Early scouting report: Buffalo Bulls

Academic calendars are over, summer is heating up and the offseason is in full swing for college football programs around the nation. While rosters are hardly finalized as plenty of transfers still seek destinations, each school has a pretty good sense of what their team will look like come fall.

With that, we'll turn our attention to the Badgers' slate of 2023 opponents. The season will kick off on Sept. 2 against the Buffalo Bulls, Wisconsin's first out-of-conference foe.

The Buffalo Bulls are beginning a new era of sorts. They're led by head coach Maurice Linguist, who just authored the program's third bowl win in their 33-season history. Linguist has an extensive background coaching defensive backs in both the collegiate and professional ranks, and his mastery of the secondary has already paid dividends — last year, safety Marcus Fuqua led the nation in interceptions with seven on his way to AP All-American Honors.

Buffalo has generated some momentum as a program in recent years, achieving success they're not used to seeing in western New York. In 2018, then-head coach Lance Leipold (now at Kansas) led them to their first ever 10-win season and their third ever bowl game. In 2019, they won their first ever bowl game and in 2020, they cracked the AP top-25 for the first time in program history.

Now, Linguist is trying to build something sustainable at Buffalo. He'll return much of his important pieces on both sides of the ball, namely his top quarterback, top two running backs and the aforementioned ball-hawking safety Fuqua. They're projected to be one of the stronger teams in the MAC, although their schedule doesn't do them many favors. In addition to drawing Wisconsin in the out of conference slate, they'll host Liberty two weeks later, which will hardly be a gimme. On top of that, they have to face Toledo, Ohio and Miami of Ohio — three of the MAC's premier teams — in consecutive weeks late in the year.

Overall, the arrow is pointing up for Buffalo. If Linguist can get this team to another bowl game in 2023, which would be just the second time the program reached consecutive bowl games, he may be the real deal. Success is hard to sustain in the MAC, especially with the prevalence of the transfer portal and the ability of Power Five schools to poach the top Group of Five talent. But if Linguist can continue to build his culture, predicated on a ball-hawking defense, the Bulls could become one of the MAC's premier programs.

Darrell Harding, WR, Duke — Harding spent four seasons in Durham, but never developed into the dynamic receiver the Blue Devils hoped he would. In four seasons, he appeared in 26 games and caught 35 balls for 452 yards without scoring a touchdown. Coming out of high school, Harding was a solid three-star prospect with several Power Five offers including Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina and Mississippi State. In his fifth season of collegiate ball, he'll look to quickly develop rapport with Bulls' quarterback Cole Snyder and become the threat he never was a Duke.

Micah Woods, WR, Class of 2023 — Once again, an incoming receiver is important for the Bulls because they have a lot of production to replace in that department. Woods is a promising player and one of the gems of Buffalo's MAC-leading 2023 recruiting class. The three-star Kansas native wasn't offered by any Power Five programs, but the wide out displayed great release and change of direction at Hutchinson C.C. high school in Kansas. As a three-star, he's already one of the highest-touted prospects on the Bulls' roster, and he should work his way into the starting lineup sooner rather than later.

D'Andre Greeley, CB, Colorado State — Buffalo is a team that needs to utilize the transfer portal as much as they can, because their high school recruiting simply isn't robust enough to fill the roster out with the talent they need. Enter Greeley, a cornerback from Colorado State. As Linguist tries to construct his secondary in his vision, he needs experienced players like Greeley who have already proven they can compete at the college level.

Justin Marshall, WR — This is a big one. This is why the incoming wide receivers will be vital for the Bulls to maintain a respectable offense in 2023. Marshall was a problem last season, reeling in 64 catches for 837 yards and nine touchdowns. He was the favorite target of Snyder, and for good reason: his 13.1 yards-per-reception led the team, as did his longest receiving play of 69 yards. Marshall was nothing short of explosive, and the Bulls desperately need someone to assume his role as the alpha wide receiver.

Quian Williams, WR — Clearly, Buffalo has some offensive firepower to replace. Williams was second fiddle to Marshall a season ago, but not by much. His 61 catches for 743 yards and five touchdowns were second on the team. The loss of the top two receivers, who were easily the most productive, will be a challenge to replace.

Keyshawn Cobb, S — Buffalo's defensive backfield was feisty a season ago, but they'll have to replace one of their top performers from 2022 in the safety Cobb. He was a menace in the secondary a season ago, and a versatile one at that. Cobb was third on the team in tackles while also notching 1.5 sacks, seven passes defended, one interception, three forced fumbles and a touchdown. The do-it-all safety was always around the ball, and his presence roaming the secondary will be sorely missed in Buffalo.

- Nik McMillan has been impressive: As mentioned, Buffalo has a massive gap in production to make up for after the departures of their top two receivers, Marshall and Williams. One of the players that will be tasked with filling that void will be McMillan, a redshirt freshman wide out. He reportedly caught four passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns during the Bulls' spring game, an exclamation point on what's been a head-turning camp for the receiver who has yet to record a collegiate statistic.

- Cole Snyder is firmly the starter at quarterback: Snyder was the Bulls starting gunslinger in 2022, and he played well if not electric. He threw for 3,030 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 58.8 percent of his passes. He also added on four rushing scores. He had a somewhat shaky performance in the spring game, but Linguist appears set on Snyder as his guy and facilitating competition behind him.

- WR, TE and backup QB are the biggest position battles: Buffalo retains much of its core that won the program's third ever bowl game a season ago, particularly on defense. However, the offense has plenty of spots up for grabs, most notably at wide out and tight end. The issues at wide receiver are well documented by now, and the Bulls' tight ends weren't productive last year — their top tight end Robbie Mangas caught just 16 passes for 141 yards. Whoever backs up the incumbent starter Snyder is also still up for grabs, a competition which features Gunnar Gray, Mike DePillo, Richie Watts and C.J. Ogbonna.

Buffalo has a pretty well-constructed roster at this point, save for some deficiencies with their pass-catchers. Their offensive weapons are solid, but they don't have anyone that strikes fear into the heart of opposing defensive coordinators. Thus, we'll go with the safety Fuqua for this category.

After leading the nation in interceptions, Fuqua is as dangerous as they come in the defensive backfield. His interceptions tend to come in bunches, like when he picked off Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn — one of the better quarterbacks in the entire country— three times in week eight last season. His ballhawking prowess may be especially dangerous to the Badgers, who will be breaking in a new offensive system in the opener. One miscommunication or missed signal between Tanner Mordecai and Phil Longo, coupled with a good read from Fuqua, could lead to a disastrous turnover.

Fuqua isn't just a one-trick pony. He finished fourth on the team in tackles, and also notched two fumble recoveries, both signs that he's always around the football. He won't be surprising any coordinators like he might've last year, but Fuqua is the kind of defensive back that must be accounted for at all times.

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