The Spectrum Vol. 65 No. 3

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBL ICAT ION OF THE UN IVERS I TY AT BUFFALO , S INCE 1950

Friday, September 4, 2015 Football SeaSon preview volume 65 no. 3

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBL ICAT ION OF THE UN IVERS I TY AT BUFFALO , S INCE 1950

THE AMBASSADOR

TOM DINKIEDITOR IN CHIEF

Things seem different around UB Stadium.

The outlines of New York State as part of UB Athletics’ rebranding are there, sure – but that’s been going on for a while. There’s more.

Construction can be heard at all hours of the day as workers rush to finish a near million-dollar premium-seating club for donors. A sketch of a field house, the absence of which has long been one of UB’s downfalls as an athletics program, sits in the front en-trance to the stadium lobby. There are whispers of optimism, even from peo-ple who have long doubted Buffalo could emerge out of the basement of Division I football.

Granted, things aren’t perfect yet. UB is still just emulating the Ala-

bamas and Ohio States of the world – the football programs that dominate their state and national landscape. But Buffalo and its administrators like Ath-letic Director Danny White seem to fi-nally think they have the head coach to move them up the ladder that is col-lege football.

His name is Lance Leipold. And if you don’t recognize the

name, that’s because he lets his record do the talking.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

KAINAN GUO, THE SPECTRUMDESIGN BY KENNETH CRUZ

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THE DONALD L. DAVIS LECTURESHIP FUND & UNIVERSITY LIFE AND SERVICES PRESENTS

LAVERNE COX

SERIES SPONSOR AFFILIATE SERIES SPONSORS

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SEPT 168:00PM UB ALUMNI ARENATo learn more about all the series speakers and for ticket information, please visit:

facebook.com/ubdssbuffalo.edu/dss

FREE LECTURE TICKETS FOR UB STUDENTS1 ticket per student while supplies last. UB ID required.SA- represented undergrads may pick up tickets in the SA Office (350 Student Union, North Campus).GSA- represented grads may pick up tickets at the SBI Ticket Office (221 Student Union & 350 Harriman Hall, South Campus).

Exceptional faculty.World class facilities.Exciting music making.www.music.buffalo.edu

Do you play aninstrument or sing?

Did you know you can pursuea 28 credit minor in music atUB while completing a majorin another field?

For additional information visit theMusic Department’s table in theStudent Union on Sept. 4th orcontact Student Programs directorKaren Sausner: [email protected] 716-645-2758

JORDAN GROSSMANSENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

For years, UB Athletics has wanted to build Buffalo football games into an all-day event. And beginning on Saturday, UB Athletics will unveil its newest promotions for the 2015 football season – and they won’t stop at kickoff.

For the first time, the pregame atmo-sphere will stretch into the game itself. What does UB Athletics have in store for game day this Saturday when the Bulls take on Albany? The Spectrum has you covered. Tailgate Concert Series

This year’s series kicks off with Thomp-son Square, a country duo, roughly two hours before kickoff.Baird Point Student Tailgate

The Baird Point parking lot will be con-verted into a student party zone on game

day and will open roughly 2-3 hours be-fore kickoff. DJ Nicholas Picholas

Picholas, the local voice of KISS 98.5, will be UB’s personal DJ throughout the entirety of the game. Picholas’ booth will be positioned by the north end zone of UB Stadium.Student VIP Patio

The newest addition to the football agen-da, the VIP Area allows roughly 150-200 students to sit at patio-style tables behind the north end zone. A student must enter for the promotion through the UB Rewards App.Promotions

Throughout the game, various priz-es will be awarded to students such as T-shirts, electronics and gift cards. In the middle of the fourth quarter, one student will win a $100 gift card to the UB Bulls

Shop.UB Athletics and the Student Associ-

ation will fund all activities. The festivi-ties begin roughly three hours before the game begins. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m.

email: [email protected]

2 SPORTSFriday, September 4, 2015

A guide to game day Here’s what’s going on with game day this year

SPECTRUM STOCK PHOTO

Students cheer at Buffalo’s game against Baylor at UB Stadium last fall. UB Athletics has revamped its pregame atmosphere for this season.

QUENTIN HAYNESSENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

Before I went through the games to pick my prediction, I just wondered: Does the record really matter?

It’s a silly question – of course it does. This football team wants to be good right away. Everyone wants to have a successful season, from the starting quarterback to the third string long-snapper. The Bulls want to go bowling and be able to sell and perform on a larg-er stage.

But what does it really matter if the Bulls can’t sustain success? What does a 6-6 record really do for the program in the long-term if several 4-8 seasons come after?

So while my predicted record of 6-6 for the Bulls suggests that the 2015 season will be a success-ful one, the true success for the Bulls will come if they can take a step forward and create a pro-gram that can be successful for years at a time.

First, let’s talk about the predic-tion. Yes, I believe the Bulls will be bowl eligible when it’s all said and done. The Bulls have one is-sue that concerns on offense, but other than the changes on the offensive line, I think the Bulls could be a really good offense next season.

Licata is one of the best quar-terbacks in the conference, Taylor is one of the best running backs in the conference and you have three good receivers in seniors Marcus McGill, Ron Willoughby and sophomore Jacob Martinez. If the offensive line can gel quick-ly, I envision this offense being a headache for opposing defenses.

This is where I’d lie to you about the defense. But I’m not going to lie: I have no idea how to quantify this defense. Not only are new faces moving into more prominent positions, but the scheme changed as well. They have small pockets of experience on each level, but they’re a bit of an unknown quantity to me at this time.

The defense is an unknown quantity, but a potentially exciting one, especially on the defensive line. I know it was just a Spring Game, but I liked some of the young pass rushers on the depth chart for the Bulls. Guys like de-fensive ends Solomon Jackson and Demone Harris as long pass rushers on this 4-3 defense is go-ing to be fun to watch.

The defense is also the area where Bulls head coach Lance Leipold and staff can begin to build for the future.

Among the projected defen-sive starters are five underclass-men and five juniors, including their best defensive player – line-backer Jarrett Franklin. The suc-cess of the defense is one of the main storylines to me because if they prove to be good, those are players that are here for another 24 to 36 games.

Same for juniors, who would have this season, as well as next season in the Leipold era.

