THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBL ICAT ION OF THE UN IVERS I TY AT BUFFALO , S INCE 1950

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Starting lineup and player breakdowns

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10Bulls expect to break away from losing identity

High school teammates Taylor, Miller face off

Khalil Mack got his jersey number from an embarrassing video game rating, abs from Usher and mental edge from his bloody-nose-giving brother. But just how did he go from unrecruited nobody to one of the most sought-after players in America? Read the story on Page 4.

COVER BY BRIAN KESCHINGER

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OWEN O’BRIENSpORtS EditOR

To begin the season, Buffalo will go up against Heisman candidate Braxton Miller, the quarterback of Ohio State. A player on a few national watch lists himself will stare Miller him down at the line of scrimmage.

Senior linebacker Khalil Mack highlights a Bulls roster with four players on big-time preseason national awards watch lists enter-ing the 2013 season. Fellow seniors running back Branden Oliver, wide receiver Alex Neutz and cornerback Najja Johnson are also capturing the attention of sports writ-ers all over America.

Mack – a member of four different na-tional watch lists – is the lone Mid-Ameri-can Conference player on the Butkus Award watch list, which is given to the top line-backer in the country. He is the first player in school history named to this list.

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, who previously coached Florida to two nation-al championships, is well aware of Mack’s ability to disturb offenses, calling him “the No. 2 linebacker on [NFL] draft boards,” as reported by FoxSportsOhio.com.

In only three seasons, Mack has set UB’s record for tackles for loss (56) and forced fumbles (11).

Miller’s job won’t get any easier when he looks into the secondary, led by Johnson at defensive back. Johnson is one of 48 mem-bers on the Jim Thorpe watch list, given to the nation’s top defensive back.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Bulls are returning Oliver, who makes his second straight appearance on the Maxwell Award watch list – given to the best player in college football. For the second straight preseason, Oliver is on the Doak Walker watch list, which is given to the top running back in the nation, as well.

Oliver is currently fourth in school histo-ry in rushing yards (2,541) and is only 600 yards behind James Starks for No. 1.

Wrapping up the lists is receiver Neutz, who is coming off a historic season at UB, which featured the sixth most receptions in a single season (65), second most touch-downs (11) and fourth most yards (1,015). These stats earned him a spot on the Bilet-nilkoff Award watch list – given to the na-tion’s most outstanding receiver.

The Bulls total a program-record four players on eight national preseason watch lists, trailing only Toledo and Kent State in the MAC, which have players on 10 watch lists.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Four Bulls named to preseason national award watch lists

JON GAGNONSEniOR SpORtS EditOR

Last week, Anthone Taylor received a harsh message from his former teammate and longtime friend Braxton Miller.

“[Miller] thinks it’s going to be a field day, but it’s not going to be like that,” Taylor said. “He thinks that ’cause they’re a Big Ten pow-erhouse and since we’re a MAC school and nobody really talks about us as much, that it’s going to be a walk through.”

Taylor, a sophomore running back at UB, and Miller, Ohio State’s star quarterback, were teammates at Wayne High School in Ohio and have developed a brotherhood over the years.

Miller is now an early favorite for the Heis-man Award. Taylor is the Bulls’ No. 2 back behind standout Branden Oliver after sitting out last year with a knee injury.

The teams will square off Saturday at noon for their season opener.

Most of the country would agree with Mill-er’s take that the game is going to be a “field day” for the Buckeyes, who are 35.5-point fa-vorites. But Taylor says there is a new tradi-tion brewing in Buffalo.

“We have a new tradition here; this hard work we’ve been putting in in the offseason is going to develop that November, Decem-ber tradition,” Taylor said. “It’s going to be a team he’s never seen before.”

The Bulls’ defense is gaining an advantage most units don’t have by simply watching game film. Taylor has been giving them tips and pointers of what goes on in Miller’s head back in the pocket – after all, the two shared the same backfield for four years.

“I told [the defense] that if they get after him, he’ll get frustrated and he’ll try and go for the home-run more and he’s more [likely] to try and escape under pressure and use his speed,” Taylor said.

The game is a big moment for Taylor, who is appearing in his first game in two years and in Ohio, his home state.

“I worked hard in the offseason, and I just want my hard work to pay off,” Taylor said. “I just want the people back home to see that I haven’t fell off the radar, that I’m still here and trying to make contributions and get to that next level.”

All trash talking aside, Taylor said Miller’s emergence as a Heisman candidate and na-tional star is something he expected coming out of high school. But on Saturday after-noon, their friendship will be put to the side and it will be “all business” on the field.

Taylor’s message for Miller is simple: “Be ready for our best.”

Reunion in ColumbusHigh school teammates Taylor, Miller face off Saturday

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Senior running back Branden Oliver enters his final year as a Bull on the Doak Walker and Maxwell Award watch lists.

Sophomore running back Anthone Taylor will re-unite with former teammate and Heisman candi-date Braxton Miller on Saturday against Ohio State.

