UB Football 2024 Season Preview + Interview With All-American Safety Marcus Fuqua

what's going on bulls fans another UB football season gets underway in just under a week when Buffalo kicks off against layette the Bulls are coming up a 3-9 season but there's a new Vibe surrounding this team under first year head coach Pete LMBO on offense it looks like it's going to be CJ Agana leading the way at quarterback he was in a competition during fall camp with Jack Shields an Old Dominion transfer in Gunner gray his top receiver it looks like it's going to be Nick McMillan he's a buffalo native played high school ball at Kenisha high school before transferring down to Maryland Spring ball has been fantastic and he looks like he's going to be a great weapon for the Bulls in the Mid-American Conference this year other receivers to look out for tazy Johnson a transfer from Boston College Victor snow a small but quick agile receiver and then there's chance Morrow a guy with a lot of size at running back back it looks like it's going to be LJ Henderson leading the way for this Bulls Squad he had his opportunity a few years ago and now it looks like he's going to be the starter for the Bulls and then you got the big man in jaquez Barksdale he's going to be the PowerBack the short yardage guy so they have a nice combination with those two this Bulls team they're probably going to have to get it done on the ground this year Agana a mobile quarterback he is going to try to test his arm out but a little bit more known for his running than his throwing but in order to be a successful offense and to improve upon their rankings last year they are going to have to create holes with their offensive line on defense this Bulls team has a lot of Playmakers this is the strength of this UB football team this year they have a bunch of returning Talent you look at guys like sha dolak red Murdoch and then Marcus fuka fuka a third team AP All-American two years ago when he had seven interceptions he's one of only three AP all-americans in the history of UB football and you can probably guess the other two in Kil Mack and Jared Patterson Johan dolak he had actually transferred earlier this off season to Utah State but decided to reverse course come back home he's expected to have a huge role after missing time with an injury last year and then red Murdoch he's a player that actually stepped up in 2023 and was one of the leaders on this team in tackles for loss this team is missing Joe andrees who's become the story of buffalo in recent weeks after his amazing training camp and preseason performance for the bills against the Pittsburgh Steelers where he had 12 tackles seven solo and two tackles for loss so this UB defense a lot of optimism and they're going to have to like I said earlier with the offensive line needing to carry the way for the Bulls offense this defense is going to have to carry the way for the Bulls roster overall if they want to have a chance at competing for a bowl game in 2020 for now one player that we do have a close relationship at train W Sports is Marcus fuka he's actually our nil athlete here and I had the chance to speak with him earlier in the offseason about his expectations for himself and what he's hoping this UB Bulls football team can accomplish this upcoming season first off the regular season less than one week away what is the excitement level to get another season of college football underway oh man we're so excited I'm so excited just it's a new era in UB football we're just excited to get going and put on the show for the fans and win some games so let's talk about fall Camp how has everything gone so far during your first fall Camp under Pete LMO oh it was it was a good time we had a we grew a lot as a team you know on and off the field we did we had a lot of means we're able to understand the scheme figure out everything figure out the ins and outs where we should be where we shouldn't be all the checks we got to make you know it was a very productive fall Camp honestly this strength of your team is the returning leadership on the defensive side of the ball obviously you guys like sha dolak red berock can you talk about how uh this veteran leadership that you guys provide uh how it's going to be important for the defensive side of the ball to really carry this team early on in the season you know just having that presence of guys that's gotten a lot of snaps you know been in the fire you know just had so much experience you know it's just going to be good for the guys that doesn't may may not have that experience you know being able to help those guys get through the anxieties the nervousness you know just talk them through it um and then on game day just having that voice you know guys that's been in the fire the guys that's you know made the plays it's just gonna be good for the whole team the whole defense to feed off of what are your expectations for this defense and yourself this year oh we want to be a top 10 defense you know we want to be able to be a uh one of the best defenses in the nation in the Mac you know we want to win that MAC Championship that's the goal that's been the goal since we since limbo has gotten there win the ma championship for myself you know I feel like everything will come into place as long as I do my job um make the plays that come my way and you know we get that Ma Championship everything else will fall into place that's the number one thing on my mind though win the max Championship you were one of three AP all-americans in the history of UB football the other two really well-known guys and khil Mack and Jared Patterson what does it mean you to be in their company and have had such an accomplishment during your time in college you know it's crazy because you know in the moment you don't understand like I I'm an allamerican looking back it's like people still talk about that to me you know that's something that they can never take away from me something that I worked for I grinded for and you know I want to go do it again you know I want to be the first guy in you be history to be it twice or maybe KH did it I don't know but I want to be I want to do it twice I want to be I don't want to be just known for doing it one time I want to do it twice now two years ago you had seven interceptions last year the ball didn't go your way how do you get back to that level uh that you had two seasons ago I think it's just more about not chasing that not chasing that season you know this this this season is a new season it's a new entity