The offense will have to wait, as the starting quarterback, run-ning back and wide receiver posi-tions are all seniors – with the QB position two deep with last-year players. Still, the offensive line is made up of a freshman, sopho-more and two juniors, meaning who ever steps into the quarter-back and running back positions next year, they will be anchored by an experienced offensive line.

The Bulls should’ve made a bowl game last season, but a coach firing, bad luck and, well, Mother Nature, prevented that. This season, I believe the Bulls have the offensive talent to make a bowl game.

JORDAN GROSSMAN SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

Bulls fans – get ready. You’re in for an entertaining 12 games. But don’t expect to see a 13th one.

UB Athletic Director Danny White’s vision of becoming a ‘big-time’ brand is slowly coming to fruition. On the student end, White has expanded his vision of ‘big-time’ tailgates and overall football atmosphere. He brought back the Tailgate Concert Series. He booked more nationally televised games. His goal is to get students to come to the pregame rituals and stay for the game.

And with the new additions to the team, it’s quite possible those students will want to stay until the end of the fourth quarter, rather than pile out by the boatload and head back to the dorms by the end of the first.

The reason? Fans want to see action. Unless someone is an avid football fan who loves defensive matchups, most fans want to wit-ness a shootout. For a school that is trying to rebuild its image for a depleted football program, the best option is to give fans what they want: a fast-paced, high-scoring of-fense.

And that’s exactly what Buf-falo will do this upcoming sea-son.

Joe Licata, the hometown hero, is entering his final season as the Bulls’ starting quarterback and is aching for an opportunity to bring home a championship for the first time in his college career.

And if playing with that men-tality wasn’t enough, he’s final-ly developed into the fully tout-ed quarterback he was coming out of Williamsville South. His pock-et presence is developed, his arm strength is up to par, he’s 100 per-cent healthy and he’s coming off

his best season as a Bull and enters the year as the all-time touchdown leader.

And above all that, he may be playing with his best receiving core to date.

It’s fair to argue that his duo of Alex Neutz and Fred Lee two years ago could be the best that Licata’s ever thrown to, but he’s never had so much depth before.

Senior wide receiver Ron Wil-loughby is coming off of a break-out season. Sophomore Jacob Mar-tinez is poised for a breakout year as a speedy, down-the-field slot receiv-er. Highly touted newcomer Collin Lisa is expected to assume a starting role after an impressive camp, giving Licata one more dynamic playmaker in that unit.

And let’s not forget the tight ends. Leipold said during spring practic-es he wants to incorporate his tal-ented tight end duo of seniors Ma-son Schreck and Matt Weiser. In the past, the team has utilized the posi-tion as blockers more than playmak-ers. But that just may change this year, as both tight ends have prov-en they could be efficient difference makers this season.

And with a team that returns its star offensive players from a unit that av-eraged over 31 points per game, that number could easily go up.

It’s a recipe for entertainment, at least. It’s the high-scoring offense that could shake the bleachers at UB Stadium for home games for the first time since Oakland Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack and San Di-ego Chargers running back Branden Oliver graced a Bulls uniform.

But the number on the opposite side of the ball could go up as well.

As prominent as the offense will be, Buffalo returns less than half of the starting ‘D’ from last sea-son – a squad that allowed over 32 points per game. There have been multiple signs of progress from spring practices into the season for many players including the ju-nior wide receiver-converted-cor-nerback Boise Ross and elusive se-nior Nick Gilbo, who also doubles as the team’s signal caller.

But as many football fans know – from high school to the NFL – players cannot be judged based on no-contact practice against their own team.

The views expressed – both written and graphic – in the Feedback, Opinion and Perspectives sections of The Spectrum do not necessarily reflect the views of the

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THE SPECTRUM

Editorial BoardEditorial Board

Friday, September 4, 2015Volume 65 Number 3

Circulation 7,000

EDITOR IN CHIEF Tom Dinki

MANAGING EDITOR

Alyssa McClure

OPINION EDITORRicky Nolan

COPY EDITORS

Kayla Menes Renée Staples

NEWS EDITORSGabriela Julia, Senior

Ashley InkumsahMarlee Tuskes, Asst.

FEATURES EDITORSTori Roseman, SeniorDani Guglielmo, Asst.

ARTS EDITORSBrian Windschitl, SeniorKenneth Kashif ThomasAlexandra Saleh, Asst.

SPORTS EDITORSJordan Grossman, Co-seniorQuentin Haynes, Co-senior

PHOTO EDITORSYusong Shi, Co-seniorKainan Guo, Co-senior

Angela Barca .

CARTOONISTS Joshua Bodah

CREATIVE DIRECTORSKenneth Cruz

Pierce Strudler, Asst.

Professional Staff

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Helene Polley

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Nicole DominguezLee Stoeckel, Asst.

Zach Hilberbrandt, Asst.

ADVERTISING DESIGNERDerek Hosken

OPINION 3Friday, September 4, 2015


Lance Leipold’s .947 career win-ning percentage is going to take a major hit this season.

No, that’s not a knock on the first-year Bulls head coach making the leap from Division III to Di-vision I. I’ve grown to like Dan-ny White’s hire and came away im-pressed by Leipold after a sit down interview in his office this summer. If I had to say right now in Sep-tember 2015, before ever seeing the man coach a D-I game, if he is go-ing to have success at UB or not – I would say yes, yes he will.

But let’s not crown him the sav-ior of Buffalo football just yet and expect some more Mid-American Conference Championship hard-ware coming back to Amherst this December. It would be unrealistic to expect this out of Leipold in his first head-coaching season at an NCAA level with scholarships and adequate funding. It would prob-ably even be a little ‘unfair’ – not that that word really has that much weight in professional or college athletics.

Leipold’s first season in Buffa-lo probably won’t result in the pro-gram’s second-ever MAC Champi-onship or third-ever bowl appear-ance – and it doesn’t have to.

Leipold’s first season in Buffa-lo only has to a result in a com-petitive MAC team that will be just entertaining enough to fill up UB Stadium seats this season and make season ticket holders want to renew for next season – and may-be even get a few of them to make a $1,000 donation to watch the Bulls from the West Club.

This season is about the Bulls showing just enough to make peo-ple think, Hey, this coach has this thing on the right path. It’s about building a fan base, support and resources for the future – which may result in a MAC Championship one day.

