UB Football Prepares For Missouri!

[Applause] unbelievable unbelievable go unbelievable go inable Unforgettable unbelievable you people are unbelievable [Applause] unbelievable unbelievable unbelievable go incredible Unforgettable unbelievable unbelievable go unbelievable unbelievable unbelievable [Applause] [Music] folks what is going on the long awaited return of bullet points we've missed you over the summer I've missed you guys over the last few years we have to update our intro but it's still classic here I'm joined by Rob and maniac and boy do we have some exciting UB football stuff to talk about today first off the Bulls coming off a 30-13 win over Lafayette to improve to one and0 I come back to bullet points and then they they suddenly start defeating FCS schools again which is a nice thing but uh guys how are you guys doing tonight I'm doing great obviously you just said coming off a big win that should be expected year after year but obviously as you mentioned the last few years have not gone that way but we're feeling good and obviously a very tough matchup this weekend yeah I mean changing the complexion of a college program which Pete LMO is trying to do right it's like eating an elephant so you can only do it one bite at a time but I think a competent season opener against an FCS Squad where you play a relatively clean game that's a great start and a great first bite yeah so uh we're gonna get right into it uh against Lafayette we're going to spend a few minutes on Lafayette then go into Missouri what were your overall uh Impressions from that contest I thought UB looked really solid against a ranked team in the FCS level they had an All American running back who could not get any room on the ground I thought the Bulls passing game was better than expected especially with all the talk about Agana being just a runner the receiving core Nick McMillan looks to be the real deal the running backs Barksdale Henderson they both uh had some solid performances I my my main takeaway coming away from week one is that this UB team might be a little bit better than what fans thought heading into the season yeah um I definitely I think the biggest surprise was Agana I mean obviously we knew he was the runner we saw him multiple times last year coming in for um I'm blanking on his name whatever EAS SN my poor my poor guy obviously Snider I just want to go on the record can drop dimes if he's in the right offense I think that we saw it but uh it was never the case in starting at emu yeah so so we'll see we'll find out probably uh but Rob go ahead uh but yeah I think he was impressive the passing game it was it wasn't the greatest but it wasn't also the worst I mean we've seen obviously a lot worse um so I really was impressed with the passing game the running game it so shows that we have a lot of depth I think I I want to say that we had all four of them play a quarter um over the weekend so it's good to get them some playing time um and then the defense obviously a lot of returning guys and they showed that they're a lot of returning guys and hopefully that can continue throughout the year Maniac what were were your takeaways I mean you've been pretty close to this squad so far throughout the summer you've been going to the weekly press conferences what are your thoughts early in the season uh about the squad from anything from Pete LMO to players that you've talked to uh the two or three takeaways I got first off you had the preseason and the buildup just a lot of confidence in this locker room given you know the state of the program you might think oh are these you know a lot of these players were playing on a 4 and eight team a year ago that lost its coach is that going to lead to a shaky group no there's a lot of confidence there's a lot of excitement I think especially with the new regime and I think that that's you know a credit to LMBO that he kind of I think you've talked about it like doing the little things right and understanding like what he has to do kind of in this role he even talked about the game day atmosphere uh at his re at his press conference this week he was talking about you know we have to do the little things to make sure we keep the fans there to make sure we keep the fans engaged uh so love to hear that then you have the execution on the field I liked most of the game again are there going to be a couple mistakes especially week one I think that's a given in any football program any football matchup but I think they did a good job of limiting them and obviously forcing uh Lafayette for more and a reason you know one of lafayette's biggest mistakes was an interception and this goes to the most punctuating point for this UB team is the return of Shawn dolac I think after the injury you know it's easy to say right now yeah of course he he led the you know nation in tackles in 2022 he's gonna be great in 20124 no I mean a significant injury a lot of rehab a lot of get back to get back to where he was before for that injury and I think he came out on the other side BR better than ever I was talking with Paul pek at the press conference and even he was a little shocked despite seeing him all summer and into this fall Camp uh at what dolak was able to do week one so hopefully dolak shows out in week two because that offense is definitely GNA be to need to be on point against missou and Doak is he's the story of the season so far early on to me like transferring to Utah State deciding to come back home LMO energizing the program everybody's been talking about Joe Andre on the bills and about how impressive he's looked and how how how do we overlook this guy in our own backyard and then you got Shan dolak that honestly is just as incredible of a story played at West senica East was a walk- on at UB as a sophomore second in the nation in tackles uh first in Solo tackles 13 and a half tackles for loss four and a half sacks like this guy is a beast I I keep telling people Doak is GNA be on