COuRtESY Of UB AtHlEtICS

NICK FISCHEttI, The SpecTrum

ubspectrum.com3Friday, August 30, 2013

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OPINION

EDITOR IN CHIEFAaron Mansfield

MANAGING EDITORS

Lisa KhourySara DiNatale

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It doesn’t take the most avid col-lege sports fan to realize that rarely do coaches with a 9-27 overall record in three seasons receive a contract extension. As Jeff Quinn begins his fourth year as head football coach, expectations have mounted and re-sults are being touted as necessary.

Not in recent memory has the football team displayed more prom-ise prior to the season opener. With the return of several key seniors – Khalil Mack, Branden Oliver, Alex Neutz, Colby Way, Najja Johnson, Jimmy Gordon and Fred Lee – along with sophomore quarterback Joe Li-cata, who led the team to a three-game winning streak after taking the helm toward the end of last season, the program has crossed the thresh-old into a horizon of expectations involving a MAC Championship and bowl game appearance.

Without much of a record of suc-cess behind him, and a fan base in-sistent on a favorable outcome in the upcoming season, the chants from the galley cannot help but bellow: It’s do or die for Quinn.

The collective sentiment is clear: If Quinn can’t win this year (with this team) it will never happen. There are premier players at all ends; there is heavy depth at the running back position, a strong blocking wide re-ceiver in Lee, a potential first-round NFL draft pick in Mack and a pre-mier quarterback (the first to be a re-turning starter under Quinn). The level of talent on the team has never been stronger.

Four of the Bulls’ nationally rec-ognized players are not Quinn’s re-cruits; they are remainders from the days of Turner Gill. In the spring, Rivals.com rated this year’s incoming freshmen the second worst recruit-ing class in Division 1A football. So as much potential as this team has, it is not the head coach who has been able to muster the talent. After this season, when the key seniors are gone, the Bulls will enter a period of rebuilding and a new era of uncer-tainty.

It appears a bit premature that Quinn was offered an extension. In fact, the university may recognize

this, too. An Aug. 16 tweet by Buf-falo News reporter Bob DiCesare in-dicated that the extension agreement has yet to be executed. What kind of statement is it to offer a contract to someone and announce it publicly but neglect to complete the deal af-terward?

Though with his initial contract set to expire after this season, Quinn’s dismal record and lack of long-term development are important holes in the prescription Athletic Direc-tor Danny White has seemingly en-dorsed.

On Tuesday, during the team’s weekly gathering with the media, White shared his feelings of elated expectations. “From our perspec-tive as an administration, over the top impressed with the work of this football staff led by Jeff Quinn,” he said. “We are extremely impressed with the progress of the football program … We’re talking about tal-ented athletes, great students, im-pressive young men, and we feel very confident that they’re going to lead us back to where we were in 2008, certainly back to a bowl game and contending for a MAC Champion-ship this year.”

For a basketball guy, White is more impressed with Quinn (a coach un-deniably unproven) than he was with Reggie Witherspoon (a coach with a history of success and build-ing character athletes). Neither coach was a White hire, though he wound up choosing to keep the coach who hasn’t won.

Quinn wouldn’t start to experience the thrill of victory last season until he began starting a quarterback who he didn’t want to start the entire sea-son. And he didn’t really even figure it out – he was forced to put Licata in after Alex Zordich almost benched himself with a horrid performance under center.

Aside from hiring famed basket-ball veteran Bobby Hurley as head basketball coach, White’s time at UB thus far has been primarily spent on one endeavor: fundraising. A quick perusal of his Twitter account ver-ifies his readiness to advertise, and the football team has subsequent-ly procured a slate of nationally tele-vised games this season – which does the university no harm.

But White is setting himself up to look good in the short term. Hurley will be inheriting a team that With-erspoon groomed, and if he wins with them, it will look smart on the part of White. If Quinn wins this year with talent groomed from the Gill era, it will appear sage as well. One thing to remember with White is that the possibility of success al-ways bears the possibility of depar-ture. Winning in Buffalo could mean the opportunity to venture elsewhere – in a more competitive conference.

In the meantime, however, an agenda is in place, and Quinn’s role is subject to scrutiny. And there is a lot at stake.

With more media exposure and ample talent for Quinn to utilize, the expectations for this season are high. If he doesn’t win at least six games this year and fails to make a bowl game, his head coaching posi-tion should be terminated.

Fans of the area’s profession-al football team are well aware head coaches customarily get three years to prove themselves in this town (consider Dick Jauron and Chan Gai-ley). Quinn will have four and if this season lacks progress, there is no rea-son to suspect it will come in more time. We would be remiss in forget-ting to invoke the adage: “Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.”

If Quinn can’t do it this year, it will be time for a change in leader-ship. If he does take this team as far

as they are capable of going, then he will have earned a chance to contin-ue. He had his trial period; now this is his ensuing test.

The first benchmark game will come Week Four versus Connecti-cut. It is practically a given the team will begin 1-2, losing to Ohio State and Baylor, and then defeating Stony Brook.

Something fans should be con-scious of is that it will be tough to figure out how good this team is until the back end of the schedule. All of UB’s biggest opponents (Kent State, Ohio, Toledo, Miami Ohio, Bowling Green) are the last five games.

