Friday's Bull Market Stock Report

By Tim Riordan@UBBullRun Sep 13, 2013, 10:43am EDT

Who	Trending	Comment
Alex Neutz		So far this season Alex Neutz has been perhaps the only Bull who has always looked solid. Had last weeks game been close enough to leave Neutz in he surly would have broken several single game UB marks. It's going to get harder on Neutz as Buffalo begins to play teams that will have to key on him because they won't score 56 points in the first half.
Joe Licata		Licata has looked through two games to be exactly what Buffalo needs. A competent passer who holds up well in pressure situations and has a feel for the offense. I'd still like to see him start hitting long throws in stride rather than count on Neutz to make a fabulous catch but that should come with time.
Branden Oliver		Will the real Branden Oliver please stand up? Is it the coaching or the competition? Is it last years injury or teams stacking the box? Where has Oliver gone this season? Buffalo's workhorse back gets a pass so far because Baylor had eight in the box and against OSU coaches did not use him to the outside enough. Buffalo has five winnable games in a row, against teams Oliver should thrive against so we will see if Bo is still Bo.
Khalil Mack		There is no worry that Mack is not a beast but Baylor showed us that you can scheme him out of a game and Lou Tepper won't do anything about it. Until Colby Way and Adam Redden make teams feel like they have to test Mack there is no guarantee we see the weekly highlights that Khalil is capable of bringing.
Najja Johnson		Johnson is down for two reasons. The first is the players he has faced, all of whom are ALL conference players in AQ conferences. The second reason is that the hybrid safety corner scheme is a terrible fit for the Buffalo Corner back. I am inclined to give him a pass because of the competition but I don't see the defensive scheme changing and the MAC has quite a few receivers that could exploit Johnson if he is tasked with being a corner-safety.
Lou Tepper		Two players on this list, Mack and Johnson, may not be able to play to their full potential because of Lou Teppers insistence on a less than extraordinary pass rush along with complicated and ineffective coverage schemes. Maybe if Tepper had the players he wants in other areas his system would work but you have to win with the players you have. This defense should be set up to exploit the talents of Mack and Johnson, instead the defense is using those talents like a crutch to cover bad game planning.