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University at Buffalo
UAlbany
Bulls Open Season against UAlbany on Thursday Night
9/1/2026 2:00:00 PM | Football
Buffalo (0-0, 0-0 MAC) vs. UAlbany (1-0, 1-0 CAA)
September 3, 2026
Broadview Stadium - 7:00 pm
Bulls on the Air
Buffalo - ESPN 1520
Television
ESPN+
Storylines
• The Bulls are kicking off their 113th season of football.
• Head Coach Pete Lembo is beginning his third season as head coach. Through two seasons, Lembo has won 15 games – the most by a UB football coach over his first two campaigns.
• Buffalo has 54 new players on the roster in 2026.
• The Bulls return five starters from a season ago. Wide receiver Jasaiah Gathings is the only offensive starter returning.
• While Albany leads the all-time series, 8-5, this will be the third meeting since Buffalo moved to the FBS level in 1999. The Bulls defeated the Great Danes, 51-14, in 2015, while Albany defeated UB, 22-16, in 2016.
• The Bulls will have a different starting quarterback for the season opener for the fourth straight season. Cole Snyder was the starter in 2023, C.J. Ogbonnna in 2024 and Ta'Quan Roberson in 2025.
• While head coach Pete Lembo is returning for his third season, the Bulls have new faces at each of the coordinator spots. Tony Tokarz is the new offensive coordinator, Brian Dougherty is the new defensive coordinator and Garrett McLaughlin is the new special teams coordinator.
• The Bulls are 15-12 in home openers since joining the FBS ranks. UB has won 13 of its last 16 home openers.
• Pete Lembo began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UAlbany in 1992 and 1993.
Bulls Open Season against UAlbany on Thursday Night
The University at Buffalo football team will open the 2026 campaign on Thursday night against UAlbany at Broadview Stadium.
Buffalo enters the season under the leadership of third-year head coach Pete Lembo. It will be a new-look Bulls teams as only five starters return and 54 new players are on the roster from a season ago.
UAlbany is coming off a 2-10 season. Under new head coach Tom Perkovich, a native of Kenmore, NY and graduate of Canisius University where he played football and basketball, the Great Danes won their season opener over New Hampshire, 28-14, on Friday night. Albany rushed for 374 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.
UAlbany leads the all-time series, 8-5. The Great Danes won the last meeting, 22-16, at Broadview Stadium in the opener of the 2016 season.
New Faces
Buffalo has 54 new players on the roster from a season ago. Of the new faces, 23 are transfers and 31 are freshmen.
There are 22 newcomers on the week-one depth chart.
Elijah Holmes (QB), Nathan Natoli (LT), Clint Walker (TE), Logan Goodwin (Edge), Zach Bergmann (LB), Stevie Bracey (LB) and Joseph Stoever (LS) are slated to start the season opener.
New Coordinators
Coach Lembo has new coordinators on offense, defense and special teams entering this season. Offensive coordinator Tony Tokarz and special teams coordinator Garrett McLaughlin are new to the staff while defensive coordinator Brian Dougherty was elevated from safeties and nickels coach.
Tokarz came to Buffalo from Florida State where he spent the past six seasons, including the previous four as quarterbacks coach. Prior to Florida State, Tokarz was tight ends coach at Memphis where he coached with Lembo.
A native of Orchard Park, McLaughlin returned to Western New York after spending the past two seasons as special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at Columbia.
Dougherty is in his third season on Lembo's staff and first as defensive coordinator. He previously served as defensive coordinator at both the University of Indianapolis and Valparaiso.
Youth Up Front
Buffalo's offensive line is full of new faces and all five projected starters will be making their first career starts for the Bulls when they take the field against Albany.
Left tackle Gabriel Arena has the most experience, appearing in 15 games over the last two seasons.
Arena's backup at left tackle, Tyrone Davis, appeared in five games last season and made one start.
None of the other nine offensive linemen on the depth chart have seen any game action for the Bulls.
Experience in the Defensive Backfield
One area the Bulls do return a lot of experience is the defensive backfield.