However unclear the administra-tive mess of Quinn’s contract ap-pears to the public, the warfare of the season will be fought on the field. With some stability at the quarter-back position, the offense may gain some traction if they begin to build momentum early. If Licata shows the managerial skills of a maestro, expect a passing game to comple-ment Oliver’s ground attack.

The defensive scheme is one of the few in college football that op-erates out of a 3-3 base, which will leave opponents having to make un-familiar offensive adjustments. And Mack will be the biggest defensive threat in the MAC.

The pieces of the puzzle are in place for the Bulls to win the East and advance to a title and subse-quent bowl game. Given the abili-ty this team has and the time Quinn has had to develop a cohesive unit, the attitude of the fan base should be one of bowl or bust.

Before the season begins and we are entwined in the week-to-week trenches, a reflection of the past three lackluster seasons induces one to evaluate the consequences of an-other similar year of Bulls football.

Danny White may want to consid-er that in baseball, it’s three strikes and you’re out. What is it for the head football coach of UB?

Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

ALL ON QUINNWith talent in place, pressure is on head coach

ARt BY JEANEttE CHWAN, The SpecTrum

ubspectrum.com4 Friday, August 30, 2013

AARON MANSFIElDEditOR in ChiEf

Khalil Mack chose No. 46 for a reason.

Before Mel Kiper ranked him No. 25 on his 2014 NFL Draft big board, before Mack was on pace to break two all-time NCAA records, before scouts flooded UB Stadium and fought for a sight of the hulking specimen dubbed “All-American” – before all of that, Khalil Mack chose his jersey num-ber for a reason.

No one wears 46, he told himself. He thought it was ugly, too. But Mack wanted to wear it, he’ll tell you, because it meant something to him.

“The video game, man,” he said with a laugh. “It did it to me.”

The year was 2010. The game: NCAA Football. His overall rating: 46 out of 100.

“I was like, ‘Aww, I think they’re trying to tell me something,’” Mack said.

It was, and continues to be, part of Mack’s immense motivation – a motivation fueled by disproving doubters that dates back to high school.

It seems analysts have publicized every detail of Mack’s life since he has burst onto the national scene. He has a hard time thinking of one question he hasn’t been asked this offseason. But there is quite a bit more to Mack than the average scout or fan knows.

Spend some time with him and you’ll discover he’s one of the most eccentric football players you’ll ever meet.

He’s a soft-spoken, ‘yessir/yes ma’am’ Southern gentleman with 17.5-inch biceps – that’s the size of an average coconut. He’s a barber who cuts his teammates’ hair for free – and fades his own signature Mohawk, surrounded by mirrors in the bathroom – and enjoys croon-ing to John Mayer while strumming his guitar. He could do 100 push-ups before he was 10 years old and started doing crunches at age 6 when he saw how much girls liked Usher’s abs.

He is simply one of a kind.“I really don’t care about football

as much as I want to grow as a per-son,” Mack said.

But the scouts care about the physical characteristics. Mack is 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds of shred-ded muscle, and he runs a 4.6-sec-ond 40-yard dash. Some might say the two-time All-Mid-American Conference first-teamer is a freak.

Sandy Mack Jr. prefers to call him “little brother.”

“This is nothing new to me be-cause as he was growing up, I could tell that Khalil was a lot stronger than any other guy his age,” San-dy said. “He was born with mus-cles everywhere, man. The man had muscles poppin’ all out his arms, my mama said, when he came out. He just looked so strong.”

Waides Ashmon, Mack’s high school coach, aptly describes his exploding abdominals, which were the focal point of a Sports Illustrated photo shoot last year.

“I think they start at his back and they actually come around to his chest and go down,” Ashmon said. “It’s like, ‘Man, come on, what do you do, 7,000 crunches a day?’ He had probably about a 12-pack in high school.”

Mack’s physical prowess has be-come a legend on its own. Sandy will tell you Mack was 25 pounds when he was born, and he won’t laugh.

Mack blows past offensive line-men and drops quarterbacks like rag dolls. He has the speed of a tight end, the power of a defen-sive tackle and the mind of a defen-sive coordinator. He is quite possi-bly the greatest athlete UB has ever had.

“Sometimes you watch film, and even now I’m kind of rotating his position and I’m trying to do what he does, and sometimes you just can’t do what he does,” said junior linebacker Jake Stockman. “He’ll take on a block or make a block miss in a way where you’re just like, ‘Wow, I wish I could do that.’”

Mack has created a buzz around UB Stadium, as media stations and NFL scouts have occupied the side-lines every day of summer and ear-ly fall practice.

“It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in my 11 years at UB,” said head of

athletic communications Jon Fuller.But rewind six years and Khalil

Mack was no legend. He didn’t have superpowers, and he wasn’t on anybody’s radar – not even UB’s. Mack wasn’t playing football. Then Waides Ashmon showed up.

Ashmon became the head coach at Westwood High School when Mack was a ju-

nior. One of his assistants told him he needed to find Mack, a hulk-ing, athletic basketball center built to play – and dominate – on the gridiron. Ashmon went right to his class.