an on an NFL training camp roster next year the the biggest question for him on if he has a chance of making a team is how is he going to test at his Pro Day next year but this is a guy where his numbers Blow Away what Jo andreon did at UB and if I can hype him up I'm gonna do everything I can to get people in Buffalo start paying attention to him because well he might not have the khil mack or Malcolm upside someone that can be a a day one day two pick dolak realistically is probably one of the best defensive players to ever come through this University yeah listen I and I don't mean to leave frog Rob here but I got to do it I'm I tweeted out I'm so sick of the lack of recognition of national Superstars that we have at UB uh you know we're just coming off a top 10 win in soccer you got cello Watson who after the eras of Sierra Dillard and CJ fair is a top five scorer in NCAA and now you got Shawn dolak uh you know obviously returning to potentially like you know are we talking All-American form if we could build off what he established in 2022 because obviously coming on the board in 2022 nobody had the perception nobody knew about him that year but when you're returning as a tackle leader from two years before you come back from injury and you start putting up numbers like this Rob I mean I feel like we got to be looking at BigTime National claim uh if he can continue to put some up especially with the national stage this weekend at oh for sure I mean he if he continues where he goes if he's a top if he has if he's number two in tackles and number one in Solo tackles he should be an All-American and I'm predicting it here he will be a day three pick come next April so starting here he's a day three pick at least I'm gonna I'm gonna cool the Jets a little bit on the All-American talk but definitely a possibility uh if he puts up numbers like he did two years ago he he's definitely a player you're looking at as a Poss Mac Defensive Player of the Year First Team all Mac a guy that we're talking about as a potential draft pick depending on his measureables in testing once he gets to that offseason period but he's not the only player on this UB team that I'm really excited for UB already has another all All-American on this team and he's also a train wreck nil athlete so that's Marcus fuka third team All-American two years ago when he had seven interceptions he had a sharp debut red Murdoch dolak linebacker mate that guy can lay the absolute boom and then uh Kobe Stewart had two sacks in the opener against Lafayette so this is a UB defense that can really play last year they struggled at times but they had no help from their offense if they can get help from their offense I think people are going to realize damn there's some good defensive players on this UB defense um yeah and like you said they weren't bad last year but they had no offense and a lot of that I want to obviously we're talking about the defense but a lot of that's come from the play call and i' I like I really liked obviously it's a little different topic but I think it plays into the whole defense going to better if we get better play calling offense which we did last week I believe the defense should stay up and who knows where the season Go I mean obviously no one's expecting a MAC Championship experience but some people weren't even expecting a bowl game so if they could play like how they did I think they can tail out some six wins and but it it all starts with a defense because the offense is still behind the defense no matter what will happen and and Zach tossing it to you you have always been close to the coaches at UB I think we all feel a little bit duped by Maurice linguis and everything that went down we were all excited when he was hired we you were especially close to Lance lipold I was a big fan of lipold and I think you and I appreciated what he did for the program a lot more than maybe some other UB fans at the time and now we're seeing what he's doing at Kansas and it's obvious how good of a coach he really is uh Maurice linguist it was all hype it was all sales pitch no authenticity to it but when and you've seen it up close with Pete LMO right now there is just a completely different vibe the players are excited to be there they're they seem uh optimistic about what they're building they know that they're coming off a three and n Season that uh across the the league that there's not high expectations for them but they're out to prove people wrong and honestly the way that they've come together I think it's possible give me your first impressions of Pete LMBO uh taking over this program yeah and all respect to coach Mo he was always great to work with but but you kind of hit the nail on the head it was like when he would give you answers uh they were almost like politicized you know what I mean like you know they were just very broad statements talking about you know the opponent or you know the preparation things like that when you're talking with LMBO uh just from my limited experience here I've probably you know talked to them interact with them four to six times at this point just feels like you're talking to you know your uncle who's in a recliner like talking about like football it's just a lot more comfortable it's a lot more like fluid is what I would say the conversation and what he knows he's like the uh the two press conferences so far in his tenure you know the week zero and then the week one uh prep obviously uh now for uh Missouri or sorry week two prep for Missouri uh you know they've both been kind of like uh Jonah bronstein called them textbook dumps where you know Pete kind of just tells you everything that he had on notes from Lafayette and then he tells you everything that he has on notes and bazou and he mixes in his own like anecdotes and it's really been an unbelievable experience I mean the the the pressers for LMO um you know like linguis would talk for 30 seconds and this this week uh for LMO he talked