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A pair of University at Buffalo football standouts were named among the top ten position players in all of Division I-AA football in The Sporting News annual pre-season college football yearbook.

Senior quarterback Chad Salisbury (Newell, PA/Frazier HS) and junior flanker Drew Haddad (Cleveland, OH/St. Ignatius HS) earned the recognition as the Bulls prepare for their final season in I-AA football in 1998 before joining the Mid-American Conference and I-A football next year. The two record-breaking offensive stars are both All-American candidates this season.

Salisbury set school records for completions (218), attempts (384), passing yardage (2,889) and total offense (2,797) last season after transferring from New Mexico State. The Pittsburgh-area native was ranked eighth among all quarterbacks in Division I-AA football by the magazine in its annual I-AA player rankings by position.

Interestingly, three players ranked ahead of Salisbury (Hofstra's Giovanni Carmazzi ­#1, Maine's Mickey Fein ­#5, and Villanova's Chris Boden ­ #7) will square off against the Bulls this season. The Bulls open their season on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Maine.

Haddad, meanwhile, earned the #6 ranking among all wideouts in I-AA football after a spectacular sophomore season. Haddad had 67 catches for 1,058 yards last season, despite missing one game to injury. He became the first UB wide receiver to ever go over 1,000 yards in a season and his reception total was the most in school history as well. Haddad's all-purpose yardage total last season (1,408) was the third best in UB football history. No other player ranked in the top ten will face the Bulls in the regular season this year.

Both players earned Football Gazette Honorable Mention All-American kudos after last season.