“When he came walking out of class, I was just like, ‘Oh my good-ness. What do I need to do to get you on my football team?’” Ash-mon said. “He said, ‘Coach, you need to talk to my dad.’”

Ashmon called Mack’s father, Sandy Mack Sr., right in the hall-

way. Mack Sr. was hesitant because Mack had torn his patellar tendon playing basketball as a freshman. Then Ashmon made an assurance that convinced him to let Mack join the team.

“I was like OK, we’re talking about college, and we’re talking about free tuition,” Ashmon said. “I promise you right here and right now, Mr. Mack, if you let him play for me, I promise you he’ll go to school free.”

And boy, did Mack make Ash-mon look smart. He led the team in tackles (140) and made third-team all-state in the football-rich state of Florida.

But getting recruited to a Di-vision I college isn’t that simple. There is a process. You prove your-self over time.

While offers poured in for Mack’s friends and teammates, scouts passed on Mack. He had only

played his senior year, and he was overshadowed by other lineback-ers in the county like Nick O’Leary (Florida State) and Matt Elam (Bal-timore Ravens).

Division I-AA Liberty offered Mack a partial scholarship. That was the only offer. Ashmon was be-side himself.

“No disrespect to Liberty, but it was like, oh man, he’s so much bet-ter than Liberty,” Ashmon said. “If he actually goes there, they are get-ting a steal. They are getting one of the top linebackers in the state of Florida at rock-bottom price.”

But then a Liberty assistant by the name of Robert Wimberly joined Turner Gill’s coaching staff at UB. He let UB in on the secret that was Khalil Mack.

The Bulls flew Mack up to Buffa-lo in one of the final weeks before the signing deadline in the spring –

he even missed his basketball team’s senior night game against Martin County, the best squad in the area – and offered him a scholarship. It was Buffalo that had gotten one of the top linebackers in the state of Florida at rock-bottom price.

“We felt like if we could have had one more year with him, he would have been without a doubt one of the highest recruits in the country,” Ashmon said. “It was gut-wrench-ing, at times, because you sit there and you see nothing but the ceiling for this kid. You know what his po-tential is. Just being around him and watching him in the weight room on a daily basis, you know what the potential is.

“And I kept hearing, ‘Well, coach, I don’t know – he has no previous years’ film, he’s kind of stiff in the hips.’ One more year, and it’s not a better player in the country.”

Ashmon is not at all surprised by

Mack’s emergence. He said Mack isn’t done developing yet, either.

“He’s going to wear a gold jack-et one day,” Ashmon said, referring to the NFL Hall of Fame, “just be-cause of his work ethic.”

It’s the taboo topic surrounding Khalil Mack, the story everyone heard but few like to talk about.

The 2012 season did not start well for him. Mack was excited to play in UB’s season-opener in Georgia, the game closest to his Miami home-town since he left for Buffalo, but he made a mistake.

Mack got in a fight in UB’s locker room. After tension had built dur-ing practice, he punched senior re-ceiver Fred Lee. Mack was suspend-ed for the first game, a 45-23 loss.

It was a surprising incident to most everyone who knew Mack, the gentle giant – surprising espe-cially to Ashmon, the high school

coach who talks to him all the time on the phone and was planning to attend the Georgia game.

“I was heartbroken,” said Ash-mon, who did not go to that game but will attend the season-open-er at Ohio State Saturday. “But at the same time, he’s such a hum-ble kid and he’s such a mild-man-nered kid and he’s such a good kid. And I know him, and I know him so well. I can honestly say I know him just as well as anybody else knows him. And for him to get to that point, it had to be really, real-ly something bad to get him to that point. He’s a kid that’s not going to say too much, but if you cross that line, you can keep sticking the bear if you want to – eventually that bear is going to fight back.”

Ashmon calmed Mack down on the phone when the linebacker ex-plained what had happened. He told Mack to take it as a learning

experience.Lee, the recipient of the punch, is

one of Mack’s closest friends.“Khalil just made a mistake,” Lee

said. “He acted out of anger and rage … I know that’s not the type of person he is and we’ve all made mistakes in life.”

Many NFL teams have inter-viewed Bulls defensive coordina-tor Lou Tepper about Mack, but the coach said most teams do not think the fight is an issue because “it hasn’t been a consistent pattern for him.”

Mack put up ridiculous stats in 2012 – 94 tackles, including 21 for loss, eight sacks and four forced fumbles – though he missed that first game.

“The biggest lesson I learned last year probably was to stay true to myself and I serve a higher pow-er,” Mack said. “I have to stay true to that and stay focused on what I needed to do as far as school and on the field and off the field.”

Mack talks often about his Chris-tianity. Growing up, his father was a deacon.

The family spent much of their time in church, and Mack is thank-ful for his upbringing.

Away from the pews, he and Sandy, his older brother, were inseparable.

Sandy was a standout run-ning back who averaged over 10 yards per carry as a senior in high school, and he took it upon him-self to toughen his little brother up. When Mack was 7 years old, San-dy took an iron and put a mark on Mack’s right biceps. The ‘M’ brand is Mack’s only tattoo.

