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UCF post mortem

I needed a good nights sleep, some time at Church, and a picnic with friends to get mentally prepared to think about the disaster in Orlando. For the second week in a row Buffalo played something other than 'UB Football'.

Last week UB lost a game, that on paper, we were supposed to lose Maynard played like superman and fans walked away feeling pretty good about the team. This week we lost to a team we should have beaten in a game they had well in hand.

This was a huge lost opportunity for the Bulls, with a win against UCF they go 3-1 out of conference, needing only to split conference games to get back to a bowl. Now UB will have to finish 5-3 in conference play or else they will be sitting home this December.

There are three major things going wrong for UB right now:

Turnovers: Are you serious? In two game UB has committed more than half of the turnovers they gave away last season. Some of the turnovers over the past two weeks have been the kind you expect from a first year starter (too long in the pocket, trying a last minute option) but the fumbles by our experienced halfbacks are inexcusable.
15:00 3 02:06 BUFF 46 5 27 Fumble
04:48 3 01:17 BUFF 22 4 11 Fumble
01:19 3 01:32 BUFF 14 5 22 Punt
06:02 4 03:06 BUFF 19 8 39 Interception
01:33 4 00:00 BUFF 10 3 7 Fumble

-- This will lose you 9/10 games
Special Teams: There is *no* excuse for not being able to take a kickoff past the 20 yard line yet three times UB did just that. UCF has an accomplished kickoff coverage team but UB did not do themselves any favors.

Those two things alone are going to lose you a lot of close games. They are also the easiest things to fix. Right now Thermilus and Henry are not taking care of the ball, it's fundamentals and it's being ignored. UB's other problems are somewhat more challenging to fix.

Defense: The defense was useless in the second half, all they did was allow UCF to run down the clock as they score points. This year the Bulls are trying to do more in terms of keeping the play in front of them. I think its time to abandon that approach, clearly its not working. when the strength of your defense is the secondary and the front four cant get pressure you have two choices
  • As Mike Gibson From Temple Football Forever says "If you cant get to him with four, send five, if you cant get to him with five, send six". In other words UB's linebackers need to take over the pass rush, more Blitzing.
  • Bring the defensive backs up, if their QB is going to get a five count make sure he does not also have a ten yard cushion.
If UB can get the turnovers under wraps, fast, they have a chance in the MAC east. But if UB can not start taking care of the ball, make the most of special teams, and getting other teams off the field on third downs its going to be a true rebuilding year.