UB's rule of three
Roosevelt, Willy and Starks have pulled UB football to unprecedented heights while providing indelible memories
It was late on the afternoon of Oct. 18 and the University at Buffalo's football season was perched on the brink of disaster. The Bulls trailed Army, 24-10, heading into the fourth quarter. A loss would drop UB to 2-5, severely jeopardize its aspirations of becoming bowl eligible and undermine its confidence for the stretch run of the Mid-American Conference season. What transpired from there on is sheer magic.
The Bulls beat the Black Knights in overtime. They would go on to beat Akron in four overtimes, erase a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit and defeat Bowling Green in double overtime. And then they would strike the most resounding blow of them all, routing heavily favored and 12th-ranked Ball State in the MAC Championship Game.
Heroes abound. But this season will likely be remembered for the exploits of the "Big Three" — senior quarterback Drew Willy, junior running back James Starks and junior wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt. Together they have rewritten 25 career, single-game or single-season school records and provided indelible memories.
There was the "Hail Mary" pass from Willy to Roosevelt that beat Temple and ranks among the four national finalists for the Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Season. There was the 25-yard burst up the middle by Starks that finally put away incredulous Bowling Green on a frigid Ohio night. And there was so very much more.
The News sat down with the "Big Three" shortly after the MAC Championship Game to discuss the implausible ride, one that, as you'll see, captured the attention of the Western New York community.
Buffalo News: The one offensive play from this season that you'll remember most.
Starks: The one I'll remember most is probably the Temple game when Naaman caught the touchdown, the Hail Mary from Drew.
Roosevelt: The Hail Mary was the craziest play ever. I still watch it on TV. It was pretty crazy.
Willy: I don't want to sound the same. Hmm. There's so many this year. Besides that one I would say the first overtime at Bowling Green, down the middle to Brett [Hamlin]. That touchdown right there. ... It was a seam route. I knew he got the linebacker beat and I just let it go thinking get it in front of the safety, and he made a tremendous catch on it. But besides that, probably the Hail Mary.
BN: You guys have all set quite a few records this year. So we're going to test your knowledge of UB football history. Name a player who held one of the records you broke.
Starks: It would be Alan Bell.
Willy: Cliff Scott and Marty Barrett.
Roosevelt: Drew [Haddad].
BN: You all advance to the head of the class. Tell us a funny story about the player to your left.
Starks (on Willy): The only thing I can think about is in a game, I think it was Ohio, and Drew was backing up and like tripped, buckled. That was funny. We looked at it on film and laughed a couple times. He came back to the huddle and was like, "I just tripped."
Willy: It actually hurt a lot, too. My ankle was sore the whole week leading up to the next game.
Willy (on Roosevelt): I guess he looks at himself in a mirror before a game for about 10 minutes. I don't know if everybody notices but I notice because I'm always doing weird things, too, before the game. I think he's just telling himself he's the best in the country. He's always just looking at himself in the mirror. I don't know if he's just trying to get himself ready, but it works for him.
Roosevelt: It's just talking to myself and trying to get ready for the game, that's pretty much it.
Roosevelt (on Starks): A funny thing about James is we always get on him about his tattoo. You can't even tell he's got a tattoo.
Starks: It's my nickname, "Buck." I've had it since I was like 16. It's horrible, though. You can't see it.
BN: Buck?
Starks: Since I was born. My father is Big Buck and I'm junior so they just called me Little Buck. And as I got older they started calling me just Buck.
BN: We'll start with Naaman on this one. One word that describes Turner Gill. And once the word's used the others can't use it.
Roosevelt: Great.
Willy: General. We're just a bunch of soldiers doing what he tells us to do. We take our lead from him.
Starks: Inspirational.
Willy and Roosevelt: Ooooo.
BN: You guys all played high school basketball. I'm going to guess you've been on the court together at some time. Who's the best basketball player among the three of you?
Willy: I think we all do different things better. I'd say slasher over here [Naaman], most athletic [Starks], and I think I probably shoot better.