And it’s become pretty obvious there’s one resource in particular that Buffalo needs to finally bring sustained success to the program.

A field house. Finally breaking ground for an

on-campus field house is a big deal to both White and Leipold; Leipold brought up the field house in his in-troductory statement at Media Day, while White was quick to point out in an interview with me this sum-mer that Buffalo is the only team in the MAC without one.

UB Athletics first released its Facilities Master Plan a year and a half ago – a plan outlying its goals for an athletic village on North Campus with the primary feature

of a field house located north of UB Stadium.

An artist’s rendering of a North Campus field house now sits in the entrance to the Murchie Fami-ly Football Center in UB Stadium. Players, coaches, media and poten-tial donors can’t enter the building without being reminded of it.

And UB Athletics should keep up the push. The facility seems like it would be funded mostly from private donations and would allow the football team, along with other outdoor sports like soccer, baseball, softball and track, to practice in-doors during the harsh winter with-out a long commute to the Buffa-lo Bills’ field house. UB can contin-ue to be the only AAU university in the MAC, but if it doesn’t have a facility that every other team in the conference has, that advantage doesn’t mean as much.

What better way to build toward that facility than with high atten-dance for general seating and the private West Club, as well as some additional donations? That comes with Leipold getting the most out of this impressive senior class while he still has them.

Buffalo has perhaps the best group of ‘triplets’ or quarterback, running back and wide receiver combo in the MAC. If the Bulls rely on Joe Licata, Anthone Taylor and Ron Willoughby on offense, they should be an entertaining and top MAC offense that could string together some wins.

That defense is cause for con-

cern, though. Leipold said on Me-dia Day that if the Bulls give up 48, they had better score 49. He may have been inadvertently fore-shadowing his first season in Buf-falo. The best players from Buf-falo’s terrible defense a year ago have all graduated. I’m not sure this defense has turned around and won’t be the thing that drags the team down to a four- or five-win season compared to a seven- or eight-win one.

The schedule isn’t set up for winning season like it was a year ago, either.

White didn’t his repeat his mis-take of scheduling two Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) games like he did a year ago, and between a trip to Happy Valley and a tough opening slate of con-ference play, Buffalo could have its bowl hopes dashed early.

The last five games don’t pres-ent as much of a challenge out-side a Nov. 11 matchup against Northern Illinois, which may pres-ent Buffalo a chance a late rally for wins and hope for the future.

It’s exactly what they need for a ‘successful’ season and gain support down the line. After all, Leipold won’t be judged on his first season. He and White both know this is a project. This season is the first step in getting Buffalo the resources it needs.

The wins can come later.

5-7 (3-5 MAC)


Those can come later

Successful first year of Leipold era doesn't need wins

Wait ’til next year Define successExceptional faculty.World class facilities.Exciting music making.www.music.buffalo.edu

Do you play aninstrument or sing?

Did you know you can pursuea 28 credit minor in music atUB while completing a majorin another field?

For additional information visit theMusic Department’s table in theStudent Union on Sept. 4th orcontact Student Programs directorKaren Sausner: [email protected] 716-645-2758

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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SEPT

16

LAVERNE COXTransgender Advocate & Award-Winning Actress

One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2015

OCT

14

LIZ MURRAYBestselling Author of “Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard”

UB READS AUTHOR

NOV

18

JOHN LEGENDAcademy Award Winning Songwriter, Singer, Musician, Producer, Philanthropist & Entrepreneur

SA STUDENT CHOICE SPEAKER

An Evening of Speaking, Q&A, and Songs with Piano

CHARLES OGLETREE

FEB

11 Internationally Renowned

Legal Theorist

UB’S 40TH ANNUAL MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATION KEYNOTE SPEAKER

SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE

APR

6 Cancer Physician, Researcher & Author of the Pulitzer Prize-Winning “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer”

APR

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KEVIN SPACEYAcademy-Award Winning Actor, Film Director, Writer, Producer; Star of “House of Cards;” Former Artistic Director of London’s Old Vic Theatre

SA & GSA STUDENT CHOICE SPEAKER

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AFFILIATE SERIES SPONSORS





FREE LECTURE TICKETS FOR UB STUDENTS SA- represented undergrads may pick up tickets in the SA Office (350 Student Union, North Campus).GSA- represented grads may pick up tickets at the SBI Ticket Office (221 Student Union & 350 Harriman Hall, South Campus).1 ticket per student while supplies last. UB ID required.

For more information please visit: buffalo.edu/dss or facebook.com/ubdss

LECTURES START AT 8:00PMALL LECTURES IN ALUMNI ARENA

4 SPORTSFriday,September 4, 2015

Where was the splash hire with the big name? Where was the coordinator from an NFL or Power 5 school? What about Steve Spurrier, Jr.? Joe Lombardi?

Fans and media may have been left with confusion after an ill-timed tweet from Leipold’s niece helped reveal him as the new head coach of the Bulls. They likely thought Buffalo, a team trying to pull itself out of the bottom of Division I, had a hired a Di-vision-III head coach. Why?

But as Bulls players, fans and media alike began simultaneously Googling the name

‘Lance Leipold,’ it became clear that the 51-year-old Wisconsin native was far

from just a Division-III coach.Few coaches in NCAA histo-ry have more accomplished ré-

sumés than Leipold. Six na-tional championships. Six

Division III Coach of the Year awards. The fastest

football coach to ever reach 100 wins.

A career record of 109-6.

109-6.

He has as many national champion-ships as career losses. In just eight seasons, Leipold has more than twice as many wins than UB in its 15-year Division I history. Buffalo has never witnessed that kind of winning.

The skeptics will say the wins came at Di-vision III – a level with no scholarships and with limited resources and talent. Scholar-ships, recruiting – they’re all things Leipold has either never done before or never done at this high a level as a head coach.

But those who’ve worked with Leipold at Wisconsin-Whitewater and those who’ve been around him the past few months in Buffalo, from players to assistant coaches to administrators, are filled with confidence. A confidence that Lance Leipold has all the tools to be a successful Division-I coach.

“The more I work with him,” White said, “the easier it is for me to understand how he went 109-6.”

Leipold clearly knows how to run a pro-gram, just on a smaller scale.

