Stewart Sampsel could be out the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

Things were looking up for Buffalo, even in its 17-3 loss, as the team put points on the board for the first time this season. But a big step in the right direction was snapped with the broken bone in Sampsel's left shoulder.

According to head coach Jim Hofher, the injury will force Sampsel to stay off the field for weeks, but the junior said it could be much longer than that.

"I really didn't know the extent of how long I would be out after the injury happened but I found out pretty much the next day that it could be season ending so I was pretty upset about that," Sampsel said. "It's tough because we're just getting to conference play in two weeks."

During the fourth quarter Saturday night, sophomore center Jamey Richard hiked the ball from the Rutgers 42, Sampsel dropped back, shot a 10-yard pass downfield to junior tight end Chad Upshaw, and in the process was brought to the ground by Rutgers defensive back Corey Barnes.

"Frankly, it's a play that could have had a penalty on it, not that it would have prevented him from getting injured, but he was injured on a play which another official could have easily thrown a flag because of how he was hit and taken down," Hofher said.

Sampsel remained on the turf for a few minutes as the medical staff came to his assistance. Sampsel left the field on his own will and was unaware of the severity of his injury.

"I actually thought it was something with my head, like a concussion maybe, because I was all blurry but then he asked me if anything else hurt and I told him my shoulder hurt," Sampsel said. "He started to feel around and felt the break and I felt it too and knew that couldn't be good."

While Hofher will not publicly announce who will replace Sampsel, he does point out the clear advantage that true freshman Drew Willy has over junior Tony Paoli.

"It's obvious Drew has played more. He has played two games," Hofher said.

Willy has seen time in the last two games UB has played, completing 15 of 24 for 142 yards. Paoli last saw action at the University of Connecticut in game one and went 4 for 4 for nine yards.

A loss of a starting QB could hinder any team, especially one on a bumpy road like UB, but Hofher knows the team needs to move forward.

"We can't (take a step back). We have got to press on," Hofher said. "The reason we became more effective offensively certainly was the play of the quarterback but not exclusively. It takes everybody. We have got to take what we did and the guys who did it and keep working to make it even better. You have to work through it.

While there is never an opportune time to lose a player, UB is heading into a bye week before beginning its Mid-American Conference schedule at Western Michigan, allowing more time than usual to prepare for the game in light of the injury.

"It never is a good time to lose a player but we do have an open week which will give us more time to develop our plan and our players," Hofher said.

Sampsel hopes to help his possible replacements in any way he can.

"They're both really talented quarterbacks and they have a lot of ability," Sampsel said. "At this point I'm going to try to do my best to get them in a situation where they feel comfortable with the offense and put their best foot forward in getting our team to a victory at Western Michigan."