for about 10 minutes and then the rest of the presser was about 8 to 10 minutes because he answered so much in that time with talking so it's really just a much like it seems like the process seems to be a lot more understood within the locker room as well the net breeds confidence just everyone knows what they're doing everyone knows what they're trying to execute it's not a bunch of guys working on their own individual game it's a team working together so yeah I think that Vegas may be sleeping on this UB Squad at the end of the day for sure uh I think they could be a thorn in the side of the mech uh picture am I saying you know buckle up for Detroit of course not yet and I wouldn't even say that at one and0 or two and0 in MC play because we've seen I think we saw some linguist starts at 1 and0 or 2 and0 and Mac play uh but with that said um you know I'm excited I'm excited what I saw uh and the other report I got we hung out with Marcus last night at Sports City Pizza Pub uh seems like on the defensive side of the ball everyone is in pretty good shape after the lafette game nobody banged up or anything there um and I did see I don't want to spoil anything so that's all I'll say I saw Marcus looking at film and I saw two specific things that UB is trying to execute on the defensive side of the ball and those things make me excited for the missou match up oh that's a something to watch out for we we'll see if there's anything up their sleeves against Missouri but one more thing about LMBO before we go to the missou preview and this is something that should excite a lot of UB fans there was a lot of fear when he took over from some parts of the fan base that okay you're getting a retread this guy was at Ball State uh he was at leehi Elon how is it going to work out in the Mac but one thing that he has said uh to me uh while talking is that he is very invested in being a pass first head coach he wants UB to have a very solid passing game which is something that the Bulls honestly have not had the majority of their history outside of maybe the Kyrie Jackson years a little bit with Lata and then Drew Willie you you look in recent years it's been the Run game that has gotten has basically gotten the job done and either driven their success or LED to their failure rob you you hear about LMBO and being a pass heavy coach obviously right now maybe not the number one choice for quarterback for that type of offense but how does that uh make you feel going forward that it does feel like the Bulls have a coach that real realizes we are in the 21st century and that you need to throw the ball around a little bit to win games I mean all you can say is excitement I mean like you said a lot in the past obviously without the few exceptions we've been run first for almost our whole existence so when you're you're watching some of these college games throughout all throughout the years you see all these electric ubbs chucking the ball down the field and here at UB we don't see that much um it's a lot of big runs maybe some big run after catch is but the excitement of football and a lot of sports are the big plays and the big plays come from passing and when you have fun and you excitement on the field that's when you bring the fans in everything falls when you have excitement in a in a college football game and it all starts with the passing game so so let's talk Missouri right now first off uh rob you know how I went to Ohio and that's kind of a sore subject for for everyone here when it comes to bullet points but what you don't know is that Missouri was actually my number two school I almost ended up at missou I visited uh was originally my top school but then I decided I don't want to drive 13 hours every time I go go there so I I did visit but never ended up uh deciding to go there now the line for this game is 34 and a half we're going to talk about the line first and then we can talk about uh some of their players to look out for is that line crazy do you think it's fair what are your thoughts about the line being 34 and a half points yeah I think the this UB team is still very unknown obviously mizou is what are they up to number nine I think number nine in the coach is number 10 in AP I believe okay so I mean there obviously you're going to get a big disadvantage there an unknown UB team with the top 10 school um I I do think that is a little high for what we saw last week obviously the the opponents it's FCS versus FBS but um I I do think I I don't think it would be close to the game but I do think it could fall a little under that so if I if I was going to bet this game I think I would go with the plus uh what 34 you said 31 34 and a half right now yeah so I would probably go with the Bulls Plus 34 and a half it's it won't be close but I don't think it will be that bad I I'm I'm with you on that I uh I don't have an official score prediction but when I was thinking about it in my head I'm leaning 42 to 13 or something like that I I don't want to say that's my my final prediction I I think it's going to be probably in the 20s uh what I want to see is the same thing I want to see whenever a Max school plays uh a big 12 or an SEC or an ACCC school I just want to see them show moments where a flash I want to see them be competitive at moments it's really hard to expect any non- major school to go on the road to a top 10 program and be competitive most schools are going to lose pretty badly in those instances and I'm not saying I I don't have any hope for UB to to be competitive at moments but it is a tall task going on the road to Columbia Missouri taking on a top 10 team that finished eighth in the country last year won the cotton ball and won their opener 51 to nothing to say hey can you keep it within 21 points like that that'd be it's a pretty tough ask I think if they do do it it's going to come down to they showed up defensively more so than they they kept scoring because Missouri has a great defense their secondary