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Bulls Travel to Oxford for Showdown with Miami

Drew Willy

UB (0-8, 0-5 MAC) is coming off a hard-fought defeat against MAC foe Ohio by the score of 34-20. After falling behind 20-0 in the first half, UB rallied to cut the lead to 27-20, but a turnover late in the second half led to an Ohio touchdown.

UB posted a season-high 432 yards of total offense against Ohio last week. The Bulls were led by freshman quarterback Drew Willy (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) who passed for a career-best 293 yards and a touchdown. UB also got two scores by junior running back Steven King (Hempstead, NY/Uniondale). Jared Patterson (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere) added to the UB rushing attack with a career-high 93 yards on only five carries, including a career-best 64-yard scamper. Buffalo has averaged 367.3 yards of total offense in its last three games, a great improvement from the start of the season.

Sophomore center Jamey Richard (Weston, CT/Weston) talked about how Willy has improved on the season. “Drew might be young, but he’s very experienced,” Richard said. “As far as being a young quarterback, you might expect him not to have the poise, but he has stepped up and taken a leadership role.”

The Bulls’ sophomore kicker Ben Woods (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) earned Mid-American Conference East Division Special Teams Player of the Week honors following his best kicking performance of the season against Ohio. Woods averaged 41.4 yards per kick on seven punts against the Bobcats. He had a long of 50 yards and one downed inside the 20-yard line. He also handled kickoff duties and had one kick downed in the end zone. This marks the second time in his career that Woods has earned the honor.

Miami (5-3, 3-2 MAC) has won five of its last six games, including three in a row. They are coming off a 44-14 win at Temple and are in a four-way tie atop the MAC's East Division.

The RedHawks have a very efficient offense, averaging 158.1 yards per game on the ground while throwing for an average of 294.9 yards per game. Miami’s passing attack is led by quarterback Josh Betts who has 2,351 yards and 19 touchdowns so far this season.

Kick returner and wide out Ryne Robinson has five career punt returns for touchdowns - two of those came against the Bulls two years ago.

At the helm of the Redhawks football program is head coach Shane Montgomery. Mont-gomery is in his first season as head coach, having been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Miami the four previous seasons.

UB head coach Jim Hofher talked about the match up against the Redhawks. “They’re an excellent team and they maybe the hottest offensive team in the conference right now,” Hofher said. “They have variety of weapons including Ryne Robinson who is a quick and shifty receiver and a return threat and the quarterback is showing some veteran skills. Also showing their veteran skills are the offensive line and the tight end.”

Kickoff is slated for 2:00 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.