This year, the first Thursday night of the semester means a whole lot more than just heading down to Chippewa Street for a night on the town. It's UB Football's season opener.
Buffalo will kick off their season on the road, traveling to Ypsilanti, Mich. to challenge the Eastern Michigan Eagles.
After finishing well below .500 last year, both schools hope to begin working their way from the bottom to the top of the Mid-American Conference. Last year the Eagles finished sixth out of seven teams in the MAC West, with a lowly 3-9 overall record while Buffalo finished 1-11 in the MAC East.
The Bulls come into the game with a senior core of leaders that they hope will give the Bulls the edge they need against a younger, more inexperienced Eastern Michigan squad.
Offense
UB will line up behind senior Erik Zeppuhar and three other returning starters on the offensive line. The experienced line hopes to open gaping holes for two of UB's most highly regarded players, tailbacks Aaron Leeper and Dave Dawson.
The Bulls have experience at every skill position on offense, including quarterback, where P.J. Piskorik and Randall Secky will take snaps. Buffalo returns both starters at wide receiver, as well as tight end and tailback.
Defense
On the other side of the ball, UB's defense faces a rising star: EMU running back Anthony Sherrell, who ran for 1,531 yards and scored 13 touchdowns last season. Sherrell had Eastern Michigan's first thousand yard rushing performance since 1977.
The Bulls will look to their three starting seniors on defense-J.J. Gibson at free safety, Rodney Morris at linebacker, and Casey Russell on the defensive line-to provide leadership and anchor the defense as they weather EMU's running attack.
Overall
This will be only the second meeting between UB and EMU. Buffalo came up short the first time the two schools met in 2001 by a score of 24-20. The Bulls have not won a season opener since 1997, when they destroyed Lock Haven 37-7 in UB Stadium's inaugural season. Kickoff is set for 7:07 pm at Eastern Michigan's Rynearson Stadium.