“We were in the house playing with the iron and it started with one little burn mark, so I was like, ‘You might as well let me make it into a little M with that line right there,’ so I took the iron and I just touched a couple times to make a little M,” Sandy said. “And he took it like a little G.”

Sandy and his cousins started call-ing Mack ‘Ghetto Strong’ because he was so muscular and tough, even as a child, and he ate all the food in their house.

That didn’t intimidate Sandy, though, who is 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds. Mack Sr. is 6-foot-2 and 275 pounds of muscle. When they were kids, their friends thought he played for the Miami Dolphins. The boys inherited their father’s tough nature.

“We always went hard every time we challenged each other,” Sandy said. “With Khalil, you know, with me being his big brother, I feel like he can pretty much do anything be-cause I used to be really hard on Khalil.”

Perhaps the best picture of their competition came when Mack was 12 years old and Sandy was 16. San-dy was calling Mack soft because he avoided contact in Pop Warner football – Mack was an electrifying kick returner those days – and the little brother didn’t like that. So they went into the backyard with their football pads on.

The four-year age gap didn’t mat-ter. They went full speed, head to head, at each other.

“I tried to hit him and he ran me over three times, and my nose start-ed bleeding,” Mack said. “I tried ev-erything. I tried to hit him as hard as I could. It’s the worst feeling I’ve ever felt in my life, probably.”

Mack never brought him down that day, but Sandy learned some-thing – his brother was far from soft.

“Khalil didn’t ever give up,” Sandy recalled. “Every time, he stood up, no matter how hard we hit. Whatever we did in any sport, Khalil never gave up. He would al-ways be ready to get back up and go again.”

Lou Tepper has coached foot-ball since 1967. UB’s defen-sive coordinator is one of the

most respected defensive minds in the game. He has written the book “Complete Linebacking,” and he has coached three Butkus Award winners – the prestigious honor given to the best linebacker in the nation.

Tepper said Mack is one of only four linebackers he has coached who could play all three lineback-ing positions at the next level. Even Simeon Rice, the No. 3 draft pick in 1996, was not a complete line-backer.

“[Mack] is in exclusive company,” Tepper said.

The story of how linebacker Khalil Mack went from unrecruited nobody to one of the most sought-after players in America

REtURN OF tHE MACK

“He’s going to wear a gold jacket one day just because of his work ethic.”

NICK FISCHEttI, The SpecTrum

NICK FISCHEttI, The SpecTrum

- high school coach Waides Ashmon

ubspectrum.com 5Friday, August 30, 2013

In addition to his versatility, Mack has something most star line-backers Tepper has coached simply cannot attain.

“He’s got great humility,” Tepper said. “Most people with the talent that he possesses, they think they’re better than others.”

Tepper constantly reminds Mack to embrace the Bible verses Phi-lippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain con-ceit. Rather, in humility, value oth-ers above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Though people notice the sacks and tackles for loss, Tepper said Mack has improved the most in the past two years in coverage. It might be scary to consider, but Mack was still learning Tepper’s newly imple-mented defensive scheme last year – and he finally has it down.

“He feels more confident,” Tep-per said. “Last year was difficult for everybody.”

Entering this year with confi-dence could mean big things for Mack – perhaps even historic things.

It seems everyone wants to talk about the records.

Mack said he has been asked the most this offseason about pur-suing two all-time NCAA records. He is 19 tackles for loss shy of the all-time mark and has averaged 18.7 per year, and he is three forced fumbles away from the record and has averaged 3.7 per year.

But the records, he insists, don’t mean much. What means more to him is the 9-27 record his team has accrued the past three seasons – and the much loftier goals he has for this, his final season.

“It’s nice, but I just want to win,” he said. “I want to win a MAC Championship.”

The expectations for this year’s team are vast – a title, rather than thought of fleetingly, is consid-ered a realistic goal – and those ex-pectations are higher for nobody than Mack. Head coach Jeff Quinn thinks his star is built to handle the hoopla.

“He’s got an instinctive nature to his ability to play the game,” Quinn said. “He sees things; he can re-act pretty quick. He’s been blessed with a lot of power, strength and the ability to explode. His passion and leadership have been very solid – the best is yet to come.”

Saturday’s season open-er against No. 2 Ohio State means a little bit more to

Mack than most games. The Buck-eyes’ head coach, Urban Meyer, was at Florida when Mack was a senior in high school. He wanted to play for the Gators, but Meyer passed on Mack.

“That’s somebody I’ve admired since I was in middle school,” Mack said of Meyer. “He was the reason I wanted to go to the University of Florida. He’s a great coach. I real-ly want to go against some of the best programs. That’s always been my mindset: I just wanted to show I was good enough to go to those big schools that overlooked me.

“Being from Florida, I want-ed to go to a Florida school, and they looked over me and didn’t rec-ognize my talent at the time. Even though I only played one year of varsity at Westwood, it was bit-tersweet. At the same time, it was more reason to go out and prove that I deserve to play at that level.”

Some of Mack’s teammates, like his cousin Luther Robinson, a defensive lineman at Miami, got scooped by major Division I pro-grams. Mack, of course, did not.

