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Whooah, we're half way there
Whooah, Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Whooah, Livin' on a prayer.
4-2 through 6 means 2-4 is good enough for bowl eligibility. It means 3-3 is good enough to match the season record of the 2008 team and 4-2 may just be good enough to win the MAC East thanks to our Chippewa friends.
Hydrate:
In honor of the defense pitching a shutout: The Shut-Out: a mix of Maker's Mark, b&b, house grenadine and orange peel from Ollie Irene restaurant in Mountain Brook, Alabama just outside of Birmingham. Possible stop on the road trip to the BBVA Compass Bowl or the GoDaddy.com Bowl? Only time will tell.
UB's shutout was the first since Quinn's first game on September 2, 2010, a 31-0 victory over Rhode Island. It was the first shutout against an FBS opponent since a 44-0 victory over Ohio on November 3, 2001.
Nutritionate:
The Bronco Burger brings the heat, fitting for UB's hot streak.
Postgame Song:
This week I did not watch the game live. I left work and arrived at brunch around one pacific time. I flip on my phone and I see a 9-0 score and think, ugh what happened. That's pretty gangster to see a second half two possession lead and a shutout and yet be disappointed. I put on the WatchESPN phone app and watched Licata throw 2 TDs while ignoring my girlfriend while waiting to be seated. As the score quickly climbed to 33-0, it felt gangster once again to know we had the power to wear an opponent down and then attack to finish the job.
I later went back and watched the whole game, which was the much more boring way to watch, because outside of the first drive, UB took more shots at their own feet than they directed at the other team's heart. That first half gave UB a bad name and as many commenters pointed out, that might fly against a directional Michigan, but it won't fly against BGSU.
And for that I will continue to give Quinn some negative reinforcement what was going on with that uninspired undisciplined first half? (FIRE QUINN). However for the postgame song, I will go with my first instinct, the watched the game partially on my phone from work feeling: Damn It Feels Good To Be a Gangster.
10 Factors to decide the game
1) UB Offense vs WMU Defense
Pregame: They give up nearly 300 yards rushing per game. Paging Branden Oliver.
Postgame: Oliver gained 128 yards on 19 attempts and was close to breaking free on about a quarter of those attempts. WMU had 60 offensive plays, UB ran the ball 56 times. The game was not remarkable, but eerily similar to Alabama's slow starting but certain slow strangulation of Kentucky that I watched later Saturday night. Neutz was targeted but for the most part shut down by WMU's good defensive backs, but Fred Lee did his part with 88 yards and touchdown.
Winner: New York
2) House Protection Index:
UB's hero was Colby Way from State College, PA notching 3 sacks while WMU tripled teamed Khalil Mack. If a team wants to eliminate Mack, Way has to make them pay and he did on Saturday.
WMU's trio of Justin Currie (Big Rapids, MI), Mike Jones (Oralndo, FL), and Johnnie Simon (West Palm Beach, FL) combined for 37 tackles, a half sack, 5 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups, a QB hurry and a PAT block. They are proof that if you only row one oar of a boat, you will just paddle around in a circle, but give them props for rowing that defensive oar like the Winklevoss Twins.
Winner: WMU
3) UB Defense vs WMU Offense
Pregame: Again pressure, turnovers, no big plays.
Postgame: UB forced 4 turnovers and notched 5 sacks. This defense is kinda ridiculous. Tepper is gonna Tepper though: WMU found open receivers all over the place, they just didn't capitalize. Zach Terrell at the half was 12 for 21 (57%) for 125 yards with an INT and sacked twice in the final drive of the half. Of his 9 incompletions, 3 were drops, and I'd contend another 3 were thrown inaccurately to open receivers. WMU ran 11 times for 42 yards in the first half.
In the second half with the pressure turned up, Terrell went 4 for 13 for 39 yards, was sacked 3 times, and WMU committed 3 turnovers.
NO CUSHION, ALL PRESSURE 60 MINUTES PLEASE.
Winner: New York
4) X-Factor - Finishing
Buffalo: Finished just barely in the 1st half with a Campbell TD. They finished with a deep field goal that gave UB breathing room. Then Licata finished with 3 TD passes to put the game away. If Campbell doesn't get in and Clarke misses the 51 yard field goal, this game would've been 3-0 going into the 4th quarter, which could have produced a catastrophic results for UB.
WMU: Did not finish three times in the first half. WMU was on the UB 20 but had to punt. They then marched to the UB 28 but they were intercepted by Najja Johnson. Finally, they trekked to the UB 16 only to miss the short field goal. We've been there, WMU looks like the UB team from the year that shall not be mentioned. It's not a great place to be.
Side note: This is the worst drive ever and we all should be ashamed to have been a part of it.
