The running of the winless Bulls

Zero. Zilch. Zip. Nada. None. The big goose egg.

That's how many wins the UB football team has so far this season with just three opportunities left, the first of which comes Saturday against Mid-American Conference foe Miami (Ohio).

UB (0-8 overall, 0-5 MAC) is coming off a 20-34 loss to Ohio that slipped away from the Bulls' grasp thanks in part to a plethora of penalties, one of which will carry over to Saturday's game.

Zack Love, a senior offensive lineman who was involved in a scuffle near the end of the Ohio game, will end his team-leading streak of 43 consecutive games started after being ejected during the fourth quarter. If a player is ejected in the second half of a game, they are unable to play in the first half of the subsequent game.

Sophomore center Jamey Richard was also involved in the ruckus that led to Love's ejection and watched the game clip on film afterwards.

"There was a pile up and Brett Hamlin's helmet popped off," Richard said. "It was very quick. Another player jumped in after his helmet was already off and I saw him throw his elbow down like he was trying to strike him so I just reacted and grabbed him and pulled him off. I was just trying to defend our teammate."

Love may be out for the first half, but returning from injuries to aid the offense are freshman fullback Philip Warren and junior running back Jared Patterson. Warren sat out during the Ohio game due to an ankle injury while Patterson attempted to play against the Bobcats but spent the majority of the second half on the sidelines.

Injuries and ineligibles aside, UB needs to boost its offensive efforts and capitalize on scoring opportunities. The Bulls have accumulated just 73 points in comparison to allowing 229.

"We're coming off our most productive day, a three-touchdown day, which matches our previous best of a three-touchdown day but we missed some point opportunities as well," head coach Jim Hofher said. "It could have been our most productive day points-wise."

UB could have had four additional points on the scoreboard but one of the team's Achilles heels lies in its kickers. The Bulls missed a scoring opportunity when red-shirt freshman Gerry McGroarty sent the ball wide right on a 34-yard attempt. McGroarty is 2-of-4 on the season with a long of 46 yards. Senior Mike Baker, who is 1-for-6 on the season, missed a PAT in Saturday's game.

"We've got to play our game," Richard said. "There's so many times offensively that we stop ourselves. We kill our own drives by mistakes that we make and in order to go out there and get the victory this weekend, we need to not stop ourselves, play our game, and execute."

Execution will be key for the Bulls when they make the trip to the home of the RedHawks (5-3, 3-2 MAC), with emphasis on the defensive unit since Miami is stacked with offensive threats.

"They have a variety of weapons," Hofher said. "Martin Nance is a really big, tall target as a receiver. Ryne Robinson is a very quick and shifty receiver as well as return threat. Brandon Murphy is just yards away from being a 1,000-yard rusher on this season. He's right around 980. The quarterback has been showing some veteran skills."

Wide receiver Robinson stomped all over the Bulls in his last two opportunities, running two punts back 86 and 76 yards for touchdowns in 2003, and compiling career highs in receptions (10) and yards (153) last year.

"You have to understand Ryne Robinson," Hofher said. "He is truly one of the dynamic returners in college football. We saw him up close two years ago when he was devastating, and last year he had one return for two yards. You need to have a plan and be able to execute it. Sometimes having a plan and executing it are two different things. Even if it bounces, he's an aggressive, go-after-it kind of guy."

Robinson's aggressiveness can't be questioned when it comes to returning the ball, and UB needs to take note of his persistence.

A winless record this far into the season could discourage a team's morale, but the Bulls intend to lower their heads, point their horns and charge forward in the pursuit of the win.

"You just have to go in thinking that your day will come and you just have to prepare the same way that you do for every game and keep pushing knowing that a break will come," Richard said.

The conference match-up is scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Yager Stadium.