Blue White Illustrated

USA Today, showcased on "ESPN Col- lege GameDay" and listed by Athlon as a candidate to succeed the recently fired Tim Beckman at Illinois – all without having coached a single game in his new conference, the Mid-American. That's a big change for a guy whose name might not have rung a lot of bells among fans of major-college football back when Buffalo announced his hir- ing last December. But to followers of the sport's lower divisions, Leipold was not just a rising star. He was the rising star. In eight seasons at Wisconsin-White- water, his alma mater, Leipold won six Division III national championships. From 2009-11, his teams won 46 consec- utive games and claimed three titles. Then came a disappointing 7-3 finish in 2012. Was the Warhawk dynasty coming to an end? Not even close. Leipold's team bounced back with consecutive 15-0 seasons and won two more national championship trophies in 2013 and '14. All told, he went 109-6 at Wisconsin- Whitewater, reaching 100 victories faster than any coach in NCAA history in any division. And now, at age 51, he's taking on a new challenge. Buffalo has given him his first shot as a Football Bowl Subdivision head coach, but as athletic director Danny White told The Spectrum, Buffalo's stu- dent newspaper, it isn't as though school officials feel they're taking a risk. Said White, "Nobody in the history of the game has been as successful as Lance Leipold." There is, of course, more on-field talent at the FBS level, where recruiting is a year-round preoccupation, than there is in Division III, where scholarships aren't offered. But there are also more resources at a coach's disposal. "You have nine assistant coaches and support staff people around you each and every day, and that's one of the things I've gladly adjusted to," Leipold said. "Normally, Brian Borland, our defensive coordinator here who was with me all eight years at Whitewater, probably would have taught two classes this morning, and I would have had to try to figure out when he and [offensive coor- dinator] Andy Kotelnicki would be done teaching classes so I could get them to- gether. So that's the part that's been good." Buffalo romped in its opener over visit- ing Albany, racking up a 198-yard edge in total offense en route to a 51-14 victory. The Bulls' two big offensive stars lived up to their billing in that game, as senior quarterback Joe Licata completed 20 of 26 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns and senior running back Anthone Taylor rushed for 104 yards and two TDs on 17 carries. "We definitely feel our skill posi- tions are going to be one of the stronger points [this] season," Leipold said. But Albany is from the Football Cham- pionship Subdivision, and the game day atmosphere in 31,000-seat UB Stadium was nothing like the experience that awaits this week at Penn State. The Nit- tany Lions will be eager to bounce back aBer last weekend's flop at Temple, and they're likely to have at least 90,000 on hand to cheer them on. Leipold is not unfamiliar with that type of environment. He may have gained stature in Division III, but he was a grad- uate assistant on Wisconsin's staff when the Badgers went to the Rose Bowl in 1993, and he later spent three seasons at Nebraska, including the 2001 season in which the Cornhuskers played for the national championship. Now that he's in the Mid-American Conference, Leipold is unlikely to repli- cate his winning percentage at Wiscon- sin-Whitewater, and no one is expecting that level of success. Buffalo's program is still in a building phase, in every sense of the word. It has just added a club-seating area to UB Stadium, and it is trying to come up with the funding for an indoor practice facility. The Bulls are the only MAC team that doesn't have either an indoor space or a plan to build one – something of a liability given the severity of western New York winters. For now, they're using the Buffalo Bills' facility, which is a 25-minute drive from campus. The Bulls have never been a consistent success, playing in only three bowl games and winning only two MAC titles in their Division I history. But in Leipold, they feel they have the right man for a challenging job. As White told The Spec- trum, "The more I work with him, the easier it is for me to understand how he went 109-6." NATE BAUER RECORD 0-1 The Temple game was a disaster for a variety of reasons, but losing Wart- man-White is the only disaster that has to carry over to week two. Against an inexperienced Buffalo defense, Penn State's offense has an opportu- nity to regroup and regain some of the confidence it lost last weekend. PENN STATE 30, BUFFALO 13 PHIL GROSZ RECORD 0-1 We'll find out on Saturday if James Franklin is able to come up with an- swers to Penn State's problems on of- fense. If that happens, the Nittany Lions can still win this game by a com- fortable margin, but that answer won't come till Saturday at noon. PENN STATE 24, BUFFALO 10 MATT HERB RECORD 0-1 I still like Penn State at home, even after last week's debacle, but with one big caveat: The Lions need to get off to a strong start. If the offense flounders early, I could see some of those confi- dence issues resurfacing, allowing Buf- falo to hang in there till the end. PENN STATE 27, BUFFALO 13 TIM OWEN RECORD 0-1 I just have an inkling that this game will bear an annoying resemblance to last year's home opener vs. Akron – nearly three quarters of inconsistent play from Penn State's offense before it finally wears down Buffalo's defense in the end. PENN STATE 21, BUFFALO 3 RYAN SNYDER RECORD 0-1 Penn State has some real work to do if it is going to reach its preseason goals, but it should be able to outclass Buffalo in the home opener. PENN STATE 31, BUFFALO 14 S E P T E M B E R 9 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 BWI'S FORECAST

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