2011 Buffalo Football Predictions
Written by Patrick Webb
Buffalo struggled to a 2-10 season last year with their only a conference win over divisional foe Bowling Green. The Bulls struggled to close the season as they lost their last 3 games to Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Akron. Buffalo returns only 12 starters from last season, but do return nearly every skill player of note. They lose five of their top 6 tacklers from last season and all but 1 interception. The Bulls struggled to score points in the second half of the season, topping out at 28 in the fifth game and averaging only 12.8 points per game in conference play.
Offensively the Bulls return quarterback Jerry Davis, who enters his junior year coming off a rough season with only 1,753 yards and a paltry 47.7% completion rate. He threw for 16 TDs, but matched that with 16 interceptions. Alex Zordich started four games and is pushing Davis for the job, but had a terrible 1/6 TD/INT ratio last year.
Buffalo averaged only 3.1 yards per carry and 113 yards per game on the ground last year. There is no clear cut starter at tailback, but Branden Oliver has been the starter on the depth chart for the spring. Oliver totaled less than 300 yards to lead the Bulls last season, and no returning tailback visited the end zone for this team last season.
Buffalo does have some quality pass targets returning as Marcus Rivers and Alex Neutz combined for 9 TDs last season and both had solid yards per reception averages. Terrell Jackson and Ed Young will return to give the wideout unit some depth.
The Bulls return three offensive lineman with Graham Whinery the elder statesman as a junior. This unit must provide bigger holes for the tailbacks to rush through and more time for whoever lines up at QB. They surrendered 27 sacks in 2010, including 18 in conference play.
Defensively the Bulls are in their second year of a transition to the 3-4 and they don’t have the lineman with the correct size to run this scheme yet. Buffalo surrendered 159 yards per game on the ground last year and managed to force only 16 sacks. They gave up 27.8 points per game, but this unit over performed at times given the production on the other side of the ball. The bad news is that the Bulls return only 3 starters and plan to start only 3 seniors heading into this season. The secondary will feature 4 new starters and only one will have played more than one season. This unit should maintain around the same numbers as last season if the offense improves.
The Bulls lose solid kicker A.J. Principe, who went 7-11 on field goals last season and 6-7 from inside 40 yards. The new kicker is a bit of an unknown as Aussie Peter Fardon will try his hand at field goals (former punter) and freshman Patrick Clark will be in this fall to challenge him. Jacob Schum returns after averaging 38.5 yards per punt. Terrell Jackson figures to reprise his role at both returner spots and was very good returning punts last season (16.7 avg.).
Schedule Analysis: Buffalo faces three FBS teams this season opening at Pitt, hosting UConn and visiting Tennessee. They open at Ball State in the third week of the season and the face four of the toughest teams in the MAC following the Tennessee game. They close the season at Eastern Michigan and back-to-back home games against Akron and Bowling Green. They could win as many as three conference games this season or as little as none.
Final Record Predictions: 3-9 Overall (2-6 MAC)
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