STORRS — As UConn football bids for a 3-0 start at home, to get over .500 for the season, the Huskies’ offense will make sure to keep an eye on Buffalo linebacker Shaun Dolac, the nation’s leading tackler.
Dolac has 62 total tackles this season, nine more than anyone else at the FBS level, averaging 15.5 per game. A graduate student, he began his career as a walk-on with the Bulls and has played a significant role in what has been a stifling defensive unit to start the season.
Buffalo (3-1) enters Saturday’s game against the Huskies (2-2) after a ranked win over the Huskies of Northern Illinois and is ranked fourth in the country in team tackles for loss – another stat Dolac leads the nation in (9.5 TFLs per game). The Bulls have also recorded at least one interception in each of their games this season and lead the MAC with five total, while holding opponents to just 18.5 points per game.
Game planning against Dolac, UConn head coach Jim Mora says his team needs to be aware of the standout tackler, but his presence doesn’t necessarily change anything in the offensive operation. Last week, quarterback Nick Evers used his legs to open things up for the Huskies’ offense, and the team’s dominance at the line of scrimmage opened the door for a record rushing game.
“He’s really fun to watch. He plays with a tremendous motor – I mean, he runs and he goes – and he’s smart and he anticipates well, but that’s how they play on defense. I mean, the whole defense plays like that,” Mora said. “You just have to do what you do. You have to anticipate that he may react faster than guys you’re seeing in practice or you’ve seen weeks before, and you’ve just got to make sure that you’re technically sound and fundamentally sound and assignment perfect.”
Asked to come up with a comparison, Mora said Dolac reminds him of Jeff Ulbrich, the current defensive coordinator of the New York Jets.
Mora coached Ublrich when Mora was the defensive coordinator in San Francisco with the 49ers and later brought him onto his staff at UCLA as a linebackers coach and special teams coordinator from 2012-14.
“About the same size, about 6-1, 230, just tough as hell, smart as hell, a guy that you can trust as a play caller. Jeff Ulbrich was a guy that I let him call defenses at times. He had the option to change the defense if he saw something,” Mora said. “Now I’m not saying that this kid does the same thing, but I mean, the first thing I did was look to see why I hadn’t heard of him before… He’s a heck of a football player. Really fun to watch on film, probably not as fun to watch in person when you’re on the other sideline.”
UConn football sets rushing records, rolls past Florida Atlantic at Rentschler Field, 48-14
UConn surpassed its program record for rushing yards in a single game (FBS era) with 421 against Florida Atlantic in Week Four, and will continue to rely on running backs Cam Edwards, Durell Robinson and Mel Brown. The Huskies could also get Victor Rosa back from a broken finger.
Buffalo ranks No. 70 in the nation in defending the run (133.8 opponent rushing yards per game) and is 53rd, tied with UMass, in passing defense with 189.5 air yards allowed per game.
UConn’s ‘club’ club
Clubs are common for football players to wear after suffering a hand injury to prevent further damage.
It isn’t as common for a team to run out on defense with at least three different players wearing one, but UConn has been and will again this week.
Safety Malik Dixon-Williams, who broke his hand in preseason camp, picked the brains of teammates Tui Faumina-Brown and Aaron Key before he was cleared to play.
“They had already had hand injuries so when I got hurt, I asked them, ‘How do you get off blocks? How do you make tackles?’ and they just told me a couple tricks and reminders and stuff like that,” Dixon-Williams said Tuesday. “But for the most part it’s the same thing, just go out there and be physical and you’ll be alright.”
It helps that his thumb was left out of the heavy wrap that goes around his hand during games and practices. He is able to take it off when he’s at home, where he has a fiance and a baby daughter.
“My hand’s definitely strong enough to hold her,” he said.
Buffalo’s biggest game of the year?
Pete Lembo, in his first year as Buffalo’s head coach, is certainly not taking UConn lightly.
The Bulls entered the year with low external expectations. They were ranked five spots below UConn before the season at No. 125 in The Athletic’s preseason ranking of all 134 FBS programs.
But Lembo’s team, to this point, has overperformed and finds itself coming off a ranked win over NIU, the team that stunned Notre Dame and the college football world two weeks ago.
“It’s the biggest game of the year,” Lembo said, referring to UConn. “It’s the next game, No. 1, but No. 2, this is a really, really important game for us. And (UConn is) really good. All we’ve got to do is watch 10 minutes of the film. You want to move on? Just turn on the film and watch them just absolutely dismantle FAU last week. That’ll get your attention pretty quick.”
What to know
Site: Rentschler Field in East Hartford
Line: UConn by 5.5
Time: Noon.
TV: CBS Sports Network – Jordan Kent, Logan Ryan, Keiana Martin
Radio: UConn Sports Network from Learfield, Fox Sports 97.9
Online: The Varsity Network App – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman, Adam Giardino
2024 record: UConn: 2-2, Buffalo: 3-1
Series: UConn leads, 16-5.
Last meeting: Sept. 28, 2013 – Buffalo 41, UConn 12 at UB Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y.
Pregame reading:
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