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Building the All Decade Team: Wide Receivers

BillsBulls
BillsBulls

UB Now has its all decade Coach, Quarterbacks, and Running Backs. But because of time constraints the nature of these polls has changed from 'All Decade Full Roster' to a plain ALL-Decade team (24 Positions).

So Far its the 2008 Bulls

  • Coach - Turner Gill
  • QB - Drew Willy
  • RB - James Starks

Not a lot of question about UB's best receiver from the past decade. Let's just take a look at the record books to make sure I am not getting ahead of myself: Roosevelt has the most career yards, most career receptions, most career touchdowns, and most all purpose yards. He is also second most 100 yard games and fifth all time in scoring.

His name dots the UB Record books in some other areas but I trust that the records outlined justify putting him at the top without placement in a poll. So there are two more spots on the All Decade team.

Ten years of UB Football, admittedly a lot of ugly football, to find the two other UB Receivers to fill out the all decade team.

Year Rec Yds Avg TD
2001 35 443 12.7 2
2002 8 89 11.1 1
2003 47 622 13.2 4
2004 29 415 14.3 1
Career 119 1569 13.2 8

Matt Knueven:

Knueven wasted little time making a name for himself. His freshman season he finished tied for second on the team with 35 receptions even though he was not tabbed as a starter until late into the season.

Knueven was felled by an injury riddled sophomore year but roared back during his junior season with just under 50 receptions. Even missing most of his Sophomore year

Knueven was able to break into the UB record books and still sits at 10th for all time receptions (119). He fell of a bit, along with the rest of the offense, during his senior year but still led the team in receptions.

Andre Forde:

Year Rec Yds Avg TD KOR Yds Avg
2000 36 590 16.4 6 20 362 18.1
2001 23 289 12.6 0 15 293 19.5
2002 54 748 13.9 7 30 626 20.9
Career 113 1627 14.4 13 65 1281 19.7

Ford's defining moment as a Bull was being the guy who picked up the slack when Knueven went down in 2002. He had a good 2000 season which falls outside of the decade and a respectable if quite 2001 season. In three years at UB Forde put in enough work to end up 8th all time in receptions and yards. He is also 5th all time in touchdowns.

Forde was also a special teams staple who still sits atop all others kickoff returned in the UB record books.

Forde played a bit professionally, seeing the field as a wide receiver for the Tulsa Talons of the AFL in 2006 and 2007. Forde also spent time in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts.

Terrance Breaux:

Year Rec Yds Avg TD
2004 23 330 14.3 1
2006 32 444 13.9 3
2007 2 26 13 0
Career 57 800 14 4

The senior wideout led all UB wide receivers last year with 32 catches and 444 yards receiving in 2006. His best game of that season came at Northern Illinois where he had eight catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.

It was his second 100-yard receiving performance of his career which at the time made him the only the fourth UB receiver to have multiple 100-yard receiving games since the Bulls returned to Division I-A in 1999.

Brett Hamlin:

Year Rec Yds Avg Lng TD
2005 38 371 9.8 46 0
2006 7 47 6.7 14 0
2007 38 415 10.9 35 1
2008 38 459 12.1 39 5
2009 64 898 14 50 0

Hamlin had 38 receptions for 459 yards and found the end zone five times in UB's 2008 Championship run and was invaluable the following year.

Hamlin lost most of his 2006 season when he suffered a serious foot injury. He was given another year, in that year (2009) Hamlin was good for almost 900 yards and third team all MAC.

Hamlin was a tremendous third-down receiver, Hamlin is one of the nation’s best at running underneath and intermediate routes and has tremendous hands.

Brett Hamlin is third all time in receptions, fifth in yards, and ninth in 100 yards games.

Year Rec Yds Avg TD
2005 7 89 12.7 0
2006 11 162 14.7 1
2007 53 645 12.2 6
2008 45 507 11.3 4
Career 116 1403 12.1 11

Ernest Jackson:

Jackson spent a good part of his career in the shadow of others but he was a key component of UB's first run at the MAC east in 2007. He was also a fixture in the offense in 2008.

One game he can best be remembered for was the overtime victory over the Black Knights in 2008. That win, the week after a crushing overtime loss, was the first in a string of five that put Buffalo in the MAC Championship game.

Jackson caught nine passes for 134 yards and the touchdown that sent the game into overtime.