The Postgame Meal: Buffalo 27, Miami 24 Feels Good To Win

Celebration Music

Hydration: POP. Go ahead and bust out that champagne, we won a FBS game, we won a MAC game, it feels good to win.

Nutritionalism: Oregon State went In-And-Out and we're motivated into a win streak. I prefer Ted's. Grab a Jumbo Burger and a Loganberry Shake, enjoy the night and if we win next week, we'll go again!

1) Miami Offense vs Buffalo Defense:

Miami doesn't run. 33 carries for 98 yards, 20 for 56 if you subtract Dysert scrambles.

Miami gives the ball to Dysert and they run a west coast attack. Dysert averages 9.5 yards per completion and 7.3 yard per attempt. We held him to 5.5 yards per attempt but he threw for 9.68 yards per completion.

Dysert has 4 weapons:
Cruse, the main target with 54 receptions averaging 7.6 yards per reception. 6 for 87, 14.5 yards per reception including the 22 yard catch on 4th and 20.
Harwell and Tight End Marck have 31 and 15 receptions respectively and gain about 14 yard per reception. (10 receptions 6.2 yards per catch and 3 receptions 7 yards per catch)
Finally Dawan Scott, the X-factor on Miami has 36 receptions for 16.5 yards per catch. (3 receptions 11.7 yards per catch)

Buffalo's bend, don't break drop back defense, combined with the swirling Buffalo wind might give Buffalo's defense the edge against Miami's west coast style.

It did. Take away the 4th and 20 conversion and the good field position from the fumbled punt snap, the defense only really gave up 14 points. That said, the 4th and 20 is unforgivable.

3) Buffalo Offense vs Miami Defense:

Well it's Licata time. Miami is 10th in pass defense and 12th in run defense in the MAC. Buffalo is healthy minus Zordich. If Licata is what half the fan base thinks he is, we should win, if he is not as good as Zordich, we'll probably lose. It will be interesting to see. If we give up on the run like we did last week, we'll lose.

Licata was probably what we needed today, but he was nothing special. 127 yards against the #10 pass defense in the MAC is not amazing but he was also hindered by a lot of drops.

Bo was Bo, 32 carries for 199 yards and a touchdown.

5) Key Player:

Dawan Scott: Yet another special MAC athlete who is an all purpose machine. Like most monsters other than Jordan Lynch, Scott didn't hurt us. 8 touches 69 yards, 0 TDs.

Joe Licata: He'll get the start, and the speculation ends. This could be a Drew Willymoment where he takes over and never gives it back, or it could be a 2010 Alex Zordich moment that leaves you scouring the nation for 5th year senior QBs. Looks like we should keep the kid in. We had a competent passing game for the first time since Morgan State. Our run game didn't suffer without the zone read option.

(In actuality this is awful for Quinn either way. If we win, we'll wonder why Quinn continually said Zordich was better, and wonder if Quinn can scout talent) He actually can thank his WR's for the drops, Licata's numbers weren't better than an average Zordich game...it just looked better, it could be because Miami is just not as good as the teams we had played. This was the best thing ever for Quinn.

7) Key Situation: The Schedule

Miami has 4 wins: at Akron, vs Southern Illinois, vs UMass and vs Ohio.

We have 4 games we should compete in starting this week. While everyone has given up on the team, the men in the locker room will show us what they are made of, and perhaps more importantly, show us if they have confidence in this coaching staff. (They have heart and they believe in this staff)

Will the confidence that comes with wins over soft teams carry Miami on Saturday, or will the Bulls burst their bubble? (Pop)

Advantage: Push

9) Key Quarters: 2nd & 3rd Quarter

When Miami wins, they held their opponents to an average of 10 points in the middle of the game. When Miami loses that average jumps to 30 points. Miami plays to jump in front, but with no run game, they rely on the defense to preserve the win.

We outscored Miami 17-10 in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, which helped us hold on to a tie game with 23 seconds left.

11) Game Score brought to you by: Science

Buffalo at Ohio and vs Toledo:
average points scored: 25.5
average points allowed: 31.5

Miami vs Ohio and at Cincinnati:
average points scored: 18
average points allowed: 36

Miami (18 points scored + 31.5 UB allows)/2 = 25
UB (25.5 points scored+36 Miami allows)/2 = 31

I'm tempted to downgrade it to 22-17 UB due to the 30% chance of rain, but I'm gonna stay with 31-25, I don't think the rain will arrive in time for the early game start but it will be plenty cold.

Close but no.