As I watched the highlights (thanks for doing that), I remembered the announcer in the Bahamas Bowl saying "That QB Vantrease, he's really good at handing off!"  

That was a great line.  And true.  If you have a prima donna at QB, it would take away from the excellence of the RB's.  Lots of times we focus so much on a QB's arm (or running ability), but in this offense, we mostly just need him to see the field, read the defense, and make the right calls at the line.  Vantrease seems like he is pretty good at that (and at handing off).  

Jaret Patterson || The Most Underrated RB in College || Official Highlights || "Bandit"

You won't be able to use the same title this year.  Patterson is definitely on the radar in Athlon's College Football Preview.  Buffalo's RB unit is #1 in the MAC.

18 hours ago, RecoveringHillbilly said:

Great, more love from a big publication and now multiple outlets and betting sites picking us as the best in the MAC!

4th at QB is an amazing change after huge ?'s after last spring. 12th at WR/TE???...., boo...no worse than 10th. Nunn alone should be 2nd team All-MAC, and with Lefevbre's growth and Molinich/Bourassa blowing up LB's, we have deep TE's. 1st at LB is very cool, better than I can foresee. James P. and Kadofi Wright will be there but Athlon must have a 2 deep figured out.

Special team just has to be top half of the league too, or we may have more close calls  and deflating loses than expected.

The 12th at WR/TE was a real head-scratcher for me.  Not sure we even know who will be playing for some of the other MAC teams.  

Just got my favorite magazine, the Athlon College Football Preview. 

They have Buffalo beating Toledo in the MAC Championship game!

In the unit rankings:

4th for QB.  Nice, I'll take it.

1st for RB.  Yes, indeed.

12th for WR/TE.  Ouch.  

1st for OL.  Nice package for the running game.

1st for DL.  Always nice to be strong up front.  

1st for LB.  DL's and LB's helping each other.

5th for DB.  Okay.

Now, I'm pumped.

Anyone hear any rumblings about prep for football this fall?  Are the coaches or AD saying anything?  Anybody hearing anything from players they know?  

Other programs are saying things publicly about the possibility of starting June 1st, but I'm hearing nothing about Buffalo.  

On 4/29/2020 at 9:32 AM, rma said:

https://theathletic.com/1780345/2020/04/29/lance-leipold-bob-berezowitz-coaching-mentor-wisconsin-whitewater-buffalo/

Leipold was supposed to go to WMU originally. Interesting.

The Athletic provides such good articles.  Well worth the subscription.  I'm amazed at how much I learn from it, even about things I thought I already knew a lot. 

Interesting.  Why would someone pay to do that?  And at $20, it seems that it would be too labor intensive to make much money for the club.  

I think this proves the value of Pro Days for giving exposure to MAC players who are good, but maybe not so much on the national radar.

Seems like he signed at just the right time for him personally.  Has any other head coach signed an extension since then?  

Nice to see the Army games on the schedule.  I would think that they would be a team that is in demand.  Very interesting opponent.  

Would any school that would hire Mike Leach also want to hire Lance Liepold?  

8 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Or may be he wants to stay.

That's what I meant by him keeping it quiet.  However, even coaches who want to stay often have agents who put their names out there in order to get a better deal where they are already at.  It all just seems strangely quiet.  Perhaps, and hopefully, it is simply that he wants to stay and doesn't want to make a fuss about it.  

I'm not hearing Leipold's name out there.  Is he intentionally keeping it quiet?  Or does he need a new agent?

Good ideas about what to do within the MAC.  Still wondering what people think about the UConn deal.  Of course, you can't create a rivalry with 4 games.  But is it is net gain?  Is it better than playing a 2+2 with some who know what team, like UAB?  

What do people think about having so much focus on one team?  Too much of a blah program?  Or good for stirring up some rivalry and getting more attention to the east?

On 12/23/2019 at 6:30 PM, rma said:

LB Ja'Varius Harrison enters.  Did not play meaningful minutes and seems to be looking to play meaningful minutes.

 

Not sure I would be talking about wanting to "drive the team to levels it [sic] never been to."  He's not Jared Hurts or Joe Burrow!  

On 12/24/2019 at 10:48 AM, ChubbyHubby said:

You are correct in that Coach LL cancelled practice only for the first full day down there.  It was sitting in the high 80s, and the practice field is garbage.   If you want to use the term "blew off", apply it to Coach Healy and "Club Lotte".  Cancelled all of their practices, didn't hold a walk through the day before the game.  While our players had curfews that saw them in their rooms progressively earlier each night, Charlotte had no curfew.  The night before the game, we were walking through the casino at the resort at about 12:30 a.m..   A number of the 49ers were in there.  Coach Healy needs to grow up and realize that he's their coach, and quit trying to be one of the boys.

I've heard that there was a marked difference in terms of discipline between Buffalo players and Charlotte players at the resort.  Glad our guys enjoyed themselves in the Bahamas, but acted like they were there to play football.  

Don't most of the contract negotiations take place prior to the early signing day in order to show recruits that the school is serious about keeping the head coach?  Didn't seem to be the case with Lance.  Perhaps it will happen in advance of the late signing day, especially if his name pops up in a few job searches.  His agent isn't doing his job if his name doesn't start showing up after finishing the season on such a run.

1 hour ago, rma said:

UWW lost to North Central last night.

Correction.  My North Central Cardinals beat up on UWW!  

14 hours ago, promotherobot said:

True but you have to admit the MAC is mostly locales like those. I mean Toledo and Suburban Chicago and Detroit are about it for urban areas in the MAC.

 

Not sure anyone in Chicago considers DeKalb suburban Chicago.  Lots and lots of farmland in-between.  DeKalb is "down-state," just like Rockford (which is entirely latitudinally north of the northernmost part of the City of Chicago).  

Not a big fan of moving from conference to conference.  The thought about Conference USA is intriguing.  However, you cherry-picked some of the better cities.  Not wild about trips to Hattiesburg, Ruston (La), Murfreesboro, or the other BG.  

1 hour ago, promotherobot said:

I forgot to Praise Vantrese. He was so spot on today. His best game.

I really loved two of Vantrease's plays in addition to the obvious nice TD to start the game:

1) Taking on the LB at the goal line.  That guy will remember #7.  

2) Holding his passing posture on the fake that sprung Patterson for the big gain.  That was a beautifully executed play by just about everyone on the offense, but the key was freezing the defense with the fake pass.

Nice to see the team dominating.  And they have plenty of offense yet to tap into.  

20 hours ago, sportscliche said:

Weather prevented us from making our connection in Miami.  No flights to the Bahamas available until Monday.  American Airlines sent us home before the trip even started. We are very, very disappointed, but glad we are not stuck in an airport somewhere. 😞

Truth be told, this was shaping up to be an expensive trip.  The hotels near the stadium are pricey and there are significant taxes and fees.  We'll have to see if they will hit us with cancellation fees. 

This strikes me as a somewhat problematic venue for a bowl game, given the costs, logistics, and hit-or-miss weather. I'd imagine it's well off the radar for most students. No Ueber there and we understand the taxi drivers enjoy ripping off tourists.  Will be interested to read experiences of others who were able to attend.

Really bummed for people who made it to Miami but not to the game.  I hope they somehow were able to make it.  

Conditions in Nassau?  Raining?  Windy?  

Hate the weather for our fans, but to be honest, I think it will be an advantage for our players.  Our simple, strong running game could be perfect for the conditions.  

Not expecting much from their great DE in the slop, especially when we aren't passing much.