of its own you know just making the plays to come my way and not trying to force myself to oh I got to get this many interceptions I gota get this many tackles just playing within the scheme um having fun communicating playing with confidence and everything like I said everything fall into place just how it's supposed to be now you guys have been going up against a lot of new players on the opposite side of the ball so far in Camp one of the players returning is CJ Agana who coach LMO had told us in the media following practice yesterday that he is going to start the season uh as your quarterback what have you've been seeing from CJ so far during the offseason and what does he provide to your team uh I've seen the unreal level of confidence you know he's taking shots down the field he's using his legs he's making the right reads it's it's all coming together and just going from last season to this spring to now fa Kemp and just seeing how much he's grown as a leader on the field off the field it's it's a great thing to see great thing to see I'm excited to see the offense run I'm excited to see them um make plays and it's it's going to be fun to watch it's going to be fun to watch now obviously in practice you're trying to shut down them down but who are some of the the skill guys and weapons on the offense that we should be paying attention to this year oh man well you already named one CJ arbana um we got alj Henderson in the backfield uh ja quz Barksdale in the backfield tajy Johnson on the outside Nick McMillan Vic snow JJ jenin I can just go down the list of everyone like it's so many playmakers that we have in this you know it's a good thing to have so many Playmakers it's because you can't really you can't really like game plan for everyone you know you never know whose day is going to be so I'm just excited to see those guys go now let's talk about week one Lafayette uh the first opponent for UB football this year what do they bring how what have you seen watching film or talking about them um going into this weekend uh what is coach telling you about this Lafayette Squad well the biggest thing is just to not beat ourselves you know be in the right spots do what we got to do but they're they're a good team they're good well coach program well they have like they have a lot of experience on offense you know the quarterback's coming back running back's coming back he's pretty good um I think he's like a pre-season All-American so just playing within our scheme not trying to do too much you know just locking in on what we're gonna um locking on a game plan and just you know making plays going out there and win now let's talk a little bit about you and and and not just the UB football side of things what do you love the most about playing the game of football how did you get into uh playing the sport uh I really I got into the sport honestly because you know I just love sports growing up you know my parents I always played basketball my parents threw me a football but I think I really developed a deep love for it probably three years ago like a real like I knew like I yeah this is I love this you know before that you know it's like you making plays so you love it but like you got to love it when you're not necessarily making plays so I feel like it's just became like a sanctuary a piece um a happy place for me somewhere that I can just go and have like have fun Play and play the game I love you know just not having to think just understanding preparing myself before the game to so when the game comes I can just go out there and play I don't have to think too much I can just go and be very reactive do you have a a favorite player or role model on the on the gr iron um I don't think I have a favorite player I have a couple favorite safeties that I like I like Kevin berer I like Jesse Bates um I like Antoine Winfield Jr a lot but I don't really think I have a role model um my favorite football player growing up was Tom Brady and then favorite athlete of of all time is LeBron James but I don't think I have like I don't think like I'm just a role model I would say yeah how cool has it been seeing fellow U players making it into the league in recent years especially cross town I mean I I know you're not from Buffalo but to see three of your teammates on the bills right now and cam Lewis Jamarcus Ingram and now seeing Jo andreon get an opportunity what does that mean to you as a UB player and what does that really say about the state of the program and how much you guys have evolved throughout the recent years you know it shows that if you put in the work and you put the time in and it's gonna pay off you want to go to the league you can do it but you got to put that work in you got to grind every day day in and day out you know I was able to play with two of those guys Jo Dre and Jamarcus Ingram and you could just see like they were different they came to in the building different they were really they knew what they wanted to do and they went they went after it every day you know then cam Lewis is from the same Hometown as me so I understand like we from the same culture we know that we gotta go we got to go do it every day we can't just have that one day and it be be done no we have to do it every single day that's just the biggest thing like you got to show up every day ready to go what are your long-term goals do you hope to have a chance at NFL future oh yeah for sure it's definitely on my mind definitely plan on going to the NFL you know I talk about it every day I pray about it talk to God about it all the time but you know if things don't go that way I definitely have like other things I would wish to get into but you know my main focus right now is doing everything I can to get to the NFL and make be able to stay in the NFL and then I'll wrap it up with one last thing I'll start the sentence you can you can finish it however you want the UB football season will be success successful if if we all lock in can stay bought in and make plays and don't care who makes the play just don't be selfish and just have fun if we have fun play Confident and unselfish we will be Mac Champions I want to thank Marcus for the Time for That interview and we have a lot of great content him and myself and the rest of the bullet points team going forward it's going to be an exciting season like I said it gets kicked off Thursday night August 29th so make sure to be at UB Stadium for the Bulls getting their season underway and trying to have an impressive start to the Pete LMO era