The Bulls will have their hands full this Saturday when they hit the road to take on one of the Mid-American Conference's elite in the Marshall Thundering Herd.
Marshall has been at the head of the MAC over the course of the last few years and this year is no different.
The Herd (3-3, 3-0 MAC) started the season off slow, dropping their first three games, but have bounced back since the beginning of MAC play by taking three consecutive conference contests.
Marshall has been known for its high-powered offense and has also produced many NFL players in recent years. This year, however, the Thundering Herd's defense has been drawing much of the attention.
"This is a different Marshall team then we are used to seeing because their best player is on their defense and overall they are very strong defensively," said Buffalo Head Coach Jim Hofher.
The Herd has one of the premier defensive players in the entire country in Jonathan Goddard.
The defensive end is in the midst of a very successful year. Entering the week, Goddard is the nation's sack leader. He has recently has been named a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award, which is given to the country's most outstanding offensive or defensive lineman.
"Goddard is a game breaker and we can't let him be a difference maker," said Hofher. "We have to be aware where he is and where he lines up on every play."
Just stopping Goddard doesn't guarantee success either. The rest of the defense is having an equally great season, allowing just 18.2 points a game.
Offensively, Marshall has not been lighting up scoreboards like they have in years past, but they are never short on offensive options.
"Traditionally, they get productive games out of their quarterbacks and they have had two of the best receivers the MAC has ever seen in Josh Davis and Darius Watts," said Hofher.
Luckily for the Bulls, Watts has moved on to the NFL, but Josh Davis will try to add to his career statistics. Davis is second only to Watts, currently playing for the Denver Broncos, in career MAC receiving yards with 3,187. On the year, Davis has 32 receptions for 312 yards and two touchdowns.
Davis has been the primary target for quarterback Stan Hill. Hill, the country's second most efficient passer last year, has been struggling this season after off-season surgery yet his production has been enough to remain under center for the Herd. Hill has thrown for 912 yards along with six touchdowns on the year.
Buffalo's defense will need to perform like they did in the first half against Miami to keep the Marshall offense in check. Buffalo will rely on defensive back James Evans to eliminate the threat of Marshall's Davis.
Evans was named MAC East co-Defensive Player of the Week after he put together a breakout game against Miami. Evans recorded a career-best eight tackles, one sack, one forced a fumble and two broken up two passes in the end zone. Evans also recorded an interception to add to his team-leading three interceptions on the season.
"(Evans) is playing at a very high level and very aggressively," said Hofher. "But he will continue to be tested because he is just a freshman. We need another big game out of him and our secondary."
The Bulls would like to see a big game from their offense as well. Miami gave UB a lot of trouble last week, limiting Buffalo to just 165 yards of total offense.
P.J. Piskorik returned to the starting lineup last week after being reinstated by the team and failed to get the Bulls moving down the field. Piskorik was fairly accurate, throwing 10 for 19, but failed to establish a threat downfield and only threw for 98 yards with an interception. He will get the start again, hoping to hit a play or two downfield to help loosen up the Marshall defense for the UB running backs.
"We are going with P.J. because first he is the more experienced guy and second because he had the best week of practice," said Hofher.
The running game has been the Bulls' bread and butter all season. But for just the second time this season Buffalo failed to record 100 yards rushing last week. The Bulls will need more production than that from the four horsemen backfield, made up of Steven King, Chris McDuffie, Dave Dawson, and Jared Paterson.
"We didn't do nearly enough to help out our defense," said Hofher. "We have to do better than that offensively both running the ball and through the air."
Buffalo will try to do just that when they take to the field of Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. A victory for the Bulls would be its first against the Thundering Herd since UB has joined the MAC.
"They use three quarterbacks and do a great job of packaging what they do on offense," said Marshall head coach Bob Pruett. "They play hard, they gave Syracuse problems, beat UCF and played Miami hard, they are much improved, their defense has been better. Our offense has not been explosive, so they could give us some struggles."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