“For Khalil, I think that left a real bitter sting in him,” said Ash-mon, his high school coach. “He definitely should have been one of those kids who went on to play at a Florida, at a Florida State, some-where of that nature, and I think he kind of felt like he was robbed. And he is proving every single day that, ‘Everyone, you all made a mis-take. I am a big-time player.’”

Saturday is another chance at re-demption. The Bulls are 35.5-point underdogs, but that doesn’t faze Mack. Asked who on Ohio State he is most looking forward to facing, he is transparent: “Urban Meyer.”

Try getting inside Mack’s head.Ashmon says it’s impos-

sible. He attempted to rat-tle the young linebacker every day in grueling practices and never suc-ceeded.

“South Florida football is tough,” Ashmon said. “We try to break our kids down and build ’em back up, and he has that look on his face like ‘bring it on,’ and he’s gonna keep working and keep working to the point that he’s going to make you tired because he’s working so hard.”

You might not be able to unnerve him, but you can get a glimpse into what he’s thinking in the heat of the moment.

Here is one play through Mack’s eyes. The setting: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, versus Western Michigan at UB Stadium. First quarter. WMU ball. Third and 5. 7-0 Bulls.***

Before the play, I’m gonna sweep through if [Steven Means] doesn’t beat me there. I’m going to strip him, and I’m going to pray that Steve gets the ball be-cause I’m not even going to look to see if I can get it.

I looked up, and I knew the lineman wasn’t going to get lower than me. He was like a little fat guy, a little fat left tackle. He’s not fast enough! I’m going to get him! Then I dipped and came free and grabbed the quarterback’s arm.***

Mack sacked quarterback Alex Carder and forced a fumble.

Ashmon calls Mack the smartest player he has ever coached. That’s not just an on-the-field attribute.

When he finished high school, Mack had earned a full academic presidential scholarship offer from Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla. His major at UB is psy-chology, and he wants to pursue sports psychology after football.

Mack has fulfilled Ash-mon’s prophecy that he would become one of the

most elite players in the nation. A July USA Today headline posed the question, “Is Buffalo’s Khalil Mack the best player you haven’t seen?”

But before a legend developed and there was hype and a fight and records within reach and NFL at-tention, there was just a red-shirt freshman linebacker. He was ranked 46 overall in NCAA Foot-ball 2010, and that bothered him. He had been passed up by Urban Meyer and Florida State and every other Division I program, too.

He hasn’t forgotten about that. He still feels the need to prove him-self.

“I don’t think I’ll ever lose that,” Mack said.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Inside Khalil Mack’s head:

During a play last year against Western Michigan:“Before the play, I’m gonna sweep through if [Steven Means] doesn’t beat me there. I’m going to strip him, and I’m going to pray that Steve gets the ball because I’m not even going to look to see if I can get it.I looked up, and I knew the line-man wasn’t going to get low-er than me. He was like a little fat guy, a little fat left tackle. He’s not fast enough! I’m going to get him! Then I dipped and came free and grabbed the quarterback’s arm.”Mack sacked quarterback Alex Carder and forced a fumble.

“NICK FISCHEttI, The SpecTrum

Khalil Mack (46) drags down Northern Illinois running back Akeem Daniels Oct. 13, 2012.

For Khalil, I think that left a real bitter sting in him. He definitely should have been one of those kids who went on to play at a Florida, at a Florida State, somewhere of that nature, and I think he kind of felt like he was robbed. And he is proving every single day that, ‘Everyone, you all made a mistake. I am a big-time player.’

ubspectrum.com6 Friday, August 30, 2013

ubspectrum.com 7Friday, August 30, 2013

ubspectrum.com8 Friday, August 30, 2013

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THE KICKING CREW

Clarke, Grassman revamp play in offseason

Tyler GrassmanWhile Clarke provided a steady leg for the

offense, the team turned to freshman Tyler Grassman as the offense’s drives came to a halt.

Grassman came into UB ranked as the 33rd best kicking prospect in the country, according to ESPN, but his freshman campaign didn’t deliver the promise of his resume. On 80 punts, Grassman averaged 35.4 yards per kick. But he has looked to be one of the most im-proved players in fall camp, constantly boom-ing punts down the field.

“Last year, I didn’t have the year I wanted to have,” Grassman said. “I’ve learned a lot from it and grown a lot. Field position is everything, and that’s my job as a punter is to put my de-fense in the right position so they can make plays.”

This past spring, the Bulls brought in his cousin, freshman Corbin Grassman. Last fall, Corbin completed his senior year as a first-team all-state honoree in Ohio as a lineback-er. The Bulls, however, recruited him as the team’s long snapper. The presence of a family member in the locker room has made Grass-man more comfortable.

“[Corbin] is a great long snapper and a great short snapper, and he’s going to do big things while he’s here and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Grassman said. “It makes my job a lot eas-ier to have someone who I know is consistent and confident in what he does.”

Grassman is setting a high bar for himself as he enters his sophomore year.

“I want to finish at the top of the MAC with a great average,” he said.