Roosevelt: Yeah, Drew's got the best jump shot.
Starks: Yeah.
Willy: That was my sport.
BN: Turner says that the Army game was the turning point of the season. Do you agree?
Starks: Yeah, I agree. We were like on a losing streak for a while and it was hard to just get over that little hump. To come back like that, that gave us all confidence that we can still fight for something, we're still in this, don't give up. That was a big turning point.
Willy: I would say the Army game as well. We were struggling in that first half. I remember the one play that really got us going [in the] second half was like a deep in route to Ernest Jackson. He caught it on the move, probably 30-, 35-yard gain and from there the offense really got rolling. After that, I think we hit Naaman on like a 45-yard pass and got it down to the 2 and from there James punched it in. We got in a rhythm and got into overtime, made a huge kick and the defense made that huge stand for them to not even get a shot at a field goal. There were huge plays in that second half and to go to 3-4 instead of 2-5, it was huge for us.
Roosevelt: It was a big game to pretty much get our confidence back because we were kind of down losing all those games. To fight and come back and win, that was a big confidence booster.
BN: We talked about the play you'll remember most. What's the game that you'll remember most from this season up to this point?
Starks: Probably the game we just won, the championship game. After going through the whole season talking about it and then it finally coming and being up by that much. I was happy in the huddle, like, "Drew, we won!" That was the most memorable game for me.
Willy: Mine was Bowling Green by far. We were just on fire in that fourth quarter. I was telling Coach, "We're in the zone right now. Keep throwing it." You don't see that, 27-7, come back like that running our two-minute offense. We practice that all the time. We really enjoy doing that, spreading guys out and getting the ball to James in space. He's pretty much like another receiver out there anyway. I don't think I've ever seen the first guy tackle him. We were spreading it out and I think everyone had a bunch of key catches in that whole fourth quarter. And for him to win the game like that at the end, I was just hoping no one was going to trip him up. I just went to my knees after that and I felt like something was off my shoulders, that whole East Division title. We were very emotional after the game. That was the big game for me.
Roosevelt: I'd have to say Bowling Green, too. That was a pretty crazy game, especially how cold it was out there. It was freezing. I couldn't feel my toes or my fingers. But after a while we got used to it and we got going, and winning the East, that was a crazy thing.
BN: Drew, I had asked you before the Ball State game if you thought you were a team of destiny. At what point did that thought start to enter your head?
Willy: Mine was after the Akron game, winning in four overtimes. We were just thinking that something's got to be going on upstairs because this is quite a season. And then to come back like that against Bowling Green, and then they pop the ball from [Ball State quarterback] Nate Davis at the 1 and we return it 92 yards, we were just thinking, "What's going on?" Then we get another fumble return for a touchdown. We [the offense] didn't even play in the third quarter. We had to restretch and get warmed up again. Then we score a touchdown to Naaman. You could just feel everyone saying, "There's no way we're leaving without that trophy tonight."
Naaman: I'd have to say that Akron game, too. Just to go for first place and win at Akron, especially with that crowd and how crazy the Rubber Bowl was.
Starks: The same thing.
BN: Best defensive player you've gone up against this year, not a teammate. Starks: [Linebacker Erique] Dozier from Bowling Green.
Willy: Mine's that [linebacker] Sean Weatherspoon from Missouri. We were talking the entire game, and I was talking back, but I was feeling some of those hits he was laying on me. He was a tremendous player. I'll give him that. I'm sure he'll be playing on Sundays for a long time.
Roosevelt: I got to say Weatherspoon too because I caught it in the middle and he knocked my helmet off. That was one of the craziest hits I got.
BN: You all came here as quarterbacks, and one of you is leaving as quarterback. Go through your reaction as this competition first took place, and then being told, in the case of James and Naaman, that you weren't going to be a quarterback.