A dropped pass, an offensive holding penalty, a 2nd and 20 converted via run play, a pass interference penalty, an illegal motion penalty, poor pass defense, another pass interference penalty, another offensive holding penalty, another offensive holding penalty, another dropped pass, a delay of game penalty cause why not, and a punt that netted 25 yards.
| 1st and 10 at WMU20 | WESTERN MICHIGAN drive start at 05:30. |
| 1st and 10 at WMU20 | TERRELL, Zach pass incomplete to ROBERTS, K., dropped pass. |
| 2nd and 10 at WMU20 | TERRELL, Zach pass incomplete to ROBERTS, K., PENALTY WMU holding (BOYDEN, Eric) 10 yards to the WMU10, NO PLAY. |
| 2nd and 20 at WMU10 | CHANCE, Dareyon rush for 21 yards to the WMU31, 1ST DOWN WMU (SKINNER, Lee). |
| 1st and 10 at WMU31 | TERRELL, Zach pass complete to DAVIS, Corey for 16 yards to the WMU47, 1ST DOWN WMU (STOCKMAN, Jake). |
| 1st and 10 at WMU47 | TERRELL, Zach pass incomplete to DAVIS, Corey, PENALTY UB pass interference (LESTER, Cortney) 15 yards to the UB38, 1ST DOWN WMU, NO PLAY. |
| 1st and 10 at UB38 | CHANCE, Dareyon rush for 2 yards to the UB36 (STOCKMAN, Jake). |
| 2nd and 8 at UB36 | TERRELL, Zach pass complete to SCHAFFER, Josh for 10 yards to the UB26, 1ST DOWN WMU. |
| 1st and 10 at UB26 | FIELDS, Brian rush for 2 yards to the UB24 (BACHTELLE, Beau;STOCKMAN, Jake). |
| 2nd and 8 at UB24 | CURRIE, Justin rush for 3 yards to the UB21 (BACHTELLE, Beau), PENALTY WMU illegal motion (ZAMORT, Ronald) 5 yards to the UB29, NO PLAY. |
| 2nd and 13 at UB29 | TERRELL, Zach pass incomplete to KEITH, Timmy, PENALTY UB pass interference 9 yards to the UB20, NO PLAY. |
| 2nd and 4 at UB20 | 1st and 10. |
| 1st and 10 at UB20 | CHANCE, Dareyon rush for no gain to the UB20, PENALTY WMU holding 10 yards to the UB30, NO PLAY. |
| 1st and 20 at UB30 | TERRELL, Zach pass incomplete to MUSSMAN, Clark. |
| 2nd and 20 at UB30 | CHANCE, Dareyon rush for 17 yards to the UB13 (;LESTER, Cortney), PENALTY WMU holding (KRISTOF, James) 10 yards to the UB40, NO PLAY. |
| 2nd and 30 at UB40 | TERRELL, Zach pass incomplete to FIELDS, Brian, dropped pass. |
| 3rd and 30 at UB40 | PENALTY WMU delay of game (TERRELL, Zach) 5 yards to the UB45. |
| 3rd and 35 at UB45 | TERRELL, Zach pass incomplete to DAVIS, Corey (LESTER, Cortney). |
| 4th and 35 at UB45 | SCHROEDER, J. punt 45 yards to the UB0, touchback. |
Winner: New York
5) Tweet of the week
Buffalo:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>BUFFALO BULLS killed western!!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ayeee&src=hash">#ayeee</a> 🙌</p>— Kate Moss (@KateMoss2) <a href="https://twitter.com/KateMoss2/statuses/389146514943410176">October 12, 2013</a></blockquote>
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CMU student and sister of UB Women's Basketball's Karin Moss. CMU loves Buffalo for taking down the other MUs, and Buffalo loves CMU for taking down Ohio.
WMU:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Still laughing at PJ Fleck gettin' shirtless at a Western Michigan pep rally last night: <a href="http://t.co/1Ie5cDwXJF">http://t.co/1Ie5cDwXJF</a></p>— edsbs (@edsbs) <a href="https://twitter.com/edsbs/statuses/389007131921641472">October 12, 2013</a></blockquote>
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uhhh...
Winner: WMU - The ladies vote says for what he lacks in coaching acumen, PJ Fleck makes up for in sexy shirtlessness. Does coach Kingsbury have competition in the swoonworthy coach ranking? Maybe. Does PJ Fleck have a future in a "row the boat to fitness" line of fitness DVDs. Yes.
6) US News & World Report Ranking
Buffalo: 109
EMU: 181
Winner: New York, if you think those things matter...
7) Goin' Streaking:
The "Bronco Bull" Trophy: WMU holds 5-2 series lead
Buffalo vs WMU: 2 consecutive wins
Buffalo at a MAC Stadium: 2 consecutive wins
Consecutive wins: 4 games, most since 2008 when UB won 5 in a row.
Buffalo has won 7 of their last 10 games: The last time this occurred was in 2008-09 as UB defeated Army, Ohio, Miami, Akron, BGSU, Ball State and UTEP while falling to Kent State, UConn and Pitt.
This is UB's 1st ever 2-0 start to MAC play.
This is UB's best start to a season since 1996 where UB started 5-1 before falling to 5-3.
Advantage: New York