After a 5-7 season and finishing in a tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference East division with a 5-3 conference record, there are high expectations for the Buffalo football team going into the 2008 season. Saturday afternoon was the first time the squad showed their fans what the team will look like in the fall as the Bulls hosted their annual Blue White Scrimmage.
The offense, donning blue jerseys, battled against the defense in white. The offense prevailed in the contest by a score of 73-59 in front of over 500 fans at UB Stadium.
"There is a high expectation for the offense," said Head Coach Turner Gill. "I got to call out my players to think and have high expectations. If we don't have high expectations, then you are in the wrong situation in that standpoint. Going into the third year of the system, the guys exemplify a lot of confidence. The guys are reacting in a quicker way, you don't want them to be thinking on the football field."
Senior quarterback Drew Willy led the offense down the field while he was behind center. Willy was efficient, finishing the day 16-22 for 197 yards and a touchdown.
"The offense did a great job today," Willy said. "Receivers were making plays catching every ball. [Starting running back] James [Starks] didn't play much, but did a good job out there along with Mario Henry. The offensive line did a good job blocking. When everybody is doing their job, this offense can really get moving,"
Willy's lone touchdown pass was to junior wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt. Roosevelt caught six passes for 44 yards in the game.
"Now that they have thrown often to each other, this can be a set play," Gill said. "Number one, Drew understands the concept of how the defense lines up anticipating the window that he has to throw the football ball in, trusting his receiver is going to be there. Those things are definitely a plus for us. Experience just can't take the place of a quarterback and receivers having their timing down, it is a trust between the two."
Even though Starks only carried the ball two times, he has been healthy through the rest of the spring practices.
"I got a lot stronger, faster, and I feel a lot better with no injuries right now," Starks said. "In these spring practices, I am trying to stay healthy and learn where my holes are in the offensive line."
Sophomore Brandon Thermilus got the majority of the carries at running back. Thermilus rushed for 91 yards on 12 carries, including a 16-yard touchdown run.
Another running back featured in the game was sophomore Ike Nduka, who ran for a 30-yard touchdown. He carried the ball seven times and rushed for 37 yards.
Senior Ernest Jackson led the wide receivers in total yards with 66 on four catches. Three of his four receptions were for 18 yards or more. Junior Alex Pierre pulled down two passes for 50 yards while sophomore Terrell Jackson grabbed three passes for 37 yards.
"All these guys here have played two or three years now," Willy said. "A lot of them know what is going to happen in the games. The more confidence you have, the better you are going to play and we are at a great level right now."
Besides Willy, the Bulls used red-shirt freshman Ed Young and walk-on Cory Jorgensen at quarterback. Young showed off his athletic ability executing the option a number of times. He rushed for 26 yards and also completed five passes for 98 yards. Jorgensen finished the game 7-17 for 63 yards.
Heading into next season, there are questions about the linebacker and defensive end positions. Gill says it is still wide open for anybody to claim the starting spots.
"We still have to make some decisions in this coming week at defensive end, interior defensive line, and linebackers," Gill said. "It is still wide open. Today, I can't say that these guys will be starting next season. We have some freshmen coming in and there will be some competition, and (we) won't know probably until a week or two before the first game for those linebacker spots and the one defensive end spot. We have a lot of guys to pick from, though."
Sophomore linebacker Jerry Housey showed that he wants one of the available spots. He finished with a game-high seven and a half tackles. Another linebacker that stood out was red-shirt freshman Raphael Akubundo, who recorded five and a half tackles. An All-MAC First Team player from last season, sophomore cornerback Davonte Shannon also had five and a half tackles in the scrimmage.
One of the biggest plays of the day for the defense was by sophomore defensive back Sherrod Lott, who had a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown off the walk-on Jorgensen. Lott also added three tackles for the defense.
The defense finished with five sacks. Red-shirt freshman defensive end Gordon DuBois had two of these sacks.
"The offense threw the ball well, but the defense only played one particular defense lift," Gill said. "So we do expect our offense to do well when that situation occurs. I am really excited about the execution, things look really sharp and anticipating what's going to happen. That's what you have to do both offensively and defensively."
The Bulls first game of the 2008 season is at home on Aug. 28 against UTEP.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
