The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
Today’s theme has unintentionally turned out to be ‘Disappointing MAC Teams.’ The reality of the situation is that the MAC, with a few solid counter-examples, has had a pretty rough out of conference season, and more MAC teams have reached six games than the other conferences, so they make up a lot of this week’s posts. As for Buffalo, this season held a lot of hope- they won the MAC last year, their coach has garnered unprecedented national attention, and the school has left it’s laughingstock ways behind. Unfortunately, they’re sitting at 2-4 and 0-2 in the league after a 4 game losing skid made life difficult.
- Wins: D. The lone 1-A win was in the opening weekend at UTEP, which seemed to signal the start of something good. Instead, the Bulls dropped games to Pitt, UCF, Temple, and MAC powerhouse Central Michigan. All four of these teams might still be good, but that’s still not the start that UB fans had hoped for.
- Offense: B-. Buffalo’s offense has been solid overall, putting up 405 per game, good for 39th in the country. Scoring offense has been the problem- the yards aren’t turning into points, with a 97th best 22 points per.
- Defense:B-. The defense has kept Buffalo in some of these games so far, but the offense has let them down with the points. Total defense sits at 42nd overall, and scoring defense is at a respectable 25 ppg, 68th in the country and 5th in the MAC.
- Special Teams: F. Without seeing many of their games, it’s hard to know exactly how bad this is hurting them, but punting and the return game are terrible- 117th in the country punting, not much better on the return side.
- Turnovers: F. -8 on the season, and it shows on the scoreboard- when your offense gives the ball away, no wonder their scoring is so low.
- Grading Curve: No Change. The 92nd rated schedule strength suggests that Buffalo should be doing a little better. They’re 1-3 against teams that I would consider to be in their class, which is a bit disappointing.
- Final Grade: C-. I think the stats point to a team that is better than their record, but turnovers and special teams play are costing them big.
Remaining Games:
- Akron
- at Western Michigan
- Bowling Green
- Ohio
- at Miami
- at Kent State
Best Case Scenario:6-0. It sounds almost absurd, but when you look at the stats laid out, there’s nobody left that Buffalo absolutely cannot beat. Do I think they’re going to? It’s not likely. But it’s a best case scenario.
Worst Case Scenario: 2-4. If Buffalo keeps turning the ball over like they have been, the losses are going to keep piling up.
Prediction:4-2. With the teams lying ahead of them, I think Buffalo can salvage their season and make a little noise in the MAC. They won’t win it, and a bowl bid could be tough to come by, but it’s too soon to throw in the towel completely.