Warhawks senior receiver Joe Worth de-scribed Leipold as a “GM,” and said the coach ran Whitewater as close to a Divi-sion-I program as one can get – Leipold got tips from coaching legends while work-ing as an assistant at some of the top pro-grams in the country. Amy Edmonds, Wis-consin-Whitewater’s director of athletics, said Leipold kept people engaged with the program through winning on the field and letting people know off the field what the university was doing as an institution.

She describes him as a sort of “ambas-sador.”

But Leipold has a large task in front of him.

Buffalo had the second-highest attendance in the Mid-American

Conference last season, but that was still just good for 100th

out of 128 nationally. Buffa-lo is the only MAC school

without an indoor prac-tice facility or with any

concrete plan to build one in the near fu-

ture. UB’s foot-ball budget broke

even with close

to $7 million, but that’s mainly due to sup-port from the university. Leipold could double his ca-reer loss total this season alone and the year could still be viewed a success.

But he seems to have a plan to bring attention, donations and talent – all the re-sources a Mid-Major needs to improve and well, just survive. He always sits in one par-ticular black leather chair in his office be-cause it faces a “State University of New York Buffalo” watermark on the wall.

“So I can see … that we are the flag-ship university of the New York system,” Leipold said. “We need to make sure people know that because a lot of people don’t.”

He already has the #NYBI lingo down. But Leipold knows the best way to bring in donors, resources and better recruits is to simply win – and this Saturday against Al-bany is his first chance.

After all, the guy knows a thing or two about it. Learning from the best

Leipold grew up in Jefferson, Wisconsin, which has a population that’s nearly a quar-ter of UB’s student body of 30,000, and his small town upbringing is still evident as he makes his way around campus every day. He admits he still gets lost from time to time.

Ask him if he used to be a quarter-back and he’ll say, “Not a very good one.”

That humbleness and ‘everyman’ men-tality sticks out about him. When ESPN showed up to Whitewater last season for a College GameDay feature on Leipold, the coach looked at the bright lights and cam-eras and thought, I better go get a suit. He’s the kind of coach that will throw out fade routes to reporters during a photo shoot and tease them about wearing white socks.

Despite his modesty, Leipold ranks in the Wisconsin-Whitewater top-10 for pass-ing yards, attempts, completions and touch-downs from when he played quarterback in the mid ’80s. When Leipold became the War-hawks’ quarterbacks coach right after grad-uation, his teammates started “calculating the math” of when Leipold would become the head coach of Wisconsin Whitewater.

He would v e n t u r e away from his alma mater before becoming its leader – for about 17 years. Along the way Leipold was assistant at some of the top teams in the country – programs like Wis-consin and Nebraska. Leipold may have never been a head coach above the D-III level, but he’s been on staffs that have appeared in Rose Bowls and Big Ten Championships and worked with leg-ends like Barry Alvarez and NFL coaches Bill Callahan and Brad Childress.

He also saw the dark side of college ath-letics.

While Leipold was an administrative as-sistant at Nebraska, head coach Frank Sol-ich was fired after a 10-win season. Leipold said it opened his eyes as to what can hap-pen in college football. White, Leipold’s new AD, has let go of eight head coaches in three years on the job. He knows the unfor-giving nature that sports can have.

After Wisconsin, Leipold had two stints as an assistant with Division II Nebras-ka-Omaha – the university cut the team in 2011. Then finally, in 2007, after commut-ing 50 miles a day from Lincoln to Omaha, Leipold got his break. The math his team-mates calculated all those years finally add-ed up.

Leipold became the head coach at Wis-consin-Whitewater. Warhawk domination

Division III football in the town of Whitewater is more than just Division III football. When freshmen come to campus,

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5YUSONG SHI, THE SPECTRUM

YUSONG SHI, THE SPECTRUM

t


SEPT

16

LAVERNE COXTransgender Advocate & Award-Winning Actress

One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2015

OCT

14

LIZ MURRAYBestselling Author of “Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard”

UB READS AUTHOR

NOV

18

JOHN LEGENDAcademy Award Winning Songwriter, Singer, Musician, Producer, Philanthropist & Entrepreneur

SA STUDENT CHOICE SPEAKER

An Evening of Speaking, Q&A, and Songs with Piano

CHARLES OGLETREE

FEB

11 Internationally Renowned

Legal Theorist

UB’S 40TH ANNUAL MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATION KEYNOTE SPEAKER

SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE

APR

6 Cancer Physician, Researcher & Author of the Pulitzer Prize-Winning “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer”

APR

27

KEVIN SPACEYAcademy-Award Winning Actor, Film Director, Writer, Producer; Star of “House of Cards;” Former Artistic Director of London’s Old Vic Theatre

SA & GSA STUDENT CHOICE SPEAKER

SERIES SPONSOR

AFFILIATE SERIES SPONSORS





FREE LECTURE TICKETS FOR UB STUDENTS SA- represented undergrads may pick up tickets in the SA Office (350 Student Union, North Campus).GSA- represented grads may pick up tickets at the SBI Ticket Office (221 Student Union & 350 Harriman Hall, South Campus).1 ticket per student while supplies last. UB ID required.

For more information please visit: buffalo.edu/dss or facebook.com/ubdss

LECTURES START AT 8:00PMALL LECTURES IN ALUMNI ARENA

5SPORTS Friday, September 4, 2015

they paint the streets Warhawk purple, learn the chants, walk through the tunnel into Perkins Stadium and get to see themselves on the Jumbotron.

Leipold embraced the town and it did the same to him. When asked what would hap-pen if Leipold ran for mayor of Whitewater in the ESPN feature, Whitewater-City Man-ager Cameron Clapper said Leipold might just win.

Leipold is, for all intents and purposes, a players’ coach – it’s part of the reason he had the success he did at Whitewater. Worth said Leipold worked with him through his ACL tear and that Leipold treated third- and fourth-stringers like he would first stringers.

It was his ability to work through the challenges that come with Division III that made him so successful. Even though Wis-consin-Whitewater’s program had more re-sources than most D-III football programs, Edmonds says they’re still at the mercy of their state budget process and institution. Leipold got around that by representing the team to the university, community and do-nors.

“Whatever challenges may be in the way, he can think through those,” Edmonds said. “When I say, vision, it’s real important to have that as a head coach. And Lance had those pieces naturally.”

