25 Questions on an Endangered Species

What is their body of work?

 This is a program that has struggled to break through.  Turner Gill won at MAC TItle in 2008 but since then they have had one winning season, which was the 2013 Khalil Mack team that BG beat in Buffalo to win the MAC East. This year they are 3-6.  The wins are Colgate, Florida Atlantic and Kent.  They have lost to Minnesota (10 points), Army (4 points), WMU (3 points, 7 OT), NIU (1 point), Miami (10 points) and Akron (1 point).  That is a lot of close losses.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

They are 26 players.  Their defense has 10 un-red-shirted juniors.

Who are their statistical leaders?

Anthony Johnson is #10 in the nation in receiving yards per game.
Khalil Hodge is #10 in sacks and #2 in total tackles

What is their turnover ratio?

Unless noted, all stats are MAC Only below.  They are -1.

Offense:

How is their QB play?

Well, this has been a tough issue for them.  Tyree Jackson started the first four games.  He was injured and Drew Anderson played the next three, including the WMU game.  He was injured.  A third guy played one game and now Jackson is back.  He played last week. He's huge...6'7" and 245 pounds.  He has been effective.  He's completed almost 60% for 12.3 yards per catch, both of which are good.  His QBR is hurt by only having 3 TDs but also only 2 picks.  And he is a clear dual threat, especially near the goal line. (All games)

What is their scoring and yards per play?

This is a good offense.  They are 5th in scoring and 4th in yards per play.

Can they run the ball?

They are not good.  They are 9th in yards per rush.  Their lead back averages 4.1 yards per carry.

Do they pass the ball?

They lead the MAC in passing yards per game and are #4 in passing efficiency.  They have two receivers over 16 yards per catch (all games).

How was their run/pass balance?

They run on only 44% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

They are not bad....6th in the MAC.

Do they score in the red zone?

They are average at 4.5 points per trip.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They are very good.  They lead the MAC in pass attempts, yet have allowed only 8 sacks, which is 3.8%.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

They are not good.  They are 9th in scoring and 10th in yards per play.  They allow 6 yards per play, BG allows 6.1

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are tied for 6th in rushing yards per carry

Can they be passed on?

They are 11th in the MAC in pass defense.  They allow 68% pass completions, which is the highest in the MAC by a lot.  That includes 13.3 yards per catch...also a lot...and 11 TD over 4 INT.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are #11 in the MAC, 5% worse than BG.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They allow 4.4 points per trip, which is pretty good.

Did they pressure the QB?

They are not bad, with sacks on 6% of their opponent passing attempts.

Special Teams:

Punting?

They are 3rd in the MAC in net punting.  They have blocked a punt.

Punt Return?

They are not bad, #5 in the MAC with 12 total PRs.

Placekicking?

He has struggled at 11-18. He has had some long attempts.  He is 10-13 inside 40 (all games) and 1-5 outside 40.  Long is 42.  He's been blocked once.

Kickoff?

They are 9th with teams starting at the 25.

Kickoff Return?

This is very good, with teams starting at the 23.  They are one of 2 teams in the MAC to have recovered an onside kick in conference play.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

For whatever it is worth, if you are a fan of these programs, this will be a very interesting game.  Buffalo is in year 3 of Lance Leipold, who was a highly successful DIII Coach before coming to Buffalo.  They are showing signs of putting it together, but are far from a completely finished football team.  Meanwhile, BG in year 2 of the even more audacious Mike Jinks experiment is showing fewer signs of breaking through.  The Kent win was good, but this is an excellent test to help establish whether BG is in the middle of lower tier of the MAC.  To me, a win would provide some evidence that we are jelling.  That's not going to be easy, with a running QB on the other side.  If BG can establish the run even against their strong run defense, the UB secondary should be open and that's a different game.