Minnesota
Bulls Open Season at Minnesota on Thursday Night
8/25/2025 10:25:00 AM | Football
Buffalo (0-0, 0-0 MAC) at Minnesota (0-0, 0-0 BIG TEN)
August 28, 2025
Huntington Bank Stadium - 8:00 pm EST
Bulls on the Air
Buffalo - ESPN 1520
Rochester - Fox Sports 1280
Television
FS1
Storylines
• The Bulls are kicking off their 112th season of football.
• Head Coach Pete Lembo is beginning his second season as head coach. He led the Bulls to a 9-4 record in his first season, the most wins by a first-year head coach in progam history.
• Buffalo head coach Pete Lembo and Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck met three times previously when they were head coaches at Ball State and Western Michigan, respectively. Fleck holds a 2-1 advantage. Ball State won the first matchup in 2013 while Fleck's Bronco squad won in 2014 and 2015.
• Buffalo is returning 10 starters on defense and six starters on offense from last season.
• This will be the third meeting between Buffalo and Minnesota. The Gophers won the previous two meetings in 2002 (41-17) and 2017 (17-7).
• The Bulls are looking to beat a Big Ten opponent for the first time since winning at Rutgers, 42-13, in 2018.
• Ta'Quan Roberson will be making his first start at quarterback for the Bulls.
• The Bulls are looking to open the season with a non-conference road win for the first time since winning at UTEP, 23-17, in the 2009 season opener.
• Kicker Jack Howes, a transfer from Maryland, kicked for the Terps against Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium last season, making a 33-yard field goal and two extra points.
• The Bulls were picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll.
Bulls Open Season at Minnesota on Thursday Night
The University at Buffalo football team will open the 2025 campaign on Thursday Night vs. Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium.
Buffalo enters the season under the leadership of second-year head coach Pete Lembo. The Bulls return 16 starters to at team that went 9-4 and won the Bahamas Bowl a season ago.
Minnesota is coming off an 8-5 season, including a victory over Virginia Tech in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. The Gophers are led by running back Darius Taylor who rushed for 986 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. He led the team with 1,336 all-purpose yards.
Minnesota leads the all-time series, 2-0. The Gophers won the last meeting, 17-7, at Minnesota in 2017.
Returning Production
The Bulls return a great deal of production from a season ago. According to ESPN.com, the Bulls return 59 percent of their production, good for second in the Mid-American Conference and 50th in the NCAA. The MAC average is 41 percent.
- 74 percent of starters return on defense.
- 167 returning starts, first in the MAC.
-12/17 returning players on defense had 200 snaps last year.
- Linebackers Red Murdock and Dion Crawford and edge Kobe Stewart combined for 42.5 TFLs and 20 sacks last season.
- Buffalo returns seven players who were named All-MAC last season.
Code Red
Linebacker Red Murdock is coming off one of the most productive seasons in program history. The All-MAC First Team selection ranked second in the nation with 156 tackles which was third in program history for a single season. He added 16.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception. His seven forced fumbles on the year were a school record and ranked first in the nation.
With 11 career forced fumbles, Murdock is five shy of the NCAA record of 16 career forced fumbles held by former Bull Khalil Mack
Murdock was named a preseason fourth-team All-American by Athlon Sports and ranks 90th on the list of Top 100 players in college football by ESPN.
Watch Out
The Bulls have representatives on eight different NCFAA award preseason watch lists. Linebacker Red Murdock, running back Al-Jay Henderson, wide receiver Victor Snow and edge Kobe Stewart each appeared on at least one watch list.
Buffalo Players on NCFAA Watch Lists
Red Murdock - Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Allstate Wuerffel Trophy
Al-Jay Henderson - Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award
Kobe Stewart - Chuck Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award
Victor Snow - Paul Horning Award
Bulls vs. the Big Ten
Thursday will mark the ninth time in the last 12 years the Bulls will face an opponent from the Big Ten Conference. Buffalo has one win during that stretch, defeating Rutgers, 42-13, in 2018.
Year Opponent Result
2013 at Ohio State L, 40-20
2015 at Penn State L, 27-14
2017 at Minnesota L, 17-7
2018 at Rutgers W, 42-13
2019 at Penn State L, 45-13
2021 at Nebraska L, 28-3
2022 at Maryland L, 31-10
2023 at Wisconsin L, 38-17
Roberson Wins Starting QB Job
Ta'Quan Roberson has been tabbed the Bulls' starting quarterback and will make his first career start for Buffalo against Minnesota in the opener.
Roberson transferred to UB after spending last season at Kansas State. He saw action in six games and went 3-for-7 for 18 yards and added a 7-yard rush.
The New Jersey native spent the previous two seasons at UConn where he started 10 games in 2023. He threw for 2,075 yards and 12 touchdowns and added 120 yards on the ground and two scores. Roberson began his career at Penn State as a reserve quarterback for three seasons. In 2021, he played in four games and threw for 85 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 24 yards.