Soon enough, Leipold had five nation-al championships in seven seasons. Outside of a Championship game loss in 2008 and a 7-6 upset loss that ended Whitewater’s 46 game winning-streak in 2012 – that ironical-ly came against Buffalo State – his record was spotless.

Leipold never had a reason to leave Wis-consin-Whitewater. He was proud of what he had built there for a D-III program. He figured any job offer he did get would come from the Football Championship Subdivi-sion (FCS) level – and Whitewater was just as a good as any FCS school.

He said it’d take a special opportunity to leave.

Then the UB job opened up this past Oc-tober. Moving up

Behind closed doors, Leipold was getting uncomfortable with the fact his players were being evaluated externally by perfect sea-sons. Anything less than a national champi-onship was considered a failure for Wiscon-sin-Whitewater.

“There was a point where it was like, ‘What more could we do?’” Leipold said.

Jim Heuber, Pitt’s current offensive line coach who worked with Leipold at Wiscon-sin, always told him “When you become a coach, all you can do is leave your job better then you found it.”

Leipold thought, Holy cow. I guess I’m here for good because how am I going to make this one any better than it is? But in November 2014, with five national championships on his résumé,

Leipold had made it better.

Edmonds sweat-ed out every offsea-son worrying about a bigger program swooping in to take her head football coach away.

“I hold my breath every year,” she said.

Edmonds admits Division-III teams like Whitewater can’t compete with schools like Buffalo at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level and their salaries. Buffalo Business First reported that Leipold’s contract will pay him $400,000 a year – which is signif-icantly more than predecessor Jeff Quinn’s $250,000 base salary.

When Leipold accepted the Buffalo job, he wasn’t completely leaving Wisconsin-Whitewater out to dry, though. During his interview with White, Leipold demanded that he get to keep coaching the Warhawks through their Division III playoffs even af-ter taking the Buffalo job. He felt he owed it to his players.

It still hurts him that most of his team found out through the media that he was heading to UB. He had always preached to his team to stay focused and communicate. Now he was the one causing distractions. He admits he didn’t communicate to them about leaving for Buffalo as well as he could have.

It was even hard for him to just leave the town of Whitewater. His father Ken still lives there and Leipold would have to move his wife Kelly and two kids, Lindsey and Landon, from their homes and schools. He didn’t even get to have his family beside him at his introductory press conference in Alumni Arena last December because of a canceled flight in Chicago.

But Leipold, like he’s known to do, stayed focused. On Dec. 19, the Warhawks defeat-ed Mount Union 43-34 to win their sixth championship under Leipold. It was his last

game with his former team. UB football’s future with Leipold

Imagine your biggest secret being broad-casted on national TV.

This is what happened to Danny White the day ESPN aired its feature on Lance Leipold.

Leipold had been on White’s radar even before White fired Quinn in October. Col-lege GameDay let the cat out of the bag to every single coach-hungry athletic direc-tor that one of the most successful college coaches of all-time was hidden away at a Division-III school in Wisconsin.

White didn’t appreciate it much. “It told the rest of the country something

I was already thinking about,” White said. White did research on the most success-

ful FBS head-coaching hires and found that the most successful hires were ones that had already been successful head coaches elsewhere. It seems obvious, but in looking into Leipold, White took it to the extreme.

“Nobody in the history of the game had been as successful as Lance Leipold,” White said.

And luckily for White, no one else cashed in on ESPN’s tip-off. And now Leipold with his near-flawless 109-6 record is roam-ing Buffalo’s sideline.

Leipold acknowledges how crucial win-ning games can be on the program to gain resources and how crucial gaining resources are to winning games.

“It’s the ‘chicken or the egg,’” Leipold said. “Sometimes you need these re-

sources to get the wins that you need to get the recruits that you need, and many times you need to win games to get people to sup-port you. So we’ve got to find ways to do both.”

The biggest resource is that field house. Leipold says the ADPRO Sports Train-ing Complex, the Buffalo Bills’ field house where the Bulls practice during the winter, is a great facility – but it’s a 25-minute drive from campus. Leipold thinks it’s so impor-tant that he brought up a potential North Campus field house in his introductory statement at Bulls Media Day this summer.

White points out having an indoor prac-tice facility would help more than just foot-ball, like men and women’s soccer, base-ball, softball and track and field. Even the basketball programs would benefit because then the outdoor teams wouldn’t need to take up crucial gym time. But make no mis-take – it will be the football team that pays for the field house.

Everyone knows college football is where the money is. It’s why the Edmond J. Gice-wicz Club, the new club seating that just completed construction, is going into UB Stadium.

So that’s a lot riding on Leipold’s shoul-ders. Not just the football team’s fate, but al-most all the Division I sports at the school.

White admits Buffalo’s football pro-gram needs to win more games. Outside of a MAC Championship in 2008 and bowl game appearance in 2013, there hasn’t been much to cheer about when it comes to UB and Division I football.

“As we continue to show Western New York we can win consistently – not go to a bowl game and then not return for sev-eral years – consistently show we can be a player in college football, I think history has shown the crowds will come,” White said. “We’ve got to win more games. Build a win-ning culture. Having the right leader at the top is critical to that.”

The Bulls and the UB football communi-ty at large hopes they finally have one.

They’ll start finding out on Saturday.


KAINAN GUO, THE SPECTRUM

TOP: Leipold is looking to lead

increase Buffalo’s profile as a

Division I team the same way he

helped Wisconsin-Whitewater

become a Division III powerhouse.

Courtesy of

UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner

MIDDLE: Leipold coaches from

the sideline during his run with

Wisconsin-Whitewater (2007-14)

during which he won 109 games.

BOTTOM: Leipold raises one of his

six national championships with

Wisconsin-Whitewater.

SPORTS

BU

LLS

10 20 30 40 5

10 20 30 40 5

STARTING LINEUP: DEFENSE

#5

#26

#17

#1

#3

#43

#36

#41

#66

#91

#55

DEFE

NSE 91 DE Demone Harris Harris defines newcomer to this unit. He will be playing his

first-ever snaps with the Bulls as the projected starting defensive end.

66 DT Max Perisse A defensive end by trade, Perisse will suit up for the Bulls at defensive tackle this season after converting to a 4-3 defense.

