Despite starting Week One with a 21-0 lead against Duquesne (1-2), a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team, the Buffalo football team found itself trailing 28-24 in the fourth quarter. The team rallied back and narrowly avoided an upset to start to its season with a 38-28 victory on Aug. 30.
With another game against an FCS opponent slated for Saturday, head coach Jeff Quinn had a message to his team: Learn from the past – don’t live in it.
“We need to create a winning culture,” Quinn said. “To be able to do that, we have to have our young men understand you cannot live in the past. Learn from it, build on it and understand how to play at the highest level.”
The Bulls (1-2) have an opportunity to execute their head coach’s message when they host FCS Norfolk State (0-3) Saturday at UB Stadium.
Quinn said the Bulls prepare the same way for every team, regardless of whether that team is in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or the champion division.
“I’m not interested in external factors,” Quinn said. “I’m interested in our kids preparing and understanding we respect every single opponent we play.”
Senior safety Adam Redden said Buffalo is preparing for the Spartans with the same intensity it did for No. 7 Baylor (3-0) last Friday.
“We like to take every team as a challenge so there’s not much of a drop off between a Norfolk State and a Baylor,” Redden said. “We like to treat every team like a good, quality opponent.”
The Spartans have scored only 20 points and gained 637 yards through three games.
Buffalo has 98 points and 1,420 yards this season.
Quinn said Norfolk State’s offense has “been a little out of sorts.” The Spartans hired a new offensive coordinator over the summer and Quinn said they are still trying to “find their identity.”
Quinn said the Spartan offense played much better last week. The team scored 14 points in a 29-14 loss to The College of William & Mary.
Norfolk State quarterback Terence Ervin has not thrown a touchdown pass through three games, but he has improved his passing yardage totals every week. After throwing for 61 yards in the Spartans’ first two games, Ervin completed 16 passes for 176 yards last week.
Norfolk State appears to have only one receiving threat – junior wide receiver Isaac White. White has half of the team’s total receptions (16) for 134 yards. No other Spartan has more than three catches or 55 yards.
The team’s strength is its defense. The Spartans’ 3-4 scheme allows an average of just 78 rushing yards, 155 passing yards and under 19 points to opposing offenses.
The Spartans’ ‘D’ features 6-foot-7, 260-pound senior linebacker Lynden Trail, who has 20 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles this season.
Redden described the first three games of the season as “rough” for the Bulls’ defense.
Buffalo is allowing 502 yards and 46 points per game. The defense has forced just three turnovers this season – all fumble recoveries.
“As a team we stress turnovers,” Redden said. “We definitely need to force more turnovers. Turnovers always help us win … the more turnovers you have more opportunities the offense has to score.”
Quinn altered the Bulls’ secondary last week, switching sophomore Boise Ross from wide receiver to cornerback. Quinn made the move because junior cornerback Marqus Baker continues to miss time with an unspecified illness, and because of the Bulls’ depth at wide receiver.
Junior wide receivers Ron Willoughby and Marcus McGill and senior wide receiver Devon Hughes all have at least 149 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Joe Licata is on pace to set a career-high in touchdowns and passing yards this season. He has thrown for nine touchdowns and 870 yards through three games.
Sophomore running back Jordan Johnson had 20 carries for 97 yards last week. Quinn said Johnson could see more carries this week as well. Junior running back Devin Campbell’s status for Saturday is unknown. Quinn said Campbell did not practice Monday.
Last Friday, 24,714 fans attended Buffalo’s game against Baylor – the third best attendance in UB Stadium history – and UB Athletics estimates around 7,000 of those attendees were students. It was the highest student turnout in stadium history.
“We’re going to continue to need our students to continue to show up,” Quinn said. “[Our team] appreciates the energy and enthusiasm that was in that stadium [Friday].”
The Spin Doctors will be performing prior to kickoff as part of the Tailgate Concert Series. The game is set for 3:30 p.m.
email: sports@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Tal Hamel, Endvisionprod
Photo: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
