7 Stats That Prove UB Should be #1 in the Nation

The researchers at the Every Stat Proves Nothing division of Bull Run have been working hard to crunch the numbers this off-season and bring you the best UB Bulls football analysis around. It is a thankless job. The nerds say our stats are meaningless, and the jocks say our numbers have no place in sports. We ignored the haters and found stats proving that every returning starter for the Bulls is the best player in the country at what they do.

Shout-out to Sports Reference College Football for providing the Play Index to find these stats, click on the player’s name at the beginning of their section to go to the corresponding query.

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Jaret Patterson & Kevin Marks: It’s unclear on who we should consider the starter in this two-headed monster of a backfield, but luckily the E.S.P.N. division of Bull Run has a stat for that. There were only two freshman running backs in the country last year that carried the ball at least 161 times and scored 13 rushing touchdowns. You guessed it, they both suit up for the Bulls on Saturdays (and Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays).

James Patterson: The defensive half of the Patterson brothers, James, is also pretty good at football. He’s the only returning player in the nation with at least 77 total tackles, 4 forced fumbles. 2 passes defended, and 9 tackles for a loss. There were 3 other players that reached these numbers last year, two are off to the NFL and the 3rd was all-MAC first team senior Brad Koenig.

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Tyrone Hill: James Patterson isn’t the only skilled player on the defensive side of the ball. Tyrone Hill was the only underclassmen in the nation last year that had at least 27 solo tackles, 46 total tackles, 4 passes defended, 2 fumble recoveries, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Joey Banks: Teaming up with Hill in the secondary, Joey Banks stuffed the stat sheet in just 11 games last year. He was the only player in the nation last season to have at least 21 solo tackles, 20 assisted tackles, 6 passes deflected, 1 fumble forced, and 1 fumble recovered in 11 games or less.

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Aapri Washington: Another defensive back, Aapri Washington showed a lot of promise in just 7 games as a freshman. He was the only underclassmen in the country last season with at least 2 interceptions, 14 solo tackles, and 1 tackle for a loss in 7 games or less.

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Chibueze Onwuka: Moving to the defensive line, Chibueze Onwuka was the only player in the MAC to put up 17 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery in less than 10 games, managing to do it in just 7 games.

Offensive Line: UB returns 80% of their OL starts last year in the form of Kayode Awosika, Jacob Gall, Tomas Jack-Kurdyla, Evin Ksiezarczyk, and Paul Nosworthy. The unit loses their leader, James O’Hagan, but there is still a lot of continuity there. Unfortunately Sports Reference CFB doesn’t have stats for offensive linemen, so we turn to Football Outsiders for their OL unit statistics. The Buffalo OL unit was one of just two in the country last season that finished top 67 in Standard Downs Line Yards, top 27 in Power Success Rate, top 16 in Sack Rate, and top 25 in Passing Downs Sack Rate.

Only time will tell how this translates into wins on the field, but it will definitely prepare you to win the most specific round of sports trivia in your life.