DT Brandon Crawford: Crawford, like Perisse, is a natural defensive end, but will make the switch to the inside of the D-line this season. 55

41 DE Solomon Jackson: He was primarily used as a special teams specialist last year, but he is projected to see a major boost in minutes at his natural position of defensive end.

OLB Okezie Alozie Once a highly regarded secondary threat, Alozie will now play his snaps at linebacker after switching to a 4-3 defense.

LB Nick Gilbo After a rollercoaster four-year career between two programs, Gilbo is finally getting his starting opportunity as the “Mike” linebacker – the signal caller for the defense.

OLB Jarrett Franklin The man who was well known for being Khalil Mack’s replacement is finally getting his own recognition. A junior, Franklin is set for a breakout season in the 4-3.

CB Boise Ross: A wide receiver-turned-cornerback, Ross has impressed during preseason camp and is slotted to start. He had one of Buffalo’s two interceptions last year despite playing in a limited role.

CB Marqus Baker An undisclosed injury sidelined Baker for most of the 2014 campaign, but he’s back healthy and is expected to start opposing Ross at the other corner position.

S Ryan Williamson Playing in every game last season as a true freshman, Williamson is expected to assume a starting role at safety this season despite a small sample size of his ability.

S Andrews Dadeboe He’ll get his first taste of being an everyday starter after playing in 11 games last year, but only starting in three.

34336

15

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6

SPORTS

0

0

BU

LLS

40 30 20 10

40 30 20 10

STARTING LINEUP: OFFENSE

#70#13

#65

#77

#74

#89 #86

#16 #31 #1

#61

OffensE

161

3186

13897065776174

QB Joe Licata The experienced signal caller and UB’s all-time passing touchdown leader is aiming to bring a championship to his hometown in his senior season.

RB Anthone Taylor After learning behind UB all-time rushing leader Branden Oliver, Taylor broke out last season with 1,403 yards and 12 touchdowns and will look to continue to give the Bulls a solid ground attack.

FB Kendall Patterson Patterson is a converted defensive lineman who will continue to use that physicality to lead the way for Taylor.

WR Ron Willoughby The “Willough-beast.” Willoughby is Licata’s roommate and favorite target and looks to continue to be in his senior season.

WR Collin Lisa Not much is known about the newcomer from UAB, except for the fact Licata and head coach Lance Leipold have raved about him and he seems to be the No. 2 wideout.

TE Matt Weiser The tight end was known was making his catches count last season. He only had 15 of them, but they went for 455 yards and five touchdowns.

LT John Kling The 6-foot-8, 320 pounder now has the responsibility of protecting Licata’s blind side after playing right tackle last season.

LG Dillon Guy He sat out as a redshirt last season, but he’s replacing touted left guard Andre Davis this season.

C James O’Hagan The Bulls are putting a lot on the plate of this freshman, who will be asked to make adjustments at the line as center despite never playing a collegiate game.

RG Brandon Manosalvas Manosalvas was originally supposed to contend for the starting center position, but he’ll be at the right guard after starting two games as a freshman last season.

RT Robert Blodgett Got some valuable time at right guard last season and will try to keep Bulls running game going strong.

7

NO. 31, NO. 36, NO. 43 AND NO. 91 COURTESY OF UB ATHLETICS

ANGELA BARCA, THE SPECTRUM

The offense is expected to be “more up-tempo” and expects more shorter, quicker passes, while being able to set up long pass-es when need be.

Joe Licata said he and fellow senior quar-terback Tony Daniel were excited heading into the season, thanks to how well they grasped the offense in camp.

“We have a ton of smart guys on of-fense,” Licata said. “We’ve learned a lot in a short amount of time that we’ve been with them. Tony and I were just talking about the offense. This is the best we’ve felt about the system in our previous five years here. I feel ready and confident and I think the players are confident in our coaching staff.”

Licata is just one of the many players re-turning on offense. Senior running back Anthone Taylor is back after finishing sec-ond in the conference in rushing (1,403 yards) and wide receiver Ron Willoughby also experienced a breakout season with 771

yards and 10 touchdown grabs. Whereas the Bulls return their quarter-

back and most skill position players, Albany is dealing with some turnover.

The Great Danes had productive seasons on offense from senior quarterback Will Fi-acchi and senior running back Omar Os-bourne, but both have graduated. Sopho-more D.J. Crook, who was a backup at Penn State last year, will be the starting QB.

The offensive line may be the Bulls’ Achilles’ heel. Buffalo is set to replace three starters from ‘the blindside’ who graduat-ed last year. Although unproven and down-graded, Licata said he thinks a strong season is ahead for the unit.

And with the new schemes – which Lica-ta has grown a liking to – the senior quar-terback is ready to “make defenses uncom-fortable.”

“We’ve really embraced what the coach-es put in place,” Licata said. “We have some good tight ends, our running backs are im-

portant and we have all kinds of receivers – some little guys who can run fast and some tall guys that can take the top off the de-fense.”

For all the returning players on the offense, the Bulls are looking at a new rotation of play-ers in a new scheme on the defensive side of the ball. After years of using the 3-3-5-defen-sive scheme under Quinn, the Bulls are mak-ing a drastic change, switching to a 4-3 defense under Leipold, concentrating on the run de-fense more than the passing game.

The defense is also very young, with just three seniors in place as a starter and sever-al underclassmen riddling the defensive line. The Bulls are hoping to improve their over-all defensive totals, including their scoring defense, as the Bulls finished ninth in the conference at 31.5 points per game allowed.

Unlike Buffalo, most of last year’s Alba-ny defense returns. The Great Danes are bringing back most of their defensive talent from last year, including their leading tackler

in linebacker Michael Nicastro and intercep-tions leader in safety Kyle Sakowski.

Just a few days before his first game coaching Division I, Leipold said wins and losses are part of barometer of success in his first season, but also admitted that the answer may change as he continues to gain experience on the D-I level.

“If we can continue to hit daily improve-ment, I think we’ll see the improvement,” Leipold said. “If that is in wins and losses right away, I look forward to midseason, a year from now, knowing who we’re going against will and answering these questions better.”

