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MAC Blogger Roundtable - "Not Quite Over the Pylon"

By Tim Riordan

Alan from OTP is a great guy.... I think.

I'm sure if he and I were in the same fan base we might hit it off but instead I kicked off Bull Run just a few months after UB crushed the 12th ranked Ball State Cardinals in the MAC Championship game. That made things kind weird at first.

See OTP is one of the "grand old MAC Blogs". Not quite as old as Falcon Blog but it's been around a very long time. The writing is solid, topical, and most of all funny.

He was running the roundtable when Bull Run started up in 2009, and he hated Buffalo so it's no surprise that he rebuffed my initial request to join.

Sure he was able to hide behind my atrocious spelling and grammar, or the fact I was a new blog but we all know the real reason Alan!

My initial reaction was to do guerilla answers to the round table. I had an "unofficial round table" legion of doom all set up. I was talked out of publishing it at the time by another blogger.

So back to Alan...

Every so often, usually when UB is about to play Ball State, he unleashes the dogs of snark and hit dogs have a bite. When he goes angry you want to laugh out loud, until you realize that he is talking about you. I am the youngest of seven and have a pretty thick skin but for some reason he can crawl under it almost at will.

But when he tried to inject himself into the "Safety Dance" which happened this past Tuesday he was setting himself up.

It starts with the never ending "we were robbed" and ends with "so's your face". I don't win too many with Alan but I am calling this one in favor of Bull Run.


Otpsafety

I am only bringing this up because this is UB's biggest win against Ball State since the 2008 MAC Championship... Well that and punting the sorry cards out of the MAC Basketball tournament in Cleveland last year.

Now to this weeks table.

1) with only a few games left what are you hoping to see from your team in regard to either closing out this season or preparing for next?

Let's be honest Buffalo is losing a ton of Talent this season and there will be some drop off in 2014. You can't lose Oliver, Mack, Neutz, and a whole host of players without taking a step back.

The blowout wins are a chance for next years replacements to get on the field this season. In some cases this year the backups have played the better part of the game. That is not a program building opportunity that Buffalo had in the past, even during the 2008 season.

2) speaking of next year, it's never too early to look ahead. Who are players from your squad that we would do well to familiarize ourselves with that may not be stars yet?

I'm really thinking that next season might be James Potts' year to shine. He has shown glimpses of potential but injuries and Branden Oliver have done a good job keeping him off the field.

With Oliver gone there are a couple of backs fighting for that job. Whoever gets it will be running behind a line that averages over 300 pounds so there is room for success.

3) how has 2013 shaped up for you in regard to your preseason expectations? What are some things you wish had went a different way for your boys?

Considering after Stony Brook we were calling for Quinn's head on a pike I'd say we exceeded expectations.

If I had Doc Brown's DeLorean I might go back and warn Joe Licata about the goal line fumble at Ohio State. If he gets the ball to Bo it would have been a 27-30 game mid way through the third. Instead we let OSU drive down and put us out of the game.

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