Buffalo Bulls Football: What we learned from 2016 UB Football Media Day

Today, Buffalo held their very own football media day for the local media. The day opened with a press conference from Lance Leipold where we heard what he thought on a variety of topics. Team pictures followed along with player interviews. Without further ado, here's what we learned today:

Regarding the schedule

We all know that this is probably one of the toughest schedules Buffalo will have to play. The worst part about it is the fact that the bye comes during week two. Coach Leipold admitted today that when he first saw the schedule that it wasn't optimal but there is one big positive to it.

There has been a lot of turnaround for the program and many newcomers just arrived to Buffalo less than a month ago. With a week two bye after their game with Albany, the team has the ability to regroup and extend training camp in a way before they have to jet off to Nevada on the week of the 17th. Again, the schedule isn't optimal, but this is great for the incoming freshmen and transfers.

Redshirting

Speaking of the incoming freshman, this year we'll be seeing more true freshmen take a redshirt over playing. Leipold said that at the midpoint of last season he had wished that he kept more players on a redshirt. I agree with this because the program really needs to grow on a solid foundation through the long term and I wasn't a fan of all the redshirts that were burned in last year's FCS matchup versus Albany (See: Johnathan Hawkins).

The offense

Just like last season, Kotelnicki's offense is going to really disrupt the flow of the game by changing the pace. At one moment the team will be much faster and at the next moment we'll see the team slow it down to mess with the opposing defense.

Although the line is not as experienced, Leipold and many players believe that they have plenty of weapons at their disposal. Marcus McGill, Malcolm Robinson, and Jacob Martinez — who is currently injured — are going to be very crucial to UB's receiving corps. Leipold also believes that Mason Schreck is going to be able to spread things out just like Matt Weiser did a year before.

Lance's confidence with Borland

Brian Borland gave UB fans a lot of hope last season and Leipold wasn't surprised with the success that the inexperienced defensive unit had. Borland has been Lance's defensive coordinator for his entire head coaching career. When asked if the team would continue forcing turnovers in the fashion that they did, Leipold seemed sure of it. Apparently, the large spurts of forcing turnovers was common even before the duo came to Buffalo.

The quarterback battle

UB's game with Albany is drawing closer and a starting quarterback has yet to be named between Grant Rohach and Tyree Jackson. When asked who's ahead of the other, Leipold has said that has yet to be discussed with Andy Kotelnicki and most likely will be talked about later this week.

Both QB's are still taking equal snaps and Leipold is confident in both Tyree and Grant's abilities to lead the team. Finally, when asked if he'd possibly play two QB's, Leipold answered with a resounding yes. I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case for the game versus Albany.

The Bulls are back in action on Friday, September 2nd at 7:00 PM versus SUNY rival Albany. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 and season tickets are on sale now.