Prior to the game on Saturday, UB will kick off its third annual Concert Tailgate Series with Thompson Square, paired with a pregame student tailgate in the Baird Point parking lot. The first 2,000 students to the game will receive free blue tank tops for a “blue-out.”

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday.


1The Lipper Award is given to the group with the lowest average decile ranking of three years’ Consistent Return for eligible funds over the three-year period ended 11/30/12, 11/30/13, and 11/30/14 respectively. TIAA-CREF was ranked among 36 fund companies in 2012 and 48 fund companies in 2013 and 2014 with at least fi ve equity, fi ve bond, or three mixed-asset portfolios. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For current performance and rankings, please visit the Research and Performance section on tiaa-cref.org. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., and Nuveen Securities, LLC, members FINRA and SIPC, distribute securities products. ©2015 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America–College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. C24849C

Consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Go to tiaa-cref.org for product and fund prospectuses that contain this and other information. Read carefully before investing. TIAA-CREF funds are subject to market and other risk factors.

CREATED TO SERVE.

BUILT TO PERFORM.

While performance can fl uctuate, our disciplined, long-term approach to investing rests on values that are immune to market fl uctuations. We’re here to benefi t others. And to improve the fi nancial well-being of millions. Just what you’d expect from a company that’s created to serve and built to perform.

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Once the Albany game concludes, Leipold and the defense will have a better grasp on de-fensive alignment.

But until then, there is still a lot to prove.The unit will eventually come into form, pro-

gressively getting better as the weeks roll on. But will it be too late?

It will take some time for the team to adjust to the new system, no matter how well the ca-maraderie between Leipold and his players has transpired so far. The offense is poised to make a big splash this season, but the defense is go-ing to be a work in progress. I can see this team making a deep run next season – potentially a bowl game.

This season, expect the team to be ousted from playoff contention.

And sorry, Leipold – your career total losses may hit the double digits this season.

5-7 (3-5 MAC)


Defensively, the Bulls have a ton of changes on each level, but the experi-ence and the change in scheme could result in the Bulls being better than last year.

While a bowl berth would be great, it would only be the first part of de-termining if Leipold’s Buffalo career is a success.

If he can get the younger play-ers acclimated to college ball and have them succeed early in their ca-reers, than the Bulls will have a bet-ter chance of sustaining success and the 2015 season could be one remem-bered as the start of a string of suc-cessful seasons, rather than just one bowl year.

I think everyone would like that, no?

6-6 (4-4 MAC)


8 SPORTSFriday,September 4, 2015

CONTINUED FROM WAIT ‘TIL PAGE 3 CONTINUED FROM SUCCESS PAGE 3

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Taming the Great Danes

DAILY DELIGHTS sponsored by Collegiate Village Apartments

1The Lipper Award is given to the group with the lowest average decile ranking of three years’ Consistent Return for eligible funds over the three-year period ended 11/30/12, 11/30/13, and 11/30/14 respectively. TIAA-CREF was ranked among 36 fund companies in 2012 and 48 fund companies in 2013 and 2014 with at least fi ve equity, fi ve bond, or three mixed-asset portfolios. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For current performance and rankings, please visit the Research and Performance section on tiaa-cref.org. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., and Nuveen Securities, LLC, members FINRA and SIPC, distribute securities products. ©2015 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America–College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. C24849C

Consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Go to tiaa-cref.org for product and fund prospectuses that contain this and other information. Read carefully before investing. TIAA-CREF funds are subject to market and other risk factors.

CREATED TO SERVE.

BUILT TO PERFORM.

While performance can fl uctuate, our disciplined, long-term approach to investing rests on values that are immune to market fl uctuations. We’re here to benefi t others. And to improve the fi nancial well-being of millions. Just what you’d expect from a company that’s created to serve and built to perform.

Learn more about ways we can improve your fi nancial health at TIAA.org/Integrity

WE’VE FOUND THAT INTEGRITY IS NOT SUBJECT TO BULL AND BEAR MARKETS.

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SPORTSFriday, September 4, 2015


The term ‘The Triplets’ first rose to pop-ularity describing the Super Bowl-winning Dallas Cowboys’ trio of quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin in the ’90s.

The Buffalo football team, which partial-ly mimics the Cowboys’ high-powered of-fense, has their own set of ‘triplets.’ Buf-falo will rely on them as it transitions to a new offensive scheme under first-year head coach Lance Leipold and to start a winning culture in its final season.

There are some holes on the 2015 Bulls in many areas on both offense and defense, but one area the team seems secure is the ‘triplets.’

The Bulls have three seniors – quarter-back Joe Licata, running back Anthone Tay-lor and wide receiver Ron Willoughby – who have all been named to national watch lists for their positions and give Buffalo a dynamic trio of seniors that could possibly propel the team through the season.

“We have to show them how we want things to be done, how we want the future of the team to go,” Taylor said. “We don’t look at it as more added expectations, [but more] as having a new opportunity to start a tradition, a different legacy here.”

The trio’s success starts with the quar-terback. Licata, Buffalo’s all-time passing touchdown leader, is coming off a career-best season but will be adjusting to new ter-minology and coaching staff for his senior season. He may be a bit further behind than he’d like to, considering he missed all of

spring practice with a hip injury.Despite missing time on the field, Licata

said he didn’t miss time off the turf, spending ample time in the film and meeting rooms.

“I got to sit through all the meetings throughout the spring and I got to learn the offense,” Licata said. “But getting down to executing the offense is a little bit different than seeing it. So this first week and a half of practice [this summer] has really helped me … in my development of learning the offense and making it go smoothly.”

Licata will at least have the advantage of familiar faces to throw the ball to. Buffalo returns almost every wide receiver and tight end from last year, including wide receiv-ers Jacob Martinez, Marcus McGill, Mal-colm Robinson and tight end Matt Weiser. The Bulls also have newcomer Collin Lisa – a wide receiver transfer from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

But Licata’s favorite target will again be his roommate and one-third of the triplets: Willoughby.

The ‘Willough-beast,” as his teammates call him, burst onto the scene last year with 50 catches, 771 yards and nine touchdowns af-ter making just three total catches in his first two seasons. Licata said he has a lot of faith in Willoughby – which comes from the pair’s chemistry and Willoughby’s leaping ability.

Willoughby singles out his touchdown grab against Central Michigan last year as an example of the pair’s trust in one another.

