Preview: Buffalo

Head Coach Turner Gill returns 17 starters from the 2006 squad, and looks to improve on the two wins of last season. The 2007 Bulls will be led by their captains, senior linebacker Kareem Byrom (New Brunswick, NJ), senior center Jamey Richard (Weston, CT), senior defensive end Trevor Scott (Potsdam, NY) and junior quarterback Drew Willy (Randolph, NJ). Byrom, Richard and Scott are returning captains from last season.

Although pounded by Rutgers in their opener, Coach Gill's team rebounded nicely against Temple, perhaps showing signs of being a much improved squad in 2007. Although Temple is not a juggernaut by any standards, the Bulls 42-7 win last Saturday, certainly shows progress.

Junior Drew Willy (Randolph, NJ) returns for his third season as the starter, having earned the job during his freshman season of 2005. Willy was injured in the latter part of 2006 campaign, but is fully recovered from his thumb injury. Willy passed for 1391 yards, completing 138 of his 231 pass attempts, including six for touchdowns last season. Willy threw six interceptions in 231 attempts, but didn't throw an interception in his first 131 attempts.  On the year, Willy is 39 of 54 for 355 yards, throwing for 2 TD's and 1 INT. Willy's performance in Temple game was one of great efficiency, throwing for 190 yards and 2 TD's, while completing 20 of 22 passes.

James Starks (Niagara Falls, NY) had been expected to carry the load at running back for the Bulls, but a sophomore from Erie Strong Vincent, Mario Henry has made good of his initial touches, bursting onto the scene against Temple with a 126 yard rushing performance. Gill insists both players will receive carries, and hopes to keep them both fresh by rotating them. Thusfar in 2007, Starks has rushed for 67 yards on 28 carries, and Henry for 175 yards on 25 carries. On first play from scrimmage against Temple, Starks took a Willy pass 74 yards to the house for a lead the Bulls would never surrender.

The wide receiver position is one of the few areas of depth on the Buffalo roster, even with Roosevelt seeing some time at QB. Gill's offense likes to spread the ball around to multiple receivers, with ten players having already caught passes for Buffalo. Junior Ernest Jackson (Rochester, NY), and Brett Hamlin (Jupiter, FL), get most of the looks. To date, Jackson has caught 8 passes for 77 yards, with Hamlin adding 8 for 83. Jackson is a 6'-2" 215 pound physical receiver that Gill likes to create match-ups for. He will be a good test for our CB's, as we get ready to face a Michigan squad who has receivers with similar size. Sarge might be tested often in this game.

Finding a replacement for four-year starter Chad Upshaw will be a top priority for coach Gill. Sophomore Jesse Rack (Maspeth, NY) has earned the starting job, a position that is primarily used by Buffalo to provide blocking. Rack does get looks in the red zone however, having caught two balls for one TD already this year.

The Bulls return four starters from the offensive line of 2006. Center Jamey Richard (Weston, CT) is the leader of this unit, having now started 25 straight games over the last two seasons and is a preseason All-MAC candidate. Junior Jeff Niedermier (New Washington, OH), an 18 game starter, junior Ray Norell (Monroe, CT), promising OT Jordan Jerrold (Fairless Hills, PA), and Peter Bittner (Williamsville, NY) make up the remainder of starting OL. This is a very experienced unit, that Gill expects to become the backbone of his team.

Returning Offensive Starters (Pos./Ht./Wt./Cl.)

Terrance Breaux (WR, 6-2, 217, Sr.)
Jordan Jerrold (OL, 6-8, 285, So.)
Jeff Niedermier (OL, 6-3, 297, Jr.)
Ray Norell (OL, 6-6, 292, Jr.)
Jamey Richard (OL, 6-4, 301, Sr.)
Naaman Roosevelt (WR, 6-0, 185, So.)
James Starks (RB, 6-2, 206, So.)
Drew Willy (QB, 6-3, 213, Jr.)

Offensive Notes:

Buffalo has plenty of experience on offense, and Turner Gill believes this unit will make great strides this year. While not world beaters, putting up 42 points on Temple last week is certainly an indication of improvement in efficiency from 2006. Two graduated seniors have moved on, forcing Coach Gill to use sophomore WR Naaman Roosevelt (Buffalo, NY) from wide receiver to quarterback. Roosevelt is no stranger to the position, having been the New York State large school and Buffalo News co-Player of the Year after totaling 3,452 all-purpose yards, while throwing for 35 touchdowns in only 10 games.

Buffalo returns a great deal of experience on the defensive line, as evidenced by their returning every player who started a game in 2006. Senior Captain and DE Trevor Scott (Potsdam, NY), will be counted on to provide the leadership of this unit. Scott is a very versatile athlete, who began his career at Buffalo as a TE, having moved to DE last season. In his first season at DE, Scott recorded nine sacks and 45 tackles, 13.5 for loss. Scott's linemates are Junior Ronald Hilaire (Laval, Quebec), Dane Robinson (Baltimore, MD), and Chris Callahan (Webster, NY). There is a lot of depth on this unit, but the key for PSU will be keeping Scott from bringing pressure off the edge.