Starks: I never really watched film. I didn't know how to watch film. Drew was always smarter. He'd try to help me on some things but the playbook was hard so they decided to switch me [to defensive back]. Then Coach Turner came in and gave me another chance, and I already knew what I was up against. I'm like, "Oh, man, Drew's smarter than whatever. I don't know how I'm going to do this." So I just tried to show my athletic ability and Drew was always there just trying to help me with what I didn't know. But still, I wasn't mature, because I didn't get that much time with Coach Hofher and I still didn't know the system. I wasn't obviously going to play over him, so they ended up switching my position and seeing what was a fit for me. He found me a home with the running backs and it was the best decision for us.
Roosevelt: Drew was already the man here, so when I first got here Coach Gill told me I was going to wide receiver. I wasn't sad or mad about it. As long as I play I didn't really care. It was a lot of fun and it was different, blocking and doing all that and running around. I didn't know how tiring wide receiver was, but I like it now.
Willy: For me, me and James came in together [Starks redshirted his freshman year]. I saw him drop back a few times and saw him make about 10 guys miss going down the field. I knew we had to get this kid on the field somehow. He's been the best athlete I've seen. We had to get him on the field and everyone was thinking of ways to do it and putting him at running back obviously worked. He's become one of the best in the country. And then Naaman, he was a great high school quarterback and here as well. We were just trying to put our best athletes on the field and I think it's helped us because I can go to them and they know how hard the quarterback position is. And they know what I'm thinking out there. They both know how to read coverages. [James] is seeing Cover 2 out there and he's thinking, "I'm going to gash this up the middle," because they got outside support. And Naaman knows the routes and the offense better than anyone outside myself.
BN: Have you been recognized off campus because of this magical run?
Starks: I was at a Sabres game [in early December] and 15 people came up to me, literally 15 people, and they just shook my hand and said, "Good season." I was confused. Wow. "Nice to meet you." I had on a North Face plain wardrobe, no UB stuff or nothing. "You James Starks? My kid loves you." "Oh, thank you." It's been great.
Willy: The day I noticed was after the Miami game when we played on national TV. More people saw our faces. You can't always see a football player's face through the helmet. But they were on the sidelines a lot that game. Walked into Tim Horton's the next day and everyone started clapping. Even people behind the desk. I was just kind of shocked. It was tremendous. I was sitting there with one of my family members and eating a bagel or whatever and people were coming up saying, "This is the greatest thing UB's ever done," stuff like that. We were 4-4 at the time so I'm thinking, "I can't even imagine what it's going to be like if we bring the whole thing home." It's great just to get the recognition as a program. I want to come back in 20 years and see the program even at a higher level. I'm glad I could be part of that senior group to lead off the first bowl. Expectations are going to go up now.
Roosevelt: It's a little crazy going through the mall and people coming up to you. My girlfriend, when we go out together she gets kind of mad because a lot of people come up to me and talk about the game or talk about the season. She gets pretty mad and doesn't want to walk with me no more. Plus I get a lot of Facebook requests.
Willy: Every time I see a friend request they already got these two in there. ... It's just great for the whole community just to be a part of this whole thing.
BN: When Drew made the "bowl or bust" comment in the spring, what was the reaction within the team. And Drew, your thoughts after you said it.
Willy: I've just got confidence in my guys. I knew the kind of talent that we had and I was seeing all my friends playing on TV, going to bowl games, and then telling me how great it was. I was just like, "There's no reason we can't do it. We've got just as much talent as anyone." When you got two guys like this next to me, you got to shoot for the highest thing. To say bowl or bust, yeah, it was probably a little risky on my part, but I think it might have stirred up some positive stuff for the team. They're probably like, "If Drew's saying it, why not believe it?" And the coaches were probably saying, "You probably shouldn't have said that." ... I look like a genius now.
Roosevelt: I just went with Drew. I was interviewed and they were saying, "Drew said bowl or bust," and I was like, "Yeah. We're going to win a championship and go to a bowl game this year." We all believed that.
Starks: I like when Drew takes charge like that. That fired me up. It made me want to work hard. I thought it was a good thing that he said bowl or bust. It showed some cockiness in him. It showed that he trusts us, trusts our offense and put faith in us. I liked when he said it. I'm happy he said it.
