UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO ATHLETICS
Buffalo (4-1, 1-0 MAC) at Central Michigan (1-4, 0-1 MAC)October 6, 2018Kelly/Shorts Stadium – 12:00 pm
Rochester – Fox Sports 1280
Storylines• The Bulls are 4-1 for the first time since the 1996 season.
• This will be just the third trip to Mount Pleasant for Buffalo. The Bulls lost the previous two games at Kelly Shorts Stadium in 2008 and 2015.
• Central Michigan leads the all-time series, 7-1. The Bulls are in search of their first win over the Chippewas since 2004.
• The Bulls are the only team in the nation not to have allowed a sack this season.
• Buffalo looks to improve to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since 2013.
• Kevin Marks has scored a rushing touchdown in four straight games. He is the first freshman in UB’s FBS era to do so.
• The Bulls are outscoring their opponents 61-10 in the first quarter of games this season.
• Tyree Jackson‘s 16 touchdown passes on the year already rank seventh in school history for a single season. He is two touchdown passes shy of moving into fourth in school history for a single season.
• Adam Mitcheson (230) is three points shy of passing Patrick Clarke (232) for second in school history in career scoring.
• The Bulls are looking to win three straight road games in the same season for the first time since the 2008 season.
The University at Buffalo football team will travel to Central Michigan on Saturday for their first road conference game of the season. The Bulls are 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the MAC and are coming off a 42-13 loss to Army last Saturday. UB was led by senior linebacker Khalil Hodge who tied a career high with 20 tackles against the Black Knights.
Hodge Ball
Khalil Hodge tied a career-high with 20 tackles against Army last Saturday. It was the second time in his career he racked up 20 tackles in a game. He now has 67 tackles on the season which is tied for third in the nation.
Os-born to Run
K.J. Osborn is enjoying the best start to a season in his career. He leads the Bulls with 23 catches for 410 yards and six touchdowns. He’s tied for fifth in the nation in touchdown catches.
Road Warriors
The Bulls have won both of their road games this season (Temple & Rutgers) and have won three straight road games dating back to last season. The Bulls have won five of their last seven road games. A win over Central Michigan would be UB’s third straight road win of the season and would mark the first time since the 2008 season the Bulls have accomplished the feat.
T3
Quarterback Tyree Jackson is off to a blistering start to the season, having already thrown 16 touchdowns, four more than he did all of last season. He already ranks seventh in school history for single-season passing touchdowns.
Long Way Home
The Bulls have been using big plays to find the endzone this season. 11 of the Bulls’ 24 touchdowns on the year have been at least 22 yards. The Bulls have scored touchdowns of 27, 32, 33, 22, 29, 70, 75, 42, 42, 53 and 53 yards over the first five games.
Bulls Make History in Piscataway
Buffalo defeated Rutgers, 42-13, on Sept. 22 at HighPoint.com Stadium for its first-ever win over a team from the Big Ten Conference. The Bulls were 0-7 against Big Ten opponents prior to Saturday’s win. It was also UB’s first win over an opponent from a Power 5 conference. Buffalo’s win over Rutgers was one of the largest by a MAC school over a Big Ten opponent in conference history.
Largest point differential in MAC win over Big 10 Opponent:
31 points – Toledo 38-7 win over Minnesota (8/30/01)
31 points – NIU 55-24 win at Purdue on (9/28/13)
30 points – Miami 44-14 win at Northwestern (9/13/03)
29 points – Buffalo 42-13 win at Rutgers on (9/22/18)
Chuck Waggin
Chuck Harris continues to develop into a monster edge rusher for the Bulls. Over the last eight games, Harris has eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Not bad for a young man who only started playing football his junior year of high school.
Serve and Protect
The UB offensive line has done a tremendous job so far this season. The Bulls are the only team in the nation not to have allowed a sack this year. Buffalo has attempted 152 passes through five games this season.
While many will credit the Bulls’ hot start to their seasoned veterans, you can’t discredit the play of the youngsters. Nearly half of Buffalo’s 25 touchdowns (12) on the season have been scored by freshmen.
Off to a Good Start
The Bulls have outscored their opponents 61-10 in the first quarter of games this season. The Bulls have averaged 12.2 points in the first quarter this year.
Marks and Recreation
Kevin Marks had a breakout performance in the Bulls’ win over Temple. The redshirt-freshman running back rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns in the first significant game action of his career.
Sharing the WealthTyree Jackson has done a good job distributing the football so far this season. 12 different players have a caught a pass already this year. 13 different players caught a pass all of last season. In addition, six different players have a touchdown catch on the year and four of the six have caught at least two TDs.
Senior cornerback Cameron Lewis had a career-best two interceptions in the Bulls’ win over Temple. He became the first UB player to intercept two passes in a game since Okezie Alozie had two picks against Ohio in 2015. Lewis has four career interceptions.
AJ is OK
Not many players in school history made a bigger impact in their first season with the UB football program than wide receiver Anthony Johnson did in 2017.
Watch Out
The Bulls placed a program-record six players on nine different NCFAA award preseason watch lists. Bulls appeared on more preseason watch lists than any other school in the Mid-American Conference. The previous high was four players on eight different watch lists prior to the 2013 campaign.
Buffalo Players on NCFAA Watch Lists
Khalil Hodge – Bednarik Award, Butkus Award, Nagurski Award
Anthony Johnson – Maxwell Award, Biletnikoff Award
Tyree Jackson – Davey O’Brien Award
Emmanuel Reed – Doak Walker Award
Tyler Mabry – John Mackey Award
James O’Hagan – Rimington Trophy
Mitch Perfect
Kicker Adam Mitcheson is just four made field goals shy of the school record for career field goals made at UB. The senior kicker has made 40 field goals over his career. He is currently second all time, trailing A.J. Principe (2007-10) who made 44 field goals over his career.
Team Captains
This season, the Bulls will feature two season captains as well as two rotating game captains. Serving as season captains are senior center James O’Hagan and senior linebacker Khalil Hodge. Both O’Hagan, UB’s fourth-year starting center, and Hodge, UB’s third-year starting middle linebacker, also served as team captains last season.
Bulls Add Three Grad Transfers
It’s All Relative
The UB football team features a pair of players related to two of the top five picks in the 2014 NFL Draft. Senior wide receiver Anthony Johnson is the cousin of top pick Jadeveon Clowney. Junior defensive end Ledarius Mack is the younger brother of former UB All-American and fifth pick Khalil Mack.
10-Year Anniversary of MAC Championship
The 2018 season marks the 10-year anniversary of the Bulls’ 2008 MAC Championship – UB’s first and only football conference title. After a 7-5 regular season, the Bulls stunned 12th-ranked Ball State, 42-24, in the title game. Buffalo went on to play Connecticut in the International Bowl – its first-ever bowl game.
On The Airwaves
Again this season, University at Buffalo football can be heard locally on ESPN 1520, a 50,000-watt station with one of the strongest signals in the nation. The Bulls can also be heard on 1280 AM in Rochester.