Buffalo lost two starters from its linebacking corp to graduation. The only returnee is Senior Ollice Ervin (Vero Beach, FL), who started 11 games last year. Joining Ervin will be OLB Larry Hutchinson (Seattle, WA), who just recorded 3 sacks and 4 tackles for loss against Temple, and senior Captain and former safety Kareem Byrom (New Brunswick, NJ). Buffalo blitzes this undersized unit, often times with success.

Sophomores Kendric Hawkins (Upper Marlboro, MD) and Mike Newton (Pasadena, MD), CB and FS respectively, lead this unit. Both were credited with an interception against Temple, with Newton returning his 50 yards for a touchdown. SS Domonic Cook (Buffalo, NY), and 6'-4" CB Adekunle Akingba (Brooklyn, NY), round out the secondary.

Returning Defensive Starters (Pos.Ht./Wt./Cl.)

Kareem Byrom (DB, 5-10, 200, Sr.)
Ollice Ervin (LB, 6-1, 230, Sr.)
Kendric Hawkins (DB, 5-10, 181, So.)
Ronald Hilaire (DL, 6-0, 293, Jr.)
Jesse Imes (DB, 5-10, 202, Sr.)
James Judges (DL, 6-6, 247, Sr.)
Sherrod Lott (DB, 5-10, 170, So.)
Mike Newton (DB, 5-10, 196, So.)
Trevor Scott (DL, 6-5, 258, Sr.)

Defensive Notes:

Buffalo employs a 4-3 defensive alignment, which relies on pressure up front to contain opposition. They will blitz linebackers on most any play to try and create overload situations for the opposition. Linebacker is the weakest position on field in terms of experience, and teams will exploit their lack of size at the outside backer positions. 

Senior Ben Woods (Hermitage, PA) returns for his fourth year as the Bulls' punter. In 2006, Woods averaged 37.9 yards per punt, with 13 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

With the graduation of Adam Tanalski, and Taylor Packwood's decision to leave the team for personal reasons, the kicking duties will fall to junior Gerry McGroarty (Wilkes-Barre, PA) and freshman A.J. Principe (Columbus, OH). Thusfar, both have shared the kicking duties, with McGroaty handling the kickoff and long FG duties, and Principe attempting the shorter ones.

Naaman Roosevelt is the return man on punts and kickoffs.  Roosevelt is very elusive, and is very dangerous should he make the first defender miss.

Nttnylyon's Breakdown:

To even keep this game close, it is imperative for Buffalo to establish even a modest running game. Allowing the PSU defense to T-off on the pass would be bad for Drew Willy's health. Depth could be an issue for Bulls at the QB position, as Willy is the Bulls' lone returning quarterback.

In their high percentage, "dink-and-dunk" passing game, Buffalo relies on play action and getting receivers in open space, then allowing them to make yards after the catch. Play action only works if running game is effective. Buffalo OT's will be overmatched by the speed of PSU DE's if forced to throw early and often. If a rushing attack can be established, and pass protection can hold, Buffalo will throw downfield in an attempt to exploit an matchup advantage they may have. Expect Lydell Sargeant to be the target of the Bulls with 6'-2" Earnest Jackson. This matchup should be a good warmup for Sarge against Michigan's big receivers, regardless of whether it is Henne or Mallet at QB. Additionally, this should also give the staff an idea of whether or not Sarge can handle big physical receivers.  If not, the staff may consider the move to Wallace at CB for the Michigan game. This matchup will probably be the only real test the PSU defense sees all day.

On offense, PSU badly needs to get the running game going out of the gate. Austin Scott should do serious damage to Buffalo's undersized LB's, when he gets to the second level. I expect a steady dose of off-tackle runs, with perhaps 50 rushes for the game. This should be a confidence builder for PSU O-Line heading into the Michigan game. If the O-line struggles with the running game here, it certainly would not bode well during  the Big Ten portion of schedule.

Prediction

On the surface, this game has all the makings of a complete mismatch, but one just never knows with PSU as of late. PSU is favored by some 36 points in this contest, and it should effectively be over by the time Beaver Stadium seats fill up. Buffalo players like playing for Turner Gill, and will not simply mail it in. Question is will PSU suffer any lingering effects from ND game, or will they be looking ahead to Michigan? I think a little of both are in store for this game.  I anticipate that PSU game plan will be to come out throwing, then settle in with running game. In spite of 2^nd half yardage versus ND, the PSU running game needs lots of work.  In my hangover special, I think this game ends up closer than most expect, with the Nittany Lions sputtering early, then pulling away in the second half.

Penn State 41

Buffalo 10