With thoughts of last week's triple-overtime loss still fresh, the Bulls football team will continue its quest to secure its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season when it travels to Huskie Stadium on Saturday to play Northern Illinois.
Although Buffalo (1-1, 0-1 MAC) ultimately lost the match-up against Bowling Green last Saturday, the team reflects on the positive and negative aspects of the game and plows forward.
"We gave it everything we had," said senior right tackle Gerry Weissinger. "It was disappointing with the mistakes we made. We will get better this week. We're going to pick up where we left off. We're going to finish on offense. I have a good feeling about the upcoming game."
Head coach Turner Gill was ambitious as well for Saturday's match-up against the Huskies.
"We all know the last football game we didn't finish it up the way we wanted it to," Gill said. "Our guys are excited to get things back going on the right note against Northern Illinois, who is a great football team."
If the Bulls want to find themselves on the right side of the scoreboard after Saturday's game, it will have to find a way to stop NIU's running back Garrett Wolfe. Wolfe currently leads the MAC in rushing with 183.5 yards per game and leads the conference in all-purpose yards with 240.5 yards per game.
"We all know they have a great running back in Garrett Wolfe," Gill said. "The guy has tremendous speed, tremendous quickness and makes plays. I don't think anyone has slowed him down. We are going to have our hands full and have to do a great job of tackling him."
Containing Wolfe could prove to be a challenge for the Buffalo defense. The Bulls are currently ranked 11th in the MAC in rushing defense, yielding 218 yards per game, after surrendering 356 rushing yards to the Falcons last game.
The Bulls defense will rely on its linebacking core composed of seniors Ramon Guzman and Jeff Bublavi and junior Ollice Ervin to keep the Wolfe under wraps. Each member of the trio ranks in the top five in the MAC in tackles. Guzman places second with 27, Bublavi in third with 23 and Ervin in fifth with 22.
On the offensive side of the ball, Buffalo will look to improve on its red-zone efficiency. The Bulls' red-zone conversion rate is 63.6 percent, which puts the team 10th in the conference.
"Offensively, we will have to do a great job at executing," Gill said. "We have to score in the red-zone once we get down there."
Buffalo's red-zone efficiency can improve if the Bulls' passing attack does likewise. Sophomore Drew Willy threw for 138 yards against Bowling Green last week, which was 50 yards less then his total in the season-opener against Temple.
If there is ever an opportunity for the Bulls' passing game to get on track, this may be the week. The Huskies (0-2, 0-1 MAC) have the worst total defense in the conference, allowing 498.5 yards per game and the worst pass defense, giving up 323.5 yards per contest through the air.
Phil Horvath will go under center for Northern Illinois. Horvath is the third leading passer in the MAC, averaging 223 yards per game. He will be looking to throw to Wolfe and wide receiver Britt Davis, who has 10 receptions and 76 yards on the season. This should prove to be a good test for the Bulls fourth-ranked pass defense in the conference, which has yielded only 158.5 yards per game.
The Bulls will start senior Steven King as running back this week. King began the season as the starting fullback but was switched to running back after injuries took its toll on the Bulls' backfield last game. Both senior Chris McDuffie and freshman James Starks left last week's game with injuries and did not return. Sophomore Chris Scharon will start in King's place as fullback.
Northern Illinois is 3-0 against Buffalo since the Bulls became members of the Mid-American Conference in 1999. The last meeting between the two schools saw NIU defeat Buffalo in UB Stadium, 40-9. Current San Diego Chargers' running back Michael Turner ran for 163 yards on 19 carries and had three touchdowns for the Huskies in that game.
Buffalo's visit to Huskie Stadium will mark only the second time the team has played at that venue. The first time both teams squared off there was in 2000; Northern Illinois won the match-up 73-10.
Saturday's game starts at 7:30 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