Patrick ClarkeThe football team’s special teams unit

took the field with 23 seconds left and a scoreboard that read 24-24. The defense had just surrendered the Bulls’ 24-17 lead, and the crowd at UB Stadium was filled with thoughts of overtime.

That was before sophomore running back Devin Campbell returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards and junior kicker Patrick Clarke booted a 47-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bulls a 27-24 victory.

That win illustrated the importance of the special teams unit.

Clarke pieced together what many would consider a successful season: 11 for 15 on field goal attempts (four of which came from 40 yards or farther), 13 touchbacks on kickoffs and, of course, one game-winning kick.

“I took last season and looked to build upon it,” Clarke said. “I’ve been kicking a lot and lifting weights a lot and just focusing on the technique side of things.”

Clarke’s role could increase this year as the offense is expected to make more vis-its to the opposition’s side of the field than in past years.

“I just got to do my job; that’s how I look at it,” Clarke said. “Other players’ roles might be a little bit different, but I just have to do my job and they have to do their job.”

Junior kicker Patrick Clarke (left) and sophomore punter Tyler Grassman spent time together working out this summer to im-prove their game.

ubspectrum.com9Friday, August 30, 2013

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Clarke, Grassman revamp play in offseason

ubspectrum.com10 Friday, August 30, 2013

Buffalo football heads into the 2013 season with some of the high-est expectations in program history. Its ‘bowl-or-bust’ mantra, however, is nothing compared to expectations that surround No. 2 Ohio State year in and year out – National Champi-onship or bust.

This year is no exception for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State is coming off a 12-0 season – the only undefeated season in Division I.

The Buckeyes, however, were in-eligible for postseason play because they were on probation.

This year, they are eligible for postseason play and two-time Na-tional Champion head coach Urban Meyer looks to become a three-time champion.

This mission begins with Buffalo.“I want us to play well,” Meyer

told ESPN.com. “I want us to play clean. I’m hoping that we leave that field Saturday, obviously with a win, but you feel good about the funda-mentals of your football team. If you do that, that’s a real positive.”

Heisman candidate Braxton Mill-er leads Ohio State at quarterback. Miller started all 12 games last sea-son; he threw for over 2,000 yards, rushed for 1,271 more and had 28 total touchdowns.

Miller is one of the hardest players in the nation to game plan for, be-cause he is not only an efficient pass-er but also one of the best runners at any position.

The Buckeyes will be missing their top two running backs, Car-los Hyde and Rod Smith, and cor-nerback Bradley Roby, due to team suspensions from offseason miscon-ducts. Hyde finished last year with

16 touchdowns and nearly 1,000 yards on the ground.

Meyer is not taking the Bulls as lightly as the 35.5-point spread may suggest. In his weekly interview, he described the Bulls as having an “unorthodox” defensive line and “unique coverages and schemes.”

He also acknowledged his squad is not the only team with players who can take over a game. He called se-nior linebacker Khalil Mack a “tre-mendous player” and the “No. 2 linebacker on [NFL] draft boards.”

The atmosphere on opening day – entering as huge underdogs in a city filled with college football tradition – is not unfamiliar territory for the Bulls.

Last year, they began the season in Georgia as 38-point underdogs. At halftime, Buffalo trailed by only eight as boos poured down from the stands toward the Bulldogs.

For Buffalo, this game is about gaining national exposure. Any time you can square off with the No. 2 team in the nation, it gets your pro-gram out there. Heads will certainly turn if the Bulls are able to remain competitive.

“They are certainly locked in and prepared to play their very best foot-ball game,” said head coach Jeff Quinn. “It’s a race to be at midsea-son form or late-season form in Game One. We will play hard, phys-ical and get after it and we are going to let the four quarters play out and hopefully get into overtime and see what happens.”Key matchup: Braxton Miller vs. Buffalo’s front seven

Miller is on every preseason watch list you can think of and likely views a Mid-American Conference team

like Buffalo as an opportunity to boost his stats. It is up to the en-tire defensive line and Khalil Mack to keep Miller at bay. He does most of his damage when he escapes the pocket – putting the pressure on the defense to keep him contained. It will be a long day for the Buffalo ‘D’ if Miller is allowed to roam the back-field with ease.What to watch for

The first quarter will tell us all we need to know about how this game will go. Opening day is full of excite-ment and nerves for both teams – regardless of their rankings. If the Bulls can repeat the performance

they had against Georgia last year – going hit for hit with one of the best teams in the nation for an entire half – it could be considered a moral vic-tory. Miller, however, is one of the best players in the nation, and stop-ping him will be a daunting task for the Buffalo defense.Predictions:Buffalo @ Ohio State (-35.5)Aaron Mansfield @aaroncmansfieldBuffaloBraxton Miller won’t stay in the game if the Buckeyes go up 30, and Buf-falo’s offense is good for at least 14 points.

Jon Gagnon @JGags15BuffaloA Buffalo victory is out of the cards, but 36 points is too much for a Bulls team that is based around a stellar de-fense.Ben Tarhan @BenTarhanBuffaloThe Bulls won’t pull off the upset, but Khalil Mack won’t let Ohio State win by 36 points, either.Owen O’Brien @owenobriBuffaloI can’t see this game being competi-tive for long, but all it takes is garbage time production to beat this spread.

