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Bulls Set to Battle 18th-Ranked Boston College

Kareem Byrom

UB (1-6) is coming off a tough defeat against Ohio, 42-7, last Saturday. UB allowed Ohio to score on its opening possession and it held the lead from there on out. Offensively the Bulls were led by sophomore quarterback Drew Willy (Randolph, NJ/Randolph), who ended the day 14 of 25 through the air for 129 yards. At the Bulls' weekly press conference on Tuesday, UB head coach Turner Gill talked about the leadership of Willy. “I'm really proud of the way he stood up and did a lot of great things for us,” Gill said. “He grew up this last ballgame. His intangibles were great.”

On the defensive side, junior safety Kareem Byrom (New Brunswick, NJ/New Brunswick) had nine tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Gill talked about the impact of Byrom. “He continues to be a steady guy for our football team on the defensive side and I love his leadership,” Gill said.

“Our guys are still playing with great effort they're competing every single play,” Gill said. “We're focused on making progress each and every day and our players are doing that.” Junior defensive end James Judges (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary's Secondary HS) talked about what the upcoming game against Boston College means to the team. “Everybody knows, that we have a lot of talent in our locker room,” Judges said. “To play a team like Boston College is just going to make us better. It's exciting for us and we can't wait to get down there.” Judges also weighed in on the season so far. “It's tough losing games, but I really feel there are a lot of guys that still believe in our team,” Judges said. “We've got a lot of games left and we're going to play right until the end.”

Both UB and Boston College have great kickoff return men. The Bulls' freshman receiver Naaman Roosevelt (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's) leads the MAC in kickoff return average with 27.1 yards per game, while Boston College return man Jeff Smith is averaging 34.1 yards per game to lead the ACC.

Boston College (6-1) is coming off a huge victory against ACC foe Florida State last Saturday, 24-19. Leading the Eagles offensively is junior quarterback Matt Ryan who has 1,661 yards through the air along with nine touchdowns. BC has three threats at wide receiver this season. Kevin Challenger, Tony Gonzalez, and Brandon Robinson have combined for 70 catches, 889 yards and eight touchdowns.

Boston College is coached by Tom O'Brien who is in his tenth season with the team. O'Brien has a career 72-43 record with the Eagles and an impressive 6-1 record in bowl games.

Kickoff is slated for 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. The game can be heard on WGR 550 AM in Buffalo, WHTK 1280 AM in Rochester or on the web at www.buffalobulls.com. It will air on ESPN 360.