April 9, 2011

BUFFALO, NY - On a beautiful April afternoon at UB Stadium, the University at Buffalo football team held its third scrimmage of the spring practice period. While the defense still looks to be ahead of the offense, the Bulls showed significant improvement moving the ball down the field.

Head Coach Jeff Quinn was pleased with the way the offense moved the ball. "It starts up front. On our offensive line we had some young guys step up and they brought a level of intensity. We saw today a couple of nice scores and that builds confidence with our offensive personnel. I was pleased to see the ball in the endzone. It is one thing to get it down there, but to get it in the endzone and score was nice to see from our offense personnel."

 The team started the scrimmage in the redzone and on just the second play, Jerry Davis found Devon Hughes over the middle for a 20-yard touchdown.

The offense shined in the goal line situation. Brandon Oliver jumped over the pile for a two-yard touchdown. On the very next play, Davis found Marcus Rivers on a fade pattern for another two-yard score. Later, James Potts scampered in from the two-yard line.

The defense showed off its prowess on the next set of drills as the field was flipped and the offense started at its own one-yard line. An attacking defense kept the offense from moving the ball. Steven Means and Colby Way each registered sacks as the offense failed to move the ball past its own 10-yard line.

The next situation started with the offense getting the ball at its own 30-yard line. The defense again looked very sharp. A corner blitz from Courtney Lester resulted in a sack by the converted wide receiver. After a pair runs for no gain, the offense finally got on track. Davis hit Rivers in stride for a 70-yard touchdown.

Bradon Murie ripped off a 19-yard run and lowered his shoulder on Okoye Houston, getting a rise from his teammates. Jake Stockman dropped Murie for a two-yard loss on the very next play and the defense kept the offense from moving the ball another yard for three straight plays.

UB punter Jake Schum pulled off a perfect fake punt as he rolled to his right and threw back to his left to find a wide open Way for a 37-yard gain. Alex Zordich threw a dart to Aaron Connacher on the very next play for a 14-yard touchdown.

It was the defense's time to shine again on the next series as Means and Khalil Mack shut down Oliver on a couple runs and Isaac Baugh came up with a big hit on Alex Neutz on an inside screen.

Redshirt-freshman Rudy Johnson did a nice job commanding the offense. He used his escapability to run for big gains and find open receivers. He led the offense on a 65-yard scoring drive, capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass to Potts.

The Bulls got their running game on track on the next series as Oliver ripped off a 13-yard run on the first play. Two plays later, Zordich scrambled for 20 yards. However, a Mack sack stalled the drive.

Peter Fardon, who is taking over the kicking duties this spring, drilled a 42-yard field goal.

Davis looked sharp at quarterback as he moved the team 50 yards on just three plays. A quick out to Fred Lee, a 19-yard strike to Neutz and finally a 20-yard pass over the middle to Terrell Jackson for a touchdown.

Quinn feels the significant improvement of the quarterbacks and the offense is a result of having a year of his system under their belts. "Repetition is the mother of learning," Quinn said.

Buffalo will enter its final week of spring practice before playing the annual Blue-White Scrimmage next Saturday at 2:00 pm.