gets involved in the Box making plays at the line of scrimmage it's going to be tough for UB to to facilitate facilitate offense on Saturday but if you are UB what is your attack in this game how are you going after Missouri oh man um it's are you slow are you trying to run the ball to kill clock or are you saying you know what we know Missouri's going to put up points we got to throw with him let's test our quarterback let's see what he can do against the SEC defense but then you're putting yourself in vulnerable pass blocking situations it it's where like I know if players are watching this right now they're probably not liking what we're saying but one thing we're trying to do at bullet points is balance hyping the team with reality of the situation there's a reason why the line is 34 and a half points you be coming off a three and9 season taking on a team that had 11 I believe 11- two record last year so where do we find the bounce what what what is a successful day for you yeah I I think you got to go in like we were just talking about it I think you got to go in past first I think if you go in heavy run it's kind of showing obvious I mean obviously you may be scared but I think it's also showing hey let's get in there let's get the money that we're getting paid to be here and let's get out um I think you got to go past first I think gmo's got to try to make an impression what does he have to lose if he loses he loses but if he wins wow that's a career um altering program change right there in week two of his first year um so I think you got to go pass first and leave everything on that field and you know what honestly I I'm kind of with you on that let's see what Agana can do in a very difficult atmosphere tough uh situation going up against SEC defense because you know what I think this run game will be solid in Mac play I think it'll I think they'll they'll get the yardage but they're going to be at a huge disadvantage in the trenches going up against mou now if they can run the ball early well maybe you stick with it a little bit because you can kill clock and maybe you can keep it closer for a longer period of time but I want to see what Nick McMillan can do against Missouri I think McMillan is the top offensive player on this team in the skill positions as far as UB I like the running backs at UB but I don't think the the running backs are the strength of this team I think McMillan is the top offensive player I think agb's Mobility is a strength even if he can't get passes uh even if he's not the most accurate passer I think his legs are always going to be a threat to run the ball and get first downs that way especially if Missouri's putting pressure on you so I I I guess let's test it out a little bit if it's a disaster early maybe then you you head to the more of a based offense but I want to see what these guys can do and just talking about Missouri um quick I just want to bring up a few uh stats uh and metrics about them as we said ninth in the AP poll 10th in the coaches poll um their coach uh dinitz is was 11- two last year won the cotton ball over Ohio State he's 29-21 in his career 17 and 17 in the SEC uh had one year at App State their starting quarterback Brady cook 20 touchdown passes last year solid guy two transfer running backs Nate noell from App State and then Marcus Carrol a transfer running back from Georgia State they returned their top three receivers from last season Luther Burton II he's a guy to look out for on Missouri a potential top 10 pick he had 86 receptions for 122 yards last year nine touchdowns Theo whis Jr also comes back 49 catches for 682 and six touchdowns and mookie Cooper 36 for 447 they've lost a few guys most notably darus Robinson who was drafted 27th overall by the Cardinals who led the team with eight and a half sacks last year they also lost Chris Abram drain who led the team with four interceptions last year but overall this is a good Missouri team this is a team that is expected to compete for one of the final college football playoff spots this season what are you thinking about this Missouri team not from a UB standpoint but when you watch this Missouri team you see them you've seen the highlights you've you've seen them on TV in recent years what stands out to you about this team I mean they're very well-rounded you were mentioning that offense obviously they have that possible top 10 pick in Luther Burton and when you when you have a guy like him any you see any of these top guys that are going in wide receivers especially in these drafts to get drafted as a wide receiver that early and be projected that early you got to ball out in college and that guy balls out and he's an exciting watch um and then obviously defense I believe they returned a lot of guys as well so it's very it's a very experienced group outside of few um position rooms on that team so um it's a definitely a team to watch and I do think this with especially being in the SEC you can afford a couple losses in the SEC but I think this is a team that could find that could should and could find one of those final spots when it come come January or December yeah and the the final thing I want to talk about Missouri and before we we kind of wrap up give our final thoughts and and predictions uh obviously no Maniac he was going to pick a UB win anyway so it doesn't make a difference that he's not here but uh but what are your opinions on these by games uh obviously you go into the season you pencil penciled in as a loss um but do you like these for you be from the financial perspective of this helps fund your football program or do you hate it as a fan knowing that realistically as ESPN's football power index puts it you have less than a 3% chance of winning this game yeah I think it goes both ways I think it's good for the like you saying it's good for the school good for the program um this is how you sometimes somehow some some of the especially the smaller smaller schools that's how