Three to get ready

A handful of players on the football team are approaching unprecedented territory in their final season at Buffalo. With three seniors who will go down as some of the best in program history at their positions, the Bulls are more poised than ever to make a run at a Mid-American Conference Championship.

Expectations are high but fair. Anything short of a MAC title and the bowl game that follows will be considered an unsuccessful season.

"It's almost like it's a sense of urgency," said senior wide receiver Alex Neutz. "It's a sense that this is a bowl game or bust kind of season ... The only way to cap off my career is a MAC Championship and a bowl game. I think we've all set this in and it's the only thing that's going to satisfy us."

Neutz needs just nine touchdowns this season to tie UB's all-time record for career receiving touchdowns, after grabbing 11 touchdowns last season on his way to All-MAC second-team honors.

But even with all the accolades Neutz has achieved, he may be the least decorated of this year's "senior trio."

The other two members are running back Branden Oliver and linebacker Khalil Mack. Both will likely go down as the best players at their positions in program history, with Oliver on pace to end his campaign as Buffalo's all-time leading rusher (626 yards shy of first place).

As for Mack, not only is he widely considered the best defensive player in the conference but also as one of the best linebackers in the entire country. It took head coach Jeff Quinn an extra recruiting trip last winter to convince Mack to return to UB for his senior season instead of bolting to the NFL.

Khalil Mack

Mack has been hungry his whole career.

"Deep down, I knew I had a lot to prove," Mack said. "I wanted to prove that I was as good as a Division I offer. No matter the success or accolades, I always knew I had something to prove. I couldn't be satisfied. I stayed hungry."

His appetite for engulfing offensive players in the backfield has earned him the chance to etch his name in the NCAA record books. Mack enters the year just 19 tackles for loss shy of the NCAA career leader. Last season, he had 21.

A Bull at the top of a significant all-time NCAA record may be something substantial to UB fans and members of the community, but not to Mack.

"It wouldn't mean too much," Mack said. "I obviously would appreciate being in the record books. But it means more to me that my teammates and I go out every day and play for each other. I'm going out there and playing for my brothers and they're playing for me."

Mack's 21 tackles for loss last season ranked fourth in the nation, and his four forced fumbles - a category in which he is already tied for first place in UB's career record books - ranked eighth.

But stats and records were not why Mack decided to return to UB for his senior year - it was the MAC Championship. He's proud to help lead the team on that quest.

"[Being a senior] comes with responsibility and we have a standard to set every week and to live up to," Mack said. "We have a responsibility to be leaders off the field and show guys the right way to do things. In order for me to say this is a successful season, we have to go to the MAC Championship."

Branden Oliver

Two years ago, as a sophomore, Oliver rushed for 1,395 yards - a UB single-season record and a mark that ranked 14th in the nation. He continued that pace early last season but suffered a leg injury that limited him to playing in just seven games - though he still rushed for a team-high 821 yards.

"Coming from Miami, you learn how to work hard because as a little kid, there was always another guy who was working so hard, so it has never left me," Oliver said.

Now at full health, Oliver needs only 626 yards to break Super Bowl champ James Starks' all-time school career rushing record.

Like Mack, the records aren't weighing too heavily on Oliver's mind.

"I'm not too big on it," Oliver said. "After my sophomore year, I stopped thinking about records and started thinking about wins. If I break the record, it's cool, but we just want to win really."

Oliver may not have as much NFL potential as Mack, but he currently ranks as the 16th best running back prospect, according to nfldraftscout.com - a number that very well could climb if Oliver has a performance similar to his sophomore season.

Alex Neutz

Neutz played in high school just 20 minutes away at Grand Island.

"Coming out of high school, Western New York isn't the most competitive brand of high school football," Neutz said. "So I had a lot of doubts coming in. I didn't know if I was going to be fast enough, strong enough, so I didn't think I would have the career I've had to this point."

When Neutz first came to UB, he realized his footwork and route-running ability weren't up to par with those of a Division I college football player. He began to take time after practice to perfect these skills, and it certainly has paid off.

He corralled 1,015 receiving yards last season - good for second in UB's single-season record book - and ranked 20th nationally in receiving yards per game with 92.3.

"I never saw myself as a 1,000-yard, double-digit touchdown guy at the Division I college football level, so I definitely exceeded my expectations," Neutz said. "But I also feel like I earned it because I put in the work to achieve those stats. If you asked me when I was a freshman or sophomore, I would never imagine to get those kind of stats."

Neutz is currently ranked as the 28th best receiving prospect, according to nfldraftscout.com, placing his NFL odds a bit lower than the other two members of the senior trio. Neutz wasn't shy to point out the excellence of Mack and Oliver.

"We all came in together so I've been with these guys battling the past five years," Neutz said. "You see a sense of confidence [in each other]. It almost allows you to relax a little bit more because you have guys with such high caliber that can play the game in such an amazing way."

Regardless of the individual success the trio has achieved at UB, their careers remain unfulfilled. When asked what it would take this year to cap off a perfect career as a Bull, each responded in the same fashion: "MAC Championship."

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