How will Buffalo football fare in 2020?
With a strong team returning on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, the Bulls are looking to assert themselves as one of the Group of Five teams in the nation. It will be up to their coaching staff to help them rebound after a moderately successful season last year as compared to their 2018 run.
As of now, only the Big Ten remains as the only conference that Bulls won’t play that is on their 2020 schedule.
Here is the breakdown of the schedule for the Bulls in 2020:
- Game 1: at Kansas State (L) – Even with a stout defense from Buffalo and a reloading Wildcats offense, the Bulls do not have enough firepower to keep up with Kansas State in a potentially high-scoring game.
- Game 2: Saint Francis (W) – The Bulls get their first win of the season against an FCS team in the Red Flashes that went 6-6 last season.
- Game 3: at Bowling Green (W) – Buffalo will start their conference play with one of the worst projected teams in the Eastern Division.
- Game 4: Akron (W) – The Zips went 0-12 last season and will not be looking to make some upsets anytime soon.
- Game 5: Ball State (W) – This will be a big game for running back Jaret Patterson against a reloading Cardinals front-seven.
- Game 6: Kent State (W) – Buffalo looks to avenge a disappointing 30-27 loss to the Golden Flashes last season.
- Game 7: at Army (W) – The top returning rushers for the Black Knights’ triple-option offense is inexperience thus giving the dominate and experience front-seven of the Bulls the advantage.
- Game 8: at Northern Illinois (W) – With a highly inexperienced Huskies secondary, this will be a game for the Bulls to elevate their passing game.
- Game 9: Miami (Ohio) (W) – The Bulls begin a tough stretch of conference games beginning with a RedHawks team, a team they lost to by 14 points last season.
- Game 10: at Ohio (W) – This defensive slugfest will be decided on which defense will stay strong with Buffalo having the edge.
- Game 11: at Western Michigan (W) – The Broncos return a small portion of their offensive skilled players from this past season which will be hard for them to score consistently against this tough Bulls’ defense.
Prediction: 10-1, 8-0 MAC
The Bulls are at the edge of something great as they will look to clinch their fourth divisional title in program history. They will also attempt to win their first conference championship since 2008. Their biggest obstacles will be the five-game tough stretch from the matchup against Army to Western Michigan. They might encounter a loss somewhere in the last three games of the season due to either fatigue or potential injuries.
On paper, they are beatable, but they have solid keys at each position group and are in better shape than the rest of the weaker teams in the conference.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Bulls will need to establish their passing offense to match a portion of their impact in the running game. Their rushing offense looks to be one of the best in the nation once again as Patterson will start gathering some interest from the NFL Draft. The offensive line will be the biggest indicator of the development of the passing game and the continuation of their high-powered rushing offense.
Defensively, the Bulls will continue to have a dominant defense thanks to their front-seven. Returning two of their top three pass rushers from last season will be huge for the Bulls as they look to create more havoc in the backfield. There is a lot of experience in the linebacker corps that will help stabilize the rush and pass defense.
The key for the defense in keeping opposing offenses suppressed will be the development of the two new starters in the secondary.