Welcome back. It's been 10 months and three road games this season, but the football team is ready to hit the turf in front of their fans for the first time this season. The Buffalo Bulls battle Big XII opponent the Baylor Bears on Saturday night, the first meeting ever between the two schools.
Head Coach Turner Gill is requesting that everyone show up to the game wearing blue to produce what he calls "a sea of blue in the stands."
"We are excited to play at home," said Gill. "We hope the fans are ready to come and watch us and support the team."
Buffalo (1-2,1-0 Mid-American Conference) is coming off a 45-24 defeat at Penn State last week, however the score doesn't dictate how well the Bulls played.
"We are making tremendous progress each and every game and practice," Gill said. "We are on our way three games into the season, and I am telling the players and staff that we have a good team. We need to work harder to complete things that we need to do to execute better."
The Bulls offense has played well over the past two games. Buffalo has have averaged 404 yards of total offense against Temple and Penn State.
Junior quarterback Drew Willy has been brilliant so far this season. Willy leads the MAC and is eighth in the nation in completion percentage completing over 72 percent of his passes.
"Drew understands what we are trying to get done," Gill said. "Once a quarterback knows how to control a game, you gain confidence."
The defense for the Bulls is performing at a much higher level so far this year as well. Buffalo leads the MAC in rushing defense allowing only 130 yards game.
Sophomore cornerback Kendrick Hawkins is the key reason why the defense has played well. Hawkins is coming off a career-high nine solo tackles day and he had 11 total tackles against Penn State. He also had a fumble recovery and a pass breakup during the game.
"When we see the offense playing well from the bench, it makes the defense want to step up more," Hawkins said. "We want to get out there and make plays and get a three and out to get the ball back for the offense. It's encouraging seeing the offense having success."
Baylor (2-1, 0-0 BigXII) is coming off of two consecutive victories, winning last week 34-27 against Texas State and 42-17 the previous week versus Rice.
Baylor is one of the top teams in the nation in passing offense. The Bears are eighth in the nation averaging 355 yards per game in the air.
The Bears do not have as much success on the ground. They average 59 yards per game, which is 113th in the nation.
"Baylor runs a spread offense," Gill said. "They are not going to run that much but they can hurt us because if we start thinking about the pass a lot, they will slip a run on you."
The secondary knows that they are going to be challenged by Baylor quarterback Blake Szymanksi, who has thrown for a total of 823 yards and 11 touchdowns in the past two games.
"It's a very big challenge for me as a cornerback and the whole secondary," Hawkins said. "They throw short passes and then they will try to go up top for the long one. We have to really concentrate this week on our coverage and play excellent defense."
The Bears are not taking the Bulls lightly and know that they are in for a competitive game.
"I know that coach Gill will have his team prepared well for the game," said Baylor head coach Guy Morriss. "Buffalo is a pretty intense team that plays hard for 60 minutes, and we need to match that intensity."
Two guys who are doubtful for the game are redshirt freshman tight end Kyle Brey and junior fullback Chris Sharron. Sheridan is sick with mono while Brey has a head injury.
There are three more days until the Bulls run out of the tunnel to hear the cheers from fans and the kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Stadium.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
