Bulls to Host UMass on Senior Day
11/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Buffalo (5-6, 3-4 MAC) vs. Massachusetts (2-9, 1-6 MAC)
November 27, 2015
UB Stadium - 4:30 pm
Radio
Radio in Buffalo - 1520-AM WWKB
Radio in Rochester - 1280-AM WHTK
Television
Storylines
• The Bulls are one win away from being bowl eligible for just the third time in program history (2008, 2013).
• Lance Leipold is the first UB head coach to win five games in his first season since Bob Deming who went 6-3 in 1969.
• UB leads the all-time series, 7-5. The Bulls have won all three meetings since the Minutemen joined the MAC in 2012.
• Joe Licata currently ranks 15th in MAC history in career passing yardage with 9,198 yards. He has the opportunity to pass Toledo's Bruce Gradkowski (9,225) for 13th and Ball State's Nate Davis (9,233) for 12th on Friday.
• The Bulls lead the nation with seven defensive touchdowns on the season.
• Ron Willoughby's next touchdown catch will be the 16th of his career and will tie him with Drew Haddad for fifth in school history.
• Jordan Johnson has scored eight rushing touchdowns over the last five games.
• Brandon Berry is five tackles shy of 100 on the season. Nick Gilbo has already surpassed 100 (105). The last time the Bulls had at least two players with 100 tackles in a season was 2008 (Justin Winters, 125; Davonte Shannon, 121; Mike Newton, 112).
• Marcus McGill is three catches shy of 50 on the season. Since becoming an FBS program in 1999, Buffalo has never had three players with 50 catches the same season. Matt Weiser has 57 and Ron Willoughby has 56.
• This will be UMass' final game as a member of the Mid-American Conference.
• Ron Willoughby has had two straight 100-yard receiving games.
Bulls Host UMass on Senior Day
The Bulls will close out the regular season against Massachusetts at UB Stadium on Friday. Prior to the game, the Bulls will honor 17 seniors playing their final regular season game.
The Bulls are 5-6 overall, 3-4 in the MAC and are coming off a 42-21 loss at Akron last Saturday. Jordan Johnson had a pair of rushing touchdowns to lead UB.
Massachusetts is 2-9 overall, 1-6 in the MAC and is coming off a 20-13 loss to Miami (OH) last Saturday. The Minutemen are led by wide receiver Tajae Sharpe who leads the nation in receiving with 105 catches for 1,181 yards.
Buffalo leads the all-time series, 7-5. The Bulls won the last meeting, 41-21, at McGuirk Stadium last season.
Senior Salute
Prior to Friday's game, the Bulls will salute 17 seniors that will be playing their final game at UB Stadium. Among those honored are players who's names appear in the UB record books.
Joe Licata - Holds UB record in career passing yds and TDs
Anthone Taylor - Ranks 5th in UB history in rushing
Ron Willoughby - Ranks 6th in UB history in career TD recs
Matt Weiser - Most rec. in a season by a UB tight end
Devin Campbell - Holds UB record for career kick return yds
Tyler Grassman - Ranks 2nd in UB history in punts and punt yds
Also being honored are Marqus Baker, Okezie Alozie, Tony Daniel, Kendall Patterson, Kyril Threats, Nick Gilbo, Travis Pitzonka, Todd Therrien, Dillon Guy, John Kling and Robert Blodgett.
This is 40
For the first time in seven years, the Bulls have three receivers with at least 40 catches on the season. Matt Weiser has 57; Ron Willoughby has 56 and Marcus McGill has 47. The last time the Bulls had three receivers with 40 catches in a season was 2008 when Naaman Roosevelt had 108; James Starks had 52 and Ernest Jackson had 45.
The Bulls have never had three receivers with 50+ catches in the same season. McGill is three catches shy of making that happen.
Nick of Time
Former walk on Nick Gilbo is having a standout season at linebacker for the Bulls. Gilbo leads the Bulls with 105 tackles. He is the first UB player since Khalil Mack in 2013 to have 100 tackles in a season. He ranks fifth in the MAC in tackles. The Port Henry, NY native had a career-high 19 tackles against Northern Illinois on Nov. 11. It was the most tackles in a game by a UB player since Davonte Shannon had 20 tackles against Army in 2008.
Putting the D in TD
The Bulls lead the nation in defensive touchdowns with seven. UB has five pick sixes and two fumble returns for touchdowns on the season. All seven of Buffalo's defensive scores have come from seven different players.
None the Weiser
Senior tight end Matt Weiser is having a breakout season for the Bulls. The Womelsdorf, PA native has 57 catches for 557 yards and two touchdowns on the year. It's the most catches by a tight end in school history. He had 29 catches over his first three seasons combined. He ranks second in the nation in catches and third in receiving yards among all tight ends nationally.
Weiser had the best game by a tight end in school history against Nevada on September 26 with a career-high 10 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. It was the most receptions and receiving yards by a tight end in school history. He was named the John Mackey Award Tight End of the Week following the game.
Weiser is the just the second UB tight end ever named to the John Mackey Award Watch List. Chad Bartoszek was named to the watch list in 2002.
Not Your Average Joe
Senior quarterback Joe Licata broke the school record for career passing yards against Northern Illinois on Nov. 11. He has now thrown for 9,198 yards and also has a school-record 75 touchdown passes in his career.
