On a night when there were so many things to take away - Buffalo improving to 7-2 and 5-0 in conference play, Branden Oliver popping off for a Division IA school record 249 yards, the Bulls thoroughly dominating an impressive opponent on ESPN in a raucous UB Stadium - the unheralded star was Alex Neutz.
There is probably no better word to sum up Neutz's career than just that: unheralded. Being consistently dominant and yet somehow overlooked (I guess playing with guys like Oliver and Khalil Mack must have some downside) has become normal for Neutz.
People are probably getting tired of me putting superlatives on this year's UB football team. I've already proposed the team has the best defensive (Mack) and offensive (Oliver) players in program history. Here's another for good measure: best wide receiver the university has ever had.
On Tuesday, Neutz hauled in two touchdown passes during the Bulls' 30-3 thumping of Ohio University (6-3, 3-2 Mid-American Conference). He is now tied with Naaman Roosevelt, the St. Joe's alum who played at UB from 2006-09 and went on to play two years with the big-league Buffalo Bills, for most receiving touchdowns in UB history (28).
"My freshman year, I kind of got to be mentored by him - just look up to him, really," Neutz said of Roosevelt. "It's just an honor to be tied with him.
"It's special. You don't really think about it, though. That'll probably be something I'll look at toward the end of the season. Honestly, the special thing is that we won our seventh game in a row. With a senior class that has gone through so much together, it's just hard to put words around it really."
Neutz is not just exploding in this, his final year. He has been a constant force on the edge for Buffalo since he arrived as a freshman from local Grand Island High School.
His first two years, he averaged 35 catches and four touchdowns. Injuries cut his junior season short, and he still totaled 65 catches for 1,015 yards and 11 touchdowns (which apparently weren't impressive enough numbers for him to make first-team All-MAC).
And as for this year? Try these stats out: 43 receptions, 707 yards and nine touchdowns - through nine games. He has been scary good.
Licata, the former Williamsville South star, grew up in the area and witnessed the methodical connection between quarterback Drew Willy and Roosevelt in 2008.
"To see a guy that's tied with Naaman for his all-time touchdown record, it's unbelievable," Licata said. "[Neutz] is just a great player, great person, one of my best friends. It couldn't happen to a better guy."
Neutz is a friendly jokester off the field, constantly laughing, always the one telling his teammates how much he loves them or making jokes about how much he hates flying on airplanes. He has also become known for his eccentric hairstyle - top slicked back, sides totally buzzed, sometimes a pattern shaved into the side (essentially Macklemore with a mullet) - which he only lets one friend style.
Even on a team full of characters, Neutz stands out as one of the most memorable.
Mack, the all-everything linebacker, downplayed the idea that Neutz is underrated.
"Every time you see him on film, he jumps out and he makes plays and he's always been doing that his whole career, so I don't think he's been overshadowed by me or Bo," Mack said.
Mack is right - Neutz might not get as much press or as many awards, but he's as integral to this team as anybody.
Some might look at him and say he isn't built for the next level - perhaps, they might say, he's not fast enough. Those people are wrong.
I look at Neutz as a prime NFL prospect. He is deceptively fast (4.5 is a solid 40 time), and he has never had a problem getting behind corners at the collegiate level (as we saw twice Tuesday).
At 6-foot-4, he's big, and he's as athletic as any receiver on the field. He has remarkable mid-air body control - probably due to his past as a high school volleyball player - and an absolutely silly sure pair of hands (which is why, as valuable as he is to the offense, head coach Jeff Quinn still puts him back to catch punts).
"This senior class means a lot to me personally," Quinn said. "It means a lot to this program, this entire university ... I'm very proud of Alex. I'm proud that he trains hard, he works hard. He and Joe have a great sense for each other."
The guys on the team are aware of that sense, too. When Licata and Neutz exited the press conference for Mack and Oliver to enter, Neutz gave Quinn a bear hug and high-fived Mack as the star linebacker shouted, "The WNY connection!" to Neutz and Licata.
They sure have formed a connection - one similar to that which Willy and Roosevelt once shared. One accurate, intelligent quarterback, one legendary receiver. It's a good combination.
Coach Quinn talked about the impact a win of this magnitude could have on UB's program. Potential recruits could be watching on ESPN. They might consider Buffalo when they never had done so before.
"We hope we keep bringing in guys like Bo Oliver and Khalil Mack and Alex Neutz," Quinn said.
I hope so, too, Jeff. I think we all do.
email: aaron.mansfield@ubspectrum.com
