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Bulls Return Home to Host Kent State

Steven King

UB (1-7, 0-5 MAC) is coming off a tough defeat against 18th-ranked Boston College, 41-0, last Saturday. The BC Eagles showed why they are in great position to win the ACC title. They overpowered Buffalo and took advantage of five UB turnovers en route to the victory.

At the Bulls' weekly press conference on Tuesday, head coach Turner Gill talked about the positives coming out of the game against Boston College. “Right now I think the one thing initially we wanted to improve on was to reduce our number of penalties, and we did that,” Gill said. “I'm very happy because that's important to help give us a chance to compete and be able to be in a football game. Along with that, we have 5 blocked kicks this year, which is the most since our move to Division I in 1999. We are doing some good things on special teams and our guys have to continue to play hard, and execute better.”

The good things on special teams Gill was talking about are UB's punt return average of 15.1 yards - good for second in the MAC and freshman wideout and kick return man Naaman Roosevelt (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph's) and his second ranked MAC 25.3 yard kick return average.

Gill talked about returning home to face Kent State after two tough road games. “It's always good to play at home,” Gill said. “No doubt about it, we obviously want to establish a home-field advantage and the best way to do that is by winning football games. This is an opportunity for us to have a chance to accomplish that by winning the last two games at home. Playing at home is always exciting, no question about that.”

Returning to action after missing the past few games with injury is senior tailback Steven King (Hempstead, NY/Uniondale HS). King talked about the team morale the past few weeks. “I still see the same enthusiasm every day,” King said. “We're working hard and just trying to turn this thing around.” King spoke about the importance of leadership in the locker room. “As a senior and a leader on the team, you have to show how important working in the weight room is and keep the same intensity on the practice field as you do in the game,” King said. “The more focused to details you are, the better you will be.”

Kent State (5-3, 4-1 MAC) is coming off its first conference loss of the season at the hands of Ohio last weekend, 17-7. The Golden Flashes have surprised a lot of people this season with their turnaround from basement dwellers to MAC East Division leaders. However, Steven King is not among those surprised by their start. “They have always had a lot of great athletes on the team and they play well,” King said.

Leading the Kent State offense is sophomore quarterback Julian Edelman who has 1,300 yards through the air to go along with eight touchdowns. Edelman is also a threat to run and has accumulated 539 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Edelman's favorite receiving target is senior wideout Najeh Pruden who leads the team with 30 receptions for 622 yards and five touchdowns. Kent State has a very stingy pass defense that is tops in the MAC and currently sixth in the nation with an average of only 141.4 yards allowed per game. Other than the opening game defeat against Minnesota where Kent State surrendered 44 points, the Golden Flashes have yet to concede more than 17 points since. Kent State is coached by Doug Martin who is in his third season with the team. He has an 11-19 record with the team.

Kickoff is slated for 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. Tickets are available at the UB ticket office and www.tickets.com. The game can be heard on WGR 550 AM in Buffalo, WHTK 1280 AM in Rochester or on the web at www.buffalobulls.com.