Licata has entered the top 10 in MAC history in career touchdown passes. He also ranks 15th in MAC history in career passing yards.
Leipold in Rare Company
With five wins on the season head coach Lance Leipold is the first UB head coach to win five games in his first season since Bob Deming who went 6-3 in 1969.
Willoughbeast
Ron Willoughby is coming off a breakout season for the Bulls. After registering only three catches as a sophomore in 2013, the senior wide receiver had 50 catches for 771 yards and nine touchdowns last season. For his efforts, the Ohio native earned third-team All-MAC accolades in 2014.
This season, Willoughby ranks second on the team in receiving with a career-best 56 catches for 752 yards and six touchdowns. He has had eight or more catches in a game four times this season, including a career-best 11 receptions against Akron last week.
JJ is OK
Jordan Johnson made the most of his opportunity to start at running back for the Bulls. The junior running back rushed for a career-high 147 yards and two touchdowns against the Ohio in his first career start on October 24. He followed that up by rushing for 123 yards and two more scores at Miami (OH) on October 29.
He is just the second running back in UB's FBS era to rush for 100 yards in each of his first two starts - joining teammate Anthone Taylor.
Over the last five games, Johnson has averaged 86 yards and scored eight touchdowns. He now leads the team in rushing with 701 yards and has scored eight touchdowns. He is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
One Two Punch
The Bulls have a good one-two punch at running back with Anthone Taylor (#1) and Jordan Johnson (#2). Taylor has rushed for 744 yards on 166 carries. Johnson has rushed for 734 yards on 152 carries. It marks the first time in UB's FBS era that it has had two running backs rush for over 700 yards in the same season.
Berry Good Linebacker
Brandon Berry began his career at UB as a safety. Due to injuries he has been moved to linebacker in 2015 and that move has paid dividends. The junior Detroit native ranks second and ranks 10th in the MAC with 95 tackles. Earlier this season, he had double-digit tackles in five straight games to become just the second UB player to accomplish the feat in the Bulls FBS era (since 1999). J.J. Gibson did it in 2001.
I'll Take That
The UB defense had four interceptions in the win over Ohio. It was the first time the Bulls had four interceptions in a game since having four against Western Michigan in 2012.
The team's 11 interceptions are nine more than the Bulls had all of last season.
Like a Ross
Boise Ross started the 2014 campaign at wide receiver. He has since made the move to cornerback and it has paid dividends. In his first full season at corner, Ross has two interceptions and 17 pass breakups. He had a 39-yard pick six against Florida Atlantic on September 19. The junior from Bethlehem, PA ranks sixth in the nation in passes defended, averaging 1.7 per game and has already set a new school record for single-season passes defended.
The Kids Are Alright
Coach Leipold has given his young players a chance to play this season. So far this year, seven true freshmen and eight redshirt-freshmen have played in a game. Freshman Brandon Stanback has started three games at safety, Cameron Lewis (CB), Charles Harris (DE), Justin Brandon (DT), Duke Hwang (DT), Brandon Smiley (WR) and Johnathan Hawkins (RB) have also seen action as true freshmen.
Eight is Enough
Matt Weiser, Marcus McGill and Ron Willoughby each had eight catches against Bowling Green on Oct. 3. It was the first time in school history three different UB players had eight receptions in a game. Weiser had eight catches for 90 yards; McGill had a career-best eight catches for 88 yards and Willoughby had eight catches for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Popular Targets
For the first time in school history, the Bulls had two different players record 10 catches in a game. Senior tight end Matt Weiser had 10 catches for 131 yards - both career highs. Senior wide receiver Ron Willoughby had 10 receptions for 122 yards against Nevada on September 26.
Martinez Ends Punt Return Drought
Jacob Martinez did something against Albany a UB punt return hadn't done since George W. Bush's first term, return a punt for a touchdown. Martinez returned a punt 86 yards to paydirt - the first punt returned for a touchdown since Andre Forde had an 83-yard punt return touchdown against Lehigh on Aug. 29, 2002. It was a span of 154 games and ended the longest drought in the FBS. Martinez was seven years old when Forde returned the last punt for a TD.
For his accomplishment, Martinez was named the Mid-American Conference East Division Special Teams Player of the Week.
Tyler Grassman Named a Semifinalist for the 2015 Campbell Trophy
Senior punter Tyler Grassman has been named a semifinalist for the 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy. Considered by many to be the "Academic Heisman," the Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation.
A business administration major with a 3.80 grade point average, Grassman is a two-time Academic All-MAC selection and was a 2014 and 2015 Capital One Academic All-District Football Team selection.
All You Need is Lovejoy
Lovejoy, GA is a town of 6,300 and Lovejoy High School had a graduating class of 406 in 2014. Now three members of that same high school class play on the UB defense. Cornerback Brandon Williams, defensive end Randy Anyanwu and safety Jordan Collier were all teammates on the same Lovejoy team before coming to UB.
The Name Game
UB defensive back Boise Ross' full name is DuBois Ross - named for W.E.B. Du Bois, founder of the NAACP. He has two brothers, Duke Ellington Ross, named for the legendary jazz musician and Langston Ross, named after a poet and social activist.