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The Spectrum’s scouting report

BEN tARHANSEniOR SpORtS EditOR

It seems every year recently, the Bulls have repeated the same cycle.

They start with high expectations before opening the season with a game against a BCS opponent. They usually lose big, but people al-ways point to the bright spots.

Then they return home to beat up on an FCS opponent and expec-tations soar. But the season never really starts until after that, when they play a comparable team, and since head coach Jeff Quinn has taken over, it’s been the same story: disappointment.

But at the end of last year, the Bulls did something unfamiliar: they won.

After winning a total of five games in 2010 and 2011 combined, the Bulls won three in the final four weeks of the 2012 season.

“That team last year saw a way to win some key games, but this year’s team needs to learn how to win a championship,” Quinn said. “And that’s the mindset of those players in there. And they have come clos-er and closer together.”

The end-of-the-year momen-tum has combined with arguably the best player in school history, se-nior linebacker Khalil Mack, and a total of four players being named to eight national award watch lists to raise expectations to unusual heights.

It is still a team, however, that has developed a losing identity. The Division I version of the Bulls have one winning season, and even with four players being recognized among the best in the country, they have still been picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Con-ference East division.

Nonetheless, players and coach-es alike insist that this team is dif-ferent.

“I got great confidence in the team we have this year,” said senior

running back Branden Oliver. “We have depth at every position in the backfield, quarterback, wide receiv-er and defensively, so it will be a real great season. I’m not boasting, but I feel like what we have, we can go all the way.”

Despite strong players at the top, the team does have some holes, which is why the fourth-place fin-ish could be a fair prediction.

On the defensive side of the ball, the defensive line is the biggest question mark. After senior defen-sive end Colby Way (one of the de-fensive stars), senior defensive end Beau Bachtelle and junior nose guard Kristjan Sokoli are unproven.

At linebacker, Mack and junior Lee Skinner are solid defensive players, but the right side of the field is much less experienced. Of the three players listed as starters

on the Bulls’ depth chart, only one of them has seen significant time at linebacker.

Junior Jake Stockman was fourth on the team with 59 tackles last sea-son, though he is not the outright starter at right inside linebacker. He and junior Blake Bean are list-ed as starters at the position. Bean is a first-year transfer from Butler Community College.

Senior Adam Redden is the final starting linebacker. He is listed as the right outside linebacker, lining up opposite Mack because of his speed. Although he has looked im-pressive in preseason workouts, he is a safety playing linebacker, and there are questions that go along with that strategy.

This shuffling of personnel is particularly important, especial-ly with what’s at stake in terms of

blockers being forced to come off Mack. If the players who line up in the box with Mack don’t force opposing offenses to account for them, it will free up other offensive players to focus solely on Mack, which could go a long way in neu-tralizing the Bulls’ best player.

“You’re only as strong as your weakest link, and I feel like we don’t have any of those,” Mack said.

The Bulls have shown a lot of different defensive looks in prac-tice, especially taking advantage of Redden’s versatility. If defen-sive coordinator Lou Tepper, a leg-end in college football, can keep offenses honest by moving players around the field, it will go a long way toward making sure the de-fense is productive this season.

On offense, there is one major concern: the depth of the offensive

line. Though the offense graduated two players last season, juniors Dil-lon Guy and Jake Silas will step in as suitable replacements. Both saw ample playing time last season and have meshed with the other line-men.

“We’re not a bunch of flashy guys,” said junior center Trev-or Sales. “We just get down in our stances and say: ‘He’s mine, he’s yours, let’s do this.’”

But if any of the front five goes down, there is almost no experi-ence to fill in. The five players fea-tured second on the depth chart at the backup offensive line positions are three redshirt freshmen and two sophomores. Combined, they have played in one game. Additionally, two of those players are converted defensive linemen.

The good news is that only one player came out of preseason camp with an injury – redshirt freshman running back Jordan Johnson, who had elbow surgery and is most like-ly out for the season.

Despite a rough start to their schedule – back-to-back games on the road against No. 2 Ohio State and Baylor – the Bulls’ slate bodes well for their chances.

The most important test early in their schedule is UConn in Week Four. It will be a barometer of how good this team can be, after playing three teams that compete at differ-ent levels from them.

The start of MAC play is fa-vorable, and it’s possible the Bulls could go undefeated through their first three conference games. The final five games will be critical. They face all the best teams in the East and will have to finish strong if they plan on being as successful as they think they can be.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Football team expects to break away from losing identityPlayers, coaches aim to set new precedent

COuRtESY Of BRAxtON MIllER FAN pAGE

Heisman candidate Braxton Miller leads No. 2 Ohio State in the team’s season opener against UB on Saturday, following an undefeated season last year.

Head coach Jeff Quinn, who has accrued a 9-27 record in his first three years at UB, addresses his team during practice. Quinn is looking to lead the Bulls to their first bowl game in his tenure.

SpECtRum filE phOtO

Bulls set for Saturday in The Horseshoe