2017 Buffalo Bulls football team
The 2017 Buffalo Bulls football team represented the University at Buffalo in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulls were led by third-year head coach Lance Leipold and played their home games at University at Buffalo Stadium as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. The Bulls finished the season 6–6, 4–4 in MAC play to finish in a tie for third place in the East Division. Despite being bowl-eligible, the Bulls did not receive an invitation to a bowl game.
2017 Buffalo Bulls football | |
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Conference | Mid-American Conference |
East Division | |
2017 record | 6–6 (4–4 MAC) |
Head coach | Lance Leipold (3rd season) |
Offensive coordinator | Andy Kotelnicki (3rd season) |
Defensive coordinator | Brian Borland (3rd season) |
Base defense | 4–3 |
Home stadium | University at Buffalo Stadium (Capacity: 29,013) |
2017 Mid-American Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
East Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Akron xy | 6 | – | 2 | 7 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ohio | 5 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Miami | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Buffalo | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling Green | 2 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kent State | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Toledo xy$ | 7 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Central Michigan | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Illinois | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Western Michigan | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Michigan | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ball State | 0 | – | 8 | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Championship: Toledo 45, Akron 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
The Bulls finished the 2016 season 2–10, 1–7 in MAC play to finish in last place in the East Division.
Coaching staff
Name | Title |
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Lance Leipold | Head Coach |
Rob Ianello | Associate Head Coach/Wide Receivers Coach |
Brian Borland | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties Coach |
Andy Kotelnicki | Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Coach |
Daryl Agpalsa | Offensive Line Coach |
Alan Hensell | Tight Ends Coach |
Chris Simpson | Linebackers Coach |
Tim Edwards | Defensive Line Coach |
Jim Zebrowski | Quarterbacks Coach |
Taiwo Onatolu | Cornerbacks Coach |
Source:[1]
Season notes
Record setting game
On October 7, 2017, the Bulls and Western Michigan to score 139 points in a game that took a record-tying seven overtimes to settle. Buffalo lost 71–68.[2] The game marked the highest-scoring FBS game, breaking the previous record set in 2016.[3]
Bowl snub
On November 24, 2017, Buffalo gained bowl eligibility for just the third time in school history.[4] The Bulls had previously made appearances in the now-defunct International Bowl in 2008 and the Potato Bowl in 2013, then were denied bowl eligibility after a game the Bulls were likely to win was canceled due to a snowstorm and never rescheduled in 2014. The loss of one bowl game compared to the 2016 season and the distribution of wins and losses across the Bowl Subdivision meant that, unlike previous years, there were three fewer openings than there were teams to fill them, and the Bulls were one of the three teams snubbed by all of the bowls.
Schedule
Buffalo announced their 2017 football schedule on January 23, 2017.[5] In out-of-conference play, the Bulls will meet former Western Michigan head coach P.J. Fleck's Minnesota team, as well as the Lane Kiffin-led FAU Owls.
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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August 31 | 7:00 p.m. | at Minnesota* | BTN | L 7–17 | 43,224 | |
September 9 | 12:00 p.m. | at Army* | CBSSN | L 17–21 | 24,017 | |
September 16 | 6:00 p.m. | Colgate* | ESPN3 | W 33–10 | 11,546 | |
September 23 | 7:00 p.m. | Florida Atlantic* |
| ESPN3 | W 34–31 | 14,246 |
September 30 | 3:30 p.m. | at Kent State | ESPN3 | W 27–13 | 12,355 | |
October 7 | 3:30 p.m. | Western Michigan |
| ESPNU | L 68–71 7OT | 17,048 |
October 14 | 3:30 p.m. | Northern Illinois |
| ESPN3 | L 13–14 | 12,784 |
October 21 | 2:30 p.m. | at Miami (OH) | ESPN3 | L 14–24 | 13,803 | |
October 28 | 11:30 a.m. | at Akron |
| CBSSN | L 20–21 | 17,427 |
November 7 | 7:30 p.m. | Bowling Green |
| ESPNU | W 38–28 | 12,205 |
November 16 | 7:00 p.m. | at Ball State | CBSSN | W 40–24 | 5,248 | |
November 24 | 1:00 p.m. | Ohio |
| ESPN3 | W 31–24 | 12,273 |
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Source:[6]
Game summaries
at Minnesota
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulls | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Golden Gophers | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
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0–1 | 2002 | MINN, 41–17 |
at Army
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulls | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Black Knights | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
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3–2 | 2016 | BUFF, 23–20OT |
Colgate
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raiders | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
Bulls | 20 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 33 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
7–8 | 2003 | COLG, 38–15 |
Florida Atlantic
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Owls | 7 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
Bulls | 14 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
1–0 | 2015 | BUFF, 33–15 |
at Kent State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulls | 7 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
Golden Flashes | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
11–11 | 2016 | KENT, 44–20 |
Western Michigan
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | 3OT | 4OT | 5OT | 6OT | 7OT | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broncos | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 71 |
Bulls | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 68 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
2–6 | 2016 | WMU, 38–0 |
Northern Illinois
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Huskies | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Bulls | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
1–10 | 2016 | NIU, 44–7 |
at Miami (OH)
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulls | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
RedHawks | 10 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
6–13 | 2016 | MIA, 35–24 |
at Akron
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulls | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
Zips | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
6–10 | 2016 | BUFF, 41–20 |
Bowling Green
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Falcons | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
Bulls | 21 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
3–11 | 2016 | BGSU, 27–19 |
at Ball State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bulls | 10 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 40 |
Cardinals | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
1–9 | 2016 | BSU, 31–21 |
Ohio
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bobcats | 7 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
Bulls | 24 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
9–14 | 2016 | OHIO, 34–10 |
References
- Buffalo Football Coaches. University at Buffalo Athletics. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
- "Western Michigan vs. Buffalo - Game Recap - October 7, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- "Seven OTs, 139 points: WMU edges Buffalo in highest-scoring, longest FBS game". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
- "Bulls Become Bowl Eligible with Win over Ohio on Senior Day". Buffalo. 2017-11-24. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
- UB Announces 2017 Football Opponents. January 23, 2017. UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
- 2017 Buffalo Bulls football schedule. FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 29, 2017.