When you think of elite collegiate programs, Buffalo Bulls football doesn’t immediately come to mind. Since its return to FBS in 1999 after a nearly three decade absence, UB has managed just two winning seasons. But the program has been around as long as many of the sport’s blue bloods and has had intermittent success throughout its history.
UB football was initially founded in 1894 by a group of medical students. The team actually went undefeated twice before the turn of the century and defeated Penn State 10-0 in 1900. But the program was shuddered after the 1903 season and didn’t resume until 1915.
Buffalo Bulls Football Mount Rushmore
It was then that the team took the nickname “Bisons” which they would be known as until 1930 when the current “Bulls” moniker was established. This was done to distinguish them from Buffalo’s professional baseball team. Under head coach Jim Peelle, the Bulls would go 38-34-1 from 1935-42 before World War II forced the program to be discontinued once again.
The program returned in 1946. Nine years later, Dick Offenhamer would take over as head coach and lead UB to a highly successful decade. From 1955-65, the Bulls went 58-37-5 and received an invitation to the 1958 Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, FL. But they courageously refused the invite after it became known that their two African-American players, Mike Wilson and Willie Evans, would not be allowed to play due to segregation.
Famed defensive mind Buddy Ryan, who recently passed away, has connections with UB football. One of Ryan’s first coaching gigs was a stint as Buffalo’s defensive line coach from 1961-65. The Bulls defense posted 12 shutouts during his tenure with the team.
But when the two left after the 1965 season, things began to fall apart. Five years later, the program was shut down for the third time in its history. Football returned in 1977, albeit at Division III level where it would remain until 1992. From 1993-99, the Bulls would play I-AA football before joining the Mid-American Conference where they’ve been ever since.
Turner Gill
One could make the argument that Offenhamer has a greater case for inclusion than Turner Gill. This is especially true when you compare their records as head coach of the Bulls. But considering what Gill inherited when he took over and where the UB program was when he left, the nod goes to him.
Since joining the MAC in 1999, Buffalo went a combined 10-69 in the seven seasons before Gill’s arrival. The program was considered arguably one of the worst in FBS. In 2005, one year before Gill was named head coach, UB averaged just ten points per game which was second worst in the nation.
But the program’s fortunes quickly changed for the better under Gill. The Bulls’ win total improved in each of his first three seasons at the helm. In year two of his tenure, UB finished 5-7 including a 5-3 mark in the MAC. It led to Gill being named MAC Coach of the Year.
Then in 2008, he orchestrated an 8-6 campaign which included the school’s first conference title in football. It came after UB pulled off a shocking 42-24 upset of Ball State in the MAC Championship. The Cardinals came into the game undefeated and ranked in the top 15 nationally.
Such a massive turnaround put Gill on the radar of bigger programs with job openings. He was linked with his alma mater Nebraska after the Cornhuskers fired Bill Callahan in 2007. A year later, he interviewed with both Auburn and Syracuse before eventually signing a five-year extension with UB. However, his stay in Buffalo would come to an end in 2009 after he accepted the head coaching position at Kansas.
Gill is currently the head coach at Liberty University, a post he has held since 2012.
Drew Willy
Drew Willy experienced the entire spectrum of winning and losing while at Buffalo. The Randolph, NJ native arrived in 2005 which turned out to be Jim Hofher‘s final year as head coach. Willy was thrown to the wolves as a true freshman and it showed. He appeared in ten games, made eight starts, and finished with six touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Bulls went 1-10 and promptly fired Hofher after the season.
But under Gill’s tutelage, Willy eventually blossomed into one of the MAC’s top quarterbacks. He showed yearly improvement in his three remaining seasons with the Bulls. This included a standout senior campaign in which he played a major role in UB’s 2008 MAC title. Willy finished with 3,304 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and a mere six interceptions. And he remains the school’s all-time leader in career passing yards (8,748), 200+ yard games (23), completions (849) and completion percentage (64.2 percent).
Willy went undrafted in the 2009 NFL Draft. Afterwards, he bounced around a few NFL teams including the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets and San Diego Chargers. In 2012, he signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL and was part of their Grey Cup winning team a year later. He was then traded to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, starting all but one game in his first season with the team in 2014. He remains with the team to this day.
Branden Oliver
There are a few running backs from UB’s recent history whose resumes warrant consideration for the school’s Mount Rushmore. James Starks was the team’s leading rusher during their MAC championship year of 2008. Two years later, he won a Super Bowl ring as a rookie after being drafted by the Green Bay Packers. Anthone Taylor had three games where he rushed for over 200 yards as a junior in 2014. He also finished that season with 1,403 rushing yards, the second-best effort in school history.
But the edge inevitably goes to Branden Oliver. The diminutive 5’7″ speedster rewrote the UB record book over the course of his four seasons with the Bulls (2010-13). His sophomore and senior years with the team are particularly noteworthy. He combined for 2,930 yards on the ground and added 28 rushing touchdowns during those two seasons.
As a senior, Oliver rushed for 1,535 yards which remains a school record. He added 15 touchdowns and helped the Bulls finish 8-5 and receive an invite to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, ID. It marked the school’s best record by winning percentage since 1962. The Miami native finished his UB career as the school’s all-time leader in career rushing yards (4,049), rushing attempts (866) and 100+ yard games (20).
Oliver went undrafted in 2014 but eventually signed with the San Diego Chargers. And due to injuries, he became a fairly regular contributor to their ground game as a rookie. Oliver made seven starts and rushed for 582 yards, adding three rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown. His yardage total was fourth-best among rookie running backs.
Khalil Mack
It’s hard to believe that a player of Khalil Mack‘s caliber escaped notice from the big-time programs of his native Florida. But Mack didn’t take up football until his junior year of high school and as such didn’t receive a great deal of interest. Needless to say, that all changed throughout the course of his collegiate career.
After redshirting in 2009, it didn’t take long for Mack to establish himself as one of the most dominant defensive players in the MAC. In his first two seasons alone, he finished with a combined ten sacks, 35 tackles for loss, 12 pass breakups, seven forced fumbles and an interception. Nevertheless, he still remained a relative unknown outside of the conference.
Then came UB’s 2013 season opener against Ohio State in Columbus. Mack was a thorn in the side of Buckeyes quarterback Braxton Miller all day. That was supremely evident when he picked off Miller in the second quarter and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. Though OSU eventually won the game 40-22, Mack’s performance that also included 2.5 sacks suddenly had him on the radar of teams at the next level.
It didn’t end there. Mack was as dominant as ever on a UB defense that finished as the MAC’s second best team in yards allowed. His 100 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 18.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions and five forced fumbles all led the team. For his efforts, he was named 2013 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. And the following April, the Oakland Raiders selected him with the fifth overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Mack has proven to be as good as advertised in his first two seasons as a pro. He has started all 32 regular season games the Raiders have played. Mack lined up both as a defensive end and an outside linebacker last season, excelling in both roles. As a result, he became the first player in NFL history to be named an AP All-Pro at more than one position.
