Buffalo Bulls Unit Preview: Quarterbacks

For the third time in as many years UB head coach Jeff Quinn will start a season with a different quarterback than he did the season before.

In 2010 Zach Maynard bolted and left the Offense in the hands of Jerry Daivs, who then fell to Dennison, who the succomed to Zordizh, who was hurt and handed it back to Davis.

Then in spring of 2011 it was Zordich who lost out to Davis, who was bushwhacked by Chazz Anderson who was in turn backed up by Zordich.

Finally this spring UB produced a relatively drama free contest among the quarterbacks. Coach Quinn tries to play his cards close to his chest but through the spring, and summer, it's been Zordich doing the bluk of the work with the first team offense. Zordich outplayed the competition at the spring game and then he was named the starter last week.

This will be the second time that Alex Zordich has been named the starter. Mid way through 2010 the then true freshman was sent in to jump start a Buffalo offense that was not moving the ball and turning it over at an alarming pace. He was unable to correct wither issue.

His inexperience made him prone to tuck the ball away and run very early in the play. That habit led to Zordich suffering broken ribs against Ball State in his third start of 2010. Then last season Chazz Anderson, a transfer from Cincinnati came in and took the starting job.

Zordich threw three scores this spring against the first team defense. Aside from the touchdowns it was not a mind blowing day but a respectable showing. He also looked a lot less likely to tuck it and give up quickly on a play than we saw two seasons ago.

So going into Georgia it will be Zordich leading the Bulls. Behind him is red shirt freshman Joe Licata.

Licata, a redshirt freshman, is mister everything in Western New York Football. During his final season at Williamsville south he completed 64% of his passes for 2,573 yards and 34 touchdowns. He set school records for passing yards in a game (492), season (2,573) and career (6,671).

The narrative being repeated by UB's coaching staff is that the competition between Zordich and Licata was tight through the camps. In the end the Mobility of Zordich gave him a bit of an edge over Licata.

Behind these two Quarterbacks are Jerry Davis and Tony Daniel.

Daniel had a great spring game against the second and third line defenses. The freshman completed 76% of his passes for 177 yards and a touchdown. While the depth chart shows that he is an "or" with Jerry Davis his work this spring might lift him over the senior and lead to some mop up minutes this season in games like UMass and Morgan State.

Davis had an average showing this spring and has been quiet since. He is a phenomenal athlete who gto tossed behind a very bad line in 2010.

UB quarterbacks will be successful this season if the manage the offense well enough to keep defenses from staking the box in an attempt to stop Branden Oliver. Coach Quinn has moved to a more ground based offense to accommodate Oliver . All Zordich, or whoever is behind center, needs to do is make smart, decisions and complete 50-60% of their throws. The rest of the offense will sit on the line and with the running game.