The defense was billed as one of the strengths for the University at Buffalo this season, in large part because it was the veteran part of the squad, returning eight starters and a deep and experienced backfield.

And when the Bulls needed big stops - either while their offense took time to get cooking or to make up for a lackluster special teams unit - they produced them.

Buffalo's defense pitched the shutout in the 31-0 season-opening win against Rhode Island at UB Stadium on Thursday night. It was the program's first shutout since blanking Ohio, 44-0, on Nov. 3, 2001.

At what point did the defense start to believe they'd be able to seal the shutout?

"First quarter," said senior inside linebacker Justin Winters. "That's what we try to do. We want to be a great, dominant defense this year."

As a unit, the Bulls held Rhode Island to 0 for 3 in the red zone, 0 for 2 on fourth-down conversions and 7 of 21 on third down.

They created turnovers and in the first half a forced fumble and an interception led to Buffalo touchdowns.

And they stepped up to make plays after special teams breakdowns that allowed Rhode Island to have six drive starts in Buffalo territory, including averaging drive starts near midfield for the first half.

"They were angry. They were not real happy about where they had to be on the field," UB coach Jeff Quinn said. "It's a very tenacious group. I can tell you all night long there were some collisions and some hits out there that I know Rhode Island felt. We felt good about going into this game with our defensive personnel and they were able to show up for us tonight."

For Winters, who led the Bulls with eight total tackles -- two for loss -- and one sack, it didn't matter what field position the Rams had.

"We get excited to get on the field any time," Winters said. "Bad field position or not, we're just trying to get the ball back to our offense, let them do what they do."

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For the third straight year the Bulls opened the season with a new face taking snaps as sophomore Jerry Davis got the start Thursday night. And statistically speaking, he had the best night among the three.

Davis completed 21 of his 35 passes for 302 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.

Last year, it was Zach Maynard who led the Bulls to a 23-17 win over UTEP. He completed 12 of his 19 passes for 159 yards with one touchdown.

In 2008, it was Drew Willy who threw four touchdowns in a 42-17 win over UTEP. Willy completed 10 of his 16 passes for 221 yards.

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The Bulls had just one player sit out due to injury. Senior defensive end Jerry Housey was out with a knee injury. ... Alex Dennison played three series at quarterback in the fourth quarter. Dennison completed 4 of 7 passes for 30 yards, and had three rushes for 26 yards. ... Quinn is using a rotating system for captains this year on a game-by-game basis. Thursday's captains for the Bulls were senior defensive back Domonic Cook, kicker A.J. Principe and offensive lineman Peter Bittner.

amoritz@buffnews.comnull