TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

With eight returning starters back from a defense that was seventh in the MAC in total defense, you have the most experienced core of players you’ve ever had. Having played together for so long, how much more comfortable are you with your teammates and their ability to make plays?
The experience is a great thing. With everyone coming back, the comfort level is extremely high. We know where people need to be and their ability to make plays on defense, which makes playing in the defense a lot easier for the rest of the team.

This year, you start off your season with three games against BIG EAST opponents, a conference that is a member of the Bowl Championship Series. What is it like battling against teams like Syracuse and Connecticut, who have great chances to head to bowl games every year?
I think it’s always a great experience to play teams outside the conference because it helps you to see other levels of competition outside the MAC. I would say it helps you to match up and see where you match up with the rest of the teams in the nation.

This week, you open up your home season with a game against Rutgers. Having been through home openers three other times, how special is it for you and the rest of the Bulls to be able to run through the tunnel and be greeted by your fans?
It’s always fun to see the fan base at the first game and just to give it your all and try to win the game for them. It’s always a fun time to open up against a team that’s nationally-known.

The MAC has come to be known as a great quarterback conference, as it produced NFL stars Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich (Marshall) and Ben Roethlisberger (Miami (OH)). This year, Bowling Green has Omar Jacobs, who threw for 305 yards in one half against Wisconsin. How tough is it to stop a quarterback like that?
I’d say it’s not all just the quarterback. A lot of these guys came from great programs that produced a lot. It takes a whole team effort to stop the run and the pass, because if they get one going, it’s hard to stop the other.

This has been one of the most eventful summers in the history of UB Athletics, with the findings of the Corrigan Report, the hiring of athletic director Warde Manuel and the renewed commitment of UB to the MAC. As an athlete, are you excited to see President Simpson say that he wants UB to compete at the Division I-A level?
It’s definitely a great thing to see the president get involved with athletics and to see the hiring of a big name athletic director in Warde Manuel. He came from Michigan, he’s played and he’s been through it. It just seems like he’s the right man for the job.

As a linebacker, you can be expected to break up passes as well as making a stop on a run. How do you anticipate what the other team is going to do on offense so you can make the play on defense?
I’d say it’s all in preparation. You have to watch a lot of film. In practices, you have to read your keys and do things right all the time in order to compete on the field to even have a chance.

You made nine tackles for a loss in 2004. What is the key to breaking through the line and being able to get to the ball carrier?
I would say the speed of the game slows down as you’ve been through it more and more. Experience helps a lot. You see openings come quicker and you start to hit them a little faster. I think experience is the main thing that helps you get tackles for losses.

From your second game as a freshman onward, you have been a fixture in the starting lineup. You also list one of the reasons why you chose UB as being able to contribute right away. Still, during that first year, what were some things you realized about college football compared to high school?
I realized that it was a lot faster and the people were a lot bigger. I came from a small school in high school, so the biggest guys I went up against were about my size (200 pounds) and the first games (in college), you come out against 300-pound linemen when you’re 200 pounds, it’s tough. It was a fun time and a great experience.

You opened your season on a Thursday night in a game with Connecticut. It is the only non-Saturday game you have all year. Would you rather play during a mid-week game or do you enjoy the Saturday afternoon games more?
I don’t think it really matters when the game is. A game is a game; it’s when you get to go out there and have a good time, play some defense and hopefully, come out on top.

What has been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at the University at Buffalo?
I would say the camaraderie with the players. It’s pretty much a big family. Everyone knows each other. Everyone hangs out together. We’re pretty much a band of brothers.