As the football team enters the home stretch of their season, the Bulls also look at an unusual upcoming schedule.
All five remaining games are against Mid-American Conference East division opponents and all are scheduled during the week.
Ohio (2-6, 1-3 MAC) is next on Buffalo's radar as the Bulls (3-4, 1-2 MAC) travel to Athens on Tuesday night. Since the Bobcats played a night game on Wednesday, a 14-10 loss to Temple, it gave the Bulls some extra time to rest.
"We tried to zero in on a couple of things on offense, again to continue try and improve our run game," said head coach Turner Gill. "...Defensively we want to tackle well. When you get into the middle of the season sometimes, guys lose a little bit of their technique."
While the remaining games will determine if the Bulls can become bowl-eligible and retain their share of the MAC East division crown, Gill isn't prepared to look any farther ahead than the next game.
"Right now our focus is on Ohio. Our team understands the big picture. But right now we can't get too far ahead," Gill said.
Ohio's defense is currently ranked second in the MAC in total yards allowed and only three teams in the conference have given up less touchdowns. Ohio is also the most penalized team in the MAC, averaging 67.0 penalty yards per game.
The Bobcats' red zone offense also ranks last in the MAC, scoring on only 69.2 percent of their scoring opportunities inside the 20-yard line. They have conference-low nine touchdowns in the red zone.
Ohio quarterback Boo Jackson is seventh in the conference with 1,557 yards passing. He also has thrown nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Gill expects both junior running back James Starks and sophomore linebacker Raphael Akobundu, who missed last week's game against Army, to play against Ohio. Starks is suffering from turf toe while Akobundu is nursing a leg injury.
If Starks cannot go, the backfield depth will be thin. Sophomore Brandon Thermilus would get the start, as junior Mario Henry will miss the next four to six weeks with a what Gill calls a severe MCL sprain.
Sophomore Ike Nduka is likely to see the first action of his collegiate career as either the second or third running back.
"When you've played six, seven, eight ball games, you're going to have some injuries and people are going to be lost," Gill said. "...We feel good about where we're at. We're as healthy has you could imagine to be going into the eighth game of the season."
Despite the injuries and the inconsistency of the run game, the Bulls offense is 11 points shy of scoring 200 points. It would be the third consecutive year the Bulls have accomplished this feat. Before Gill's arrival, the team only scored 200 points in a season twice before as a Division I-A program.
"It's been a great feeling to have a productive offense. Scoring from the backfield, wide receivers scoring. So we just need to continue doing what we do best," said senior wide receiver Ernest Jackson.
Senior quarterback Drew Willy is also close to setting several personal milestones. His 7,279 yards passing is 299 shy of the school record for career passing yards, set by Cliff Scott from 1991-94. Willy is also 13 attempts shy of the school's career pass attempt record and three touchdowns shy of the school record.
The fact that Tuesday night's game will be nationally televised on ESPNU has the Bulls excited about the extra exposure.
"They've been talking about it," Jackson said. "They get excited about it. It's a great thing for the players to get nationally seen so we're ready for it."
Kick off at Peden Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