you make money they have to go to these big schools on the other hand it's exciting to like be able to watch some of these top schools um go at it and stuff and it's good good experience for the team itself to play someone like that um but overall I like it I like it a lot more in basketball because I think they mean more us a little more in basketball because for football these schools they're not like going here oh my god let's get this big win so we get an at large bid there's nothing like that they're going to get that money um they could have easily played an F an FCS school um so it's I I think that I would be okay with them not having to do um the buy game in football but it it does have some good some good Pros like I was mentioning there all all Financial motivated yeah and like the thing with UB that kind of sucks is like you go back 20 years when do UB ever won one of these big ones like I can't even recall really any significant they beat ruers I believe once I don't even know if that was a a road game I think it was that was that was a road game yeah was a road game okay so I mean I I can bring up a few with the Bobcats Ohio beat Penn State one year and they defeated Iowa State last year but those are really rare games and uh really tough and the Iowa State game was actually at peton um which was even weirder but one thing I do want to say is it's it's one of those things UB needs it to obviously fun things but it does suck like as a fan like the only real positive besides the money is the pretend feeling that you tell yourself that you're relevant because you're playing a school that's in the top 10 when in reality no one looks at it that way because they played Murray State the week before and no one thinks that Murray State is now relevant at football because they played Missouri so it's just kind of like trying to convince yourself why the game actually is exciting and when all reality it's not but one thing I will say UB did play Missouri back in the day on the road when they had chased Daniel and played them close for about two and a half three quarters before eventually getting routed but it was a game where they put some scare into the Tiger fan base for a little bit and looking be on this game you have UMass and Yukon before opening MC play realistically if yub is going to have a good season where they're going to get to six plus wins and get to a bowl game what do they have to do these next three weeks I think they they got to go into MC play three and one um obviously two- two is great two wins going to MC play is awesome but obviously this week I'm talking a loss you should be able to beat UMass um and then Yukon uh they're not any great in football obviously you hear Yukon you're like wow basketball back to back but it's the total opposite when you get out on that football field they are not a they are not a very good football team um so I I think the Bulls should be able to go three and one going to Mac play all right well we already know where both of us are going with this prediction but let's give our official predictions for UB at number nine Missouri rob you get it started we know where you're going with the win and lost but what's the final score going to be yeah so I think it just like we've seen in some of these big games the past few years I think they keep it close in the first half we saw it at Wisconsin we saw it at Penn State um so I think it's like wow they're going to keep it close and then the the skill level of the two teams will start playing a fact second half and I think I'm going to go with a final score of 38 to uh 38 to 13 Missi that's not awful honestly 25 points I think a lot of bulls fans would honestly accept that against a top 10 team on the road I'm a little bit higher for for Missouri I'm goingon to go missou 42-13 I will say I would go UB with the plus 34 and a half I think that line is trying to bait people uh after Missouri won by 51 points they're playing another opponent that nationally doesn't really have much uh perception and I think they want to kind of bait uh betters into going with the over because you're expecting that but this UB defense I think has the ability to get enough stops I think they're going to be able to kill enough clock at times to keep it reasonably close I'm hoping keep it within 10 14 points in the first half and then if Missouri is just too good to P to keep with them in the second half that's how it is but Rob uh any final thoughts before we wrap up no just glad to be back with bullet points here and let's hopefully have a good show on Saturday yep I'm hoping for the same and guys for anyone watching this right now we're going to try to have bullet points every single week going forward during football season whether that be me Rob Maniac we're GNA try to do more of these shows we know that we've been slacking in uh during basketball season it was tough last year football team went three and nine the basketball team won four games when you have seven wins between the men's basketball and the football team there's just not much of a point to to have shows especially with the the f base really not engaging much last year and I get it it's tough for for you guys it's tough for us we're hoping that we can create some positive energy that this program can really start to re-energize the UB um fan base I I like what the Pete Lambo hire has done for the football team I think Becky Burke is creating a good culture for the Women's Basketball team soccer just had a huge win over number seven pit they were ranked top 25 in the country uh a week ago men's basketball I still have some hope for George hovic the third I'm hoping they can take a step forward this year but like I said we're we're trying to to reup this we're trying to get right back into this and build some more momentum for UB Athletics so appreciate you Rob and then also Maniac joining me uh for this great half an hour of bulls talk and we will see you guys next week