At cornerback, Kobi Blackwell played in all 12 games and made seven starts last season. Keontez Bradley played in 12 games and started six a year ago. Oliver Bridges has appeared in 21 games and made three starts over the last two seasons.
At safety, Miles Greer returns after playing in all 12 games a season ago. He ranked third on the team with 74 tackles in 2025. John Keough is back for his third season and has also been a special teams ace. He played in all 25 games over the last two seasons.
Big Shoes to Fill
Buffalo has had an All-American at linebacker in each of the last two seasons. Shaun Dolac was a Consensus All-American and MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 and Red Murdock was an All-American last season.
The Bulls only return two linebackers who saw action last season and both mainly played special teams. Mathew HIlty and Jordan Owens are both in the their third season with the team.
Sophomores returning, include Bradley Ilunga-Bisselele and George Hill.
The Bulls welcomed three transfers at linebacker - Zach Bergmann (Missouri Southern State), Stevie Bracey (Virginia) and Joey Cheshire (Cornell).
True freshmen Jack Garbolino, Anwar Witherspoon, Jr., Matthew Heininger and Na'Rod Jarvis will also be in the mix at the linebacker spot.
Battle for QB Job
Buffalo will have a new starting quarterback this season and the battle throughout camp has been between sophomore Jason Wright and transfer Elijah Holmes.
Wright is in his second year with the program after redshirting last year. He did appear in four games last season and while he didn't attempt a pass, the athletic Wright rushed for 43 yards on 15 carries.
Holmes transferred to UB after spending the last three seasons at D2 Wingate. He was the Bulldoga started in 2025 and threw for 3,040 yards and 24 touchdowns to only six interceptions. He added 290 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Holmes is a graduate of Olympic High School in Charlotte, NC. He threw for 1,253 yards and 11 touchdowns his senior year to help lead the Trojans to a conference championship.
Six Bulls Named to Phil Steele's Preseason All-MAC Team
Six University at Buffalo football players have been named to Phil Steele's Preseason All-MAC Team.
Wide Receiver Jasaiah Gathings was named to the first team. Safety Miles Greer was named to the second team. Defensive tackle Cornell Evans and nickel SaVeon Brown were named to the third team. Tight end Clint Walker and cornerback Kobi Blackwell were named to the fourth team.
Gathings is in his second year with the program after transferring from UConn. The graduate receiver had 36 catches for 410 yards and three touchdowns in 2025.
Greer is also in his second year with the program after transferring from Shepard University. In 2025, he ranked third on the team in tackles with 74 and added three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Evans, who has started 16 games over the last two seasons, had 14 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in 2025.
Brown had 52 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in 2025.
Walker is a newcomer to the program after transferring from Davenport University. He spent four seasons with the Panthers and was an All-Conference selection in 2025.
Blackwell had a breakout season for the Bulls in 2025. The redshirt-sophomore had a team-high seven pass breakups in 2025 and added 20 tackles and an interception.
Bulls vs. the CAA
Since joining the FBS ranks in 1999, the Bulls have played five teams from the CAA. UB has gone 4-1 in those games.
2010 Rhode Island W, 31-0
2011 Stony Brook W, 35-7
2013 Stony Brook W, 26-23
2015 Albany W, 51-14
2026 Albany L, 22-16
It's Broadview Stadium Now
Thanks to a partnership with Buffalo Athletics and Broadview Federal Credit Union, Broadview Stadium is the new name of the former UB Stadium. The landmark agreement will have the Broadview name on both the stadium and arena for the next 15 years.
Bulls Picked Sixth in Preseason Poll
Buffalo was picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll according to the MAC head coaches.
Western Michigan was picked first with 138 points, followed by Miami (134), Toledo (115), Ohio (107), Central Michigan (101), Buffalo (81), Eastern Michigan (76), Kent State (64), Bowling Green (59), Akron (52), Ball State (34), Sacramento State (28) and Massachusetts (25).
Western Michigan 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. Calling all the play-by-play action of Bulls football for his 27th year, and 19th consecutive, will be Paul Peck. Scott Wilson is back for his 10th season as analyst. Brad Riter also returns as game host.
The UB Football postgame show will once again be hosted by Bob Gaughan.