Licata admits he shouldn’t have thrown the ball to Willoughby, who was tightly covered by Chippewa defenders in the end zone, but he still did. Willoughby used his leaping abil-

ity and 6-foot-4 frame to pull the ball down for a 28-yard touchdown before halftime.

“When you bond with a teammate and you’re with them for so long, it’s a different kind of trust,” Willoughby said. “When he throws the ball he can trust you to go get it and not make him wrong. You’re always try-ing to make him right.”

Licata and Willoughby will have more op-portunities to connect on through-the-air touchdowns if Taylor continues his pro-gram record-breaking pace on the ground.

Like Willoughby, Taylor emerged last sea-son after primarily playing a backup role his first two seasons. He quickly put any discus-sion of the Bulls having a running back by committee to rest after he ran for more than 200 yards in two straight games and cement-ed his place as a workhorse back. At one point last season, Taylor was in the top five for rushing yards in the nation.

Taylor ran for 11 touchdowns and 1,400 yards – good for second all-time in Buffa-lo history. His 120.3 rushing yards per game rank first all-time.

He’ll be playing behind a less experienced offensive line this season, after the Bulls graduated three starters. He says the group may be inexperienced but is fundamentally sound and he’s learning Leipold’s new sys-tem along with them.

“It’s a learning experience for everybody but at the same time we’ve been astute learn-ers and we’ve been able to take multiple tech-niques and execute them,” Taylor said.

He’ll at least have an experienced signal call directing that line. Licata is confident he knows the right time to audibly run a plan –

when Taylor is getting hot – and

when to opt to a pass play – when he and Willoughby are getting into a rhythm. The three seniors have formed a close bond since joining the program as redshirt freshmen in 2011.

“We all love to make plays, love football and hanging out,” Willoughby said. “Once you get that bond off the field, it kind of helps you on the field.”

Taylor said off the field, the three like to joke around and “let their hair down.” But on the field, it’s all business. They don’t like to mess up – they want to execute perfectly. Their relation-ship off the field helps them to communicate to each other when they do slip up, though. It’s important they hold each other accountable.

“If we make a mistake in practice and one of us notices it on film, we have the relation-ship where we can talk to each other,” Taylor said. “So when we get back on the field, we’re working on a higher level than the last time we were on the field.”

These attributes of leadership could be a constant between a young team with a first-year coaching staff. But they aren’t worried about the transition. These triplets have learned from some of the best players to ever don a Bulls uniform.

Licata frequently stays in touch with the man he surpassed for Buffalo’s all-time pass-ing touchdown record: MAC Champion quar-terback Drew Willy. San Diego chargers run-ning back Branden Oliver – Taylor’s mentor and friend - regularly text Bible verses to each other. Oliver and Taylor played with each oth-er for two years at Buffalo. Willoughby is near-ly a clone of Buffalo’s all-time leader receiving touchdown leader and former teammate Alex Neutz and is often called ‘Neutzy Jr.’ by the team.

“There’s certain leadership skills they’ve learned from those guys,” Licata said.

Licata said he, Taylor and Willoughby haven’t exactly talked about setting an example for the rest of the team and meeting the expecta-tions on themselves. He says it’s just kind of as-sumed.

Licata’s hunger to win a MAC champion-ship is evident when you to speak to him. He’s a Buffalo born kid that grew up watching the Bills and Sabres and chose to come to UB so he could bring a championship home to Buffalo.

He may not bring Buffalo one directly – a brand new coaching staff and a young defense may hold the Bulls back from holding up a trophy on Ford Field this year. But how ‘the triplets’ perform and lead this season might set a precedent for the Leipold era that will go be-hind their exits from the program.

The triplets’ last season together may go a long way in establishing if Buffalo wins a championship even after they graduate.


THE TRIPLETS Senior trio of Licata, Taylor and Willoughby provide offense stability in transition year

QUENTIN HAYNESSENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

During his eight-year stint as head coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater, Lance Leipold

went 8-0 in season openers, en route to a 109-6 record and six national champion-ships at the Division-III level.

On Saturday, Leipold looks to preserve his perfect opening day record with a victo-

ry over Albany at UB Stadium.After a spring game, endless two-a-

days, the final tune-ups and preseason predictions and expectations, the football team is finally ready to start the 2015 season – none more anxious than Leipold, the Bulls first-year head coach.

“We’re finally getting to do what we’re excited to do,” Leipold said. “It’s time to put it to the test to see what we have to get done and we’re

excited for this season.”The Great Danes, a Football Champion-

ship Subdivision (FCS) team, finished with a 7-5 overall record last season. Leipold discussed the “FBS vs. FCS” factor with the media earlier this week. Just last sea-

son, the Bulls had to pull out a close victo-ry over FCS Duquesne in the season opener – a game that Buffalo may have overlooked because the FCS is a level below the Bulls’ Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level.

“Albany is going to be a team that comes in here excited,” Leipold said. “They’re go-ing to be up to play a school at the FBS lev-el. We’re all in the same state, so that’ll prob-ably add something to the game and, like us, they’re probably tired of lining up against themselves and hitting themselves, so it’s going to be a good game for that alone.”

Heading into his first season as head coach, Leipold is taking over for Jeff Quinn, who was fired midseason following a 37-27 loss to Eastern Michigan. The Bulls finished last season with a 5-6 record and possessed one of the worst defenses in the Mid-Amer-ican Conference. They revamped the entire coaching staff with the exception of run-ning backs coach Matt Simon.

Changes on the coaching staff are paired with new schemes on the field. The Bulls are moving to a multiple pro-style offense under new offensive coordinator Andrew Kotelnicki.

Bulls, Leipold kickoffseason against FCS Albany

PREDICTIONS: ALBANY VS. BUFFALO

Taming the Great Danes

YUSONG SHI, THE SPECTRUM

(From left to right) An-thone Taylor, Joe Lica-ta and Ron Willoughby are Buffalo’s ‘triplets,’ who will provide the Bulls’ offense with stability in their senior seasons.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Haynes

COURTESY OF UALBANY

ATHLETICS

Albany’s Jack Forster, DJ Crook and Tim Wade will enter UB Stadium on Saturday to kick off the 2015 football season.

10

The Spectrum Vol. 65 No. 3

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