OK, Al-Jay
Al-Jay Henderson is coming off a career-best 1,000-yard season for the Bulls. He became the 11th different player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season in program history. His 1,078 rushing yards in 2024 ranks 10th in program history for a single season.
He got stronger down the stretch of the 2024 campaign, averaging 124.6 yards over the final five games of the season.
Over his career, he is averaging 5.1 yards per carry which ranks fifth in program history.
Portal Friendly
The Bulls only lost one starter to the transfer portal following last season. Kicker Upton Bellenfant transferred to Texas Tech. In total, only four players who appeared on the depth chart for the 2024 Bahamas Bowl entered the transfer portal.
New Faces
Despite only losing a few players to the transfer portal, it didn't stop the UB coaching staff from dipping into the portal to strengthen the team. Eleven transfers joined the Bulls prior to the 2025 campaign.
All 11 of the transfers appear on the Bulls' depth chart for week one, including projected starters QB Ta'Quan Roberson (Kansas State), C Jake Timm (LIU), WR Jasaiah Gathings (UConn), CB Koentez Bradley (Arizona State), S Miles Greer (Shepard) and K Jack Howes (Maryland).
Others appearing on the depth chart include OL Jake Merritt (Michigan State), TE Marcus Velez (Bethune-Cookman), LB Mitchell Gonser (Harvard), LB Connor Henderson (North Texas) and P Ethan Stumpf (East Carolina).
13 Bulls Named to Athlon Preseason All-MAC Team
Athlon Sports released its preseason All-Mid-American Conference football team and 13 University at Buffalo players were named to the squad. The list was headlined Red Murdock who, along with being named to the first team was also selected as a preseason fourth-team All-American.
Joining Murdock on Athlon's Preseason All-MAC First Team were running back Al-Jay Henderson, wide receiver Victor Snow, offensive linemen Trevor Brock and Tyler Doty, edge Kobe Stewart, defensive tackle George Wolo and linebacker Dion Crawford.
Offensive lineman Henry Tabansi, cornerback Marquis Cooper and safety Solomon Brown were named to the second team. Snow was also named as a second-team punt returner.
Making the third team were wide receiver Nik McMillan and nickel Jalen McNair.
Red Murdock Nominated for Allstate AFCA Good Works Team
Linebacker Red Murdock was named to the preseason watch list for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy recognizing college football players from across the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) who exemplify community service, academic excellence and athletic achievement.
An All-MAC First Team selection, Murdock has been as impressive off the field as he has been on it. Along with volunteering at numerous community service events, he is the founder and director of the Virginia Homework Helpers branch - a free K-12 tutoring program for students back in his home state of Virginia. He founded this organization after seeing many of his peers struggle in school with no extra help resulting in getting in trouble outside of school or dropping out. He hopes this helps young men and women finish their education under the premise of it being a potential escape from the vicious cycle of becoming a product of high-risk environments.
Experience on the Offensive Line
An area Buffalo returns experience is the offensive line. UB returns three starters on the offensive linemen.
Guard Tyler Doty has started 35 games over the last three seasons and was an All-MAC Third Team selection in 2023 and 2024.
Trevor Brock is also in his third season as a starter. He has started 20 games heading into the 2025 campaign. He was named All-MAC Third Team last season.
Henry Tabansi will move to left tackle after starting 13 games last season at right tackle.
Other returners on the offensive line who have seen action in the lineup include redshirt-sophomore Gabriel Arena and redshirt-junior Alex Heininger.
Home Sweet Home
For the first time in program history, the Bulls will host seven home games in 2025. After playing the opener at Minnesota on August 28, their other three non-conference games (Saint Francis, Troy and UConn) will be played at UB Stadium. UB will also host four of its eight Mid-American Conference games at home.
New Coaches
Buffalo welcomed three new assistant coaches prior to the 2025 season. Chris Monfiletto is the new special teams coordinator, Isiah Dunning coaches the defensive line and Jordan Johnson coaches the running backs.
It's a homecoming for Johnson who is a Buffalo native and played for the Bulls from 2012-16. He was an All-MAC selection in 2016 after rushing for 1,040 yards and six touchdowns.
Bulls Picked Fourth in Preseason Poll
Buffalo was picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll according to the MAC head coaches.
Toledo was picked first with 135 points, followed by Miami (131), Ohio (123), Buffalo (115), Northern Illinois (94), Bowling Green (81), Western Michigan (71), Eastern Michigan (68), Central Michigan (65), Ball State (41), Akron (39), Massachusetts (39) and Kent State (12).
Toledo was selected as the preseason favorite to win the MAC Championship.
On The Airwaves
Again this season, University at Buffalo football can be heard locally on ESPN 1520, a 50,000-watt station with one of the strongest signals in the nation. The Bulls can also be heard on 1280 AM in Rochester.
Calling all the play-by-play action of Bulls football for his 26th year, and 18th consecutive, will be Paul Peck. Scott Wilson is back for his eighth season as analyst. Brad Riter also returns as game host.
The UB Football postgame show will once again take place at The Anchor Bar on Maple Road with host Bob Gaughan.
