UB Opens MAC Play Against Temple
 Justin Winters |
“We are excited about this upcoming game,” said head coach Turner Gill. “I feel very good about where we are at and where we are going with this football team.”
The Bulls are 1-2 on the year and are coming off a heartbreaking 23-17 loss to Central Florida. The Bulls were in the lead at the half by a score of 17-7, but with costly turnovers and a lack of offensive momentum, the first half lead wasn’t enough.
“We need to be able finish the ball game,” said Gill. “We need to execute better and stay focused on what needs to get done.”
There was improvement from the Bulls defense. They came away with two turnovers, and were able to hold the Knights to only seven points in the first half.
“We had some good things done on defense in terms of turnovers,” said Gill. “We tackled better, and we did get a few turnovers, which were things we wanted to accomplish.”
This weekend the Temple Owls will be looking to avenge last year’s nationally recognized “Hail Mary” touchdown pass in the final seconds that sealed the win for the Bulls.
Temple brings back first team All-MAC nose tackle Andrew Neblett, who earlier this season was named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, presented to the nation’s best defensive player, and the Outland Trophy, presented to the nation’s best interior lineman.
The Owls are coming off a 31-6 loss to nationally ranked Penn State. The Owls were able to amass 251 yards of total offense under the direction of junior quarterback Vaughn Charlton, while holding the fifth ranked Nittany Lions to 359 total yards.
The Owls will look to their defense to slow down Buffalo’s high-octane offense, which leads the conference in pass completion, pass efficiency, third down conversions, first downs, and are tied for the conference lead in touchdowns.
“You have to give some credit to their defense, traditionally their front four has been pretty good,” said Gill. “But I still expect us to perform at a higher level than we have.”
Buffalo is 12-1 all time against Temple. Temple’s only win came in 1970 when the Owls defeated the Bulls, 21-8.
The Bulls are 2-1 in MAC openers under Turner Gill, both wins coming against Temple in 2007 and 2008.
The game will be televised on ESPN Regional across many parts of the country and locally on WNYO. As always, the game can be heard on 1230 AM WECK in Buffalo as well as 1280 AM and 107.3 FM in Rochester.
Written by Zach Ruske
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