UB has been getting good publicity in the Buffalo News all this week. Some informative articles. Here's today's on the QB's. I have to say, I was not real impressed with Secky last year. His immobility in the pocket killed UB. If you can't buy extra time in the pocket you better be a damn accurate passer and he wasn't that either. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he will benefit greatly from last year's misery. If not, I'm very glad to hear that Hofher will not hesitate to make a switch this season.
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<a href='http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030808/2031182.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030...808/2031182.asp</a>
By ANGEL VERDEJO
News Sports Reporter
8/8/2003
Randall Secky is the first-team quarterback by seniority only, though he started every game for the University at Buffalo last season and had all but five of the team's completed passes.
P.J. Piskorik has been with the Bulls for two years and not seen any game action, but he impressed coaches during spring drills.
Then there are the two freshmen, one a redshirt (Stewart Sampsel) and the other in his first year in the program (Chris Moore).
No, this isn't the start of a signal-calling controversy on campus, but coaches have stated they have been impressed with their quarterbacks and will wait to even think about naming a starter. For now, though, Secky is the incumbent and it's still his job to lose, coaches say.
"Randall can't relax because (sophomore Piskorik) is nipping at him and Stewart is improving every day," quarterback coach Don Best said.
A junior from Maple Grove, Secky completed 48.5 percent of his passes (204 of 421) and threw for 2,015 yards last season. His number of attempts was a single-season Bulls record. Secky had 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions but had minus-153 yards rushing, most of which resulted from 35 sacks that UB gave up.
The Bulls finished 1-11 last season and will be looking to improve an offense that ranked 116th in Division I-A football, averaging 276.17 yards per game. The Bulls finished ahead of only the one team they beat, Rutgers (214). UB finished 112th in scoring offense and 113th in passing efficiency.
"Last year was a very disappointing season, not only for me but for the entire team," Secky said. "We won one game early in the year, got excited and then after that lost 10 in a row. And that's real hard because everyone came from winning programs here so they're used to winning."
This case was true for the 6-foot-4, 216-pound Secky. Twice he was named All-Western New York, first-team All-State and New York's Class D Player of the Year. Secky still holds the state single-season record with 33 touchdowns and has Western New York career records in attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns.
Secky hasn't found the same success with the Bulls, but with the Division I-A program starting many underclassmen and freshmen, hurdles are expected. Now the team returns 17 starters and Secky has an advantage over his competition with a year's worth of game experience.
"That's got to account for something in terms of what he's seen," coach Jim Hofher said. "He's a stronger guy. He has a very strong command of all of our terminology. He has great command at the line of scrimmage.
"His knowledge plus his experience ought to allow him to be a more-productive, less-mistake guy. And if he'll do that, he'll help 10 other guys be able to perform better when he's in there."
The four quarterbacks and Best have used many drills in the opening practices to focus on footwork and strides. Best came to UB in March and was with the team during spring drills. He said Secky has a commanding presence with his size but needs to improve on mechanical aspects of his game.
In watching film from last season, Best noticed that many times Secky would pick the right receiver or the open target. He would over-stride and become less accurate with his passes, overthrowing the receivers or throwing the ball to the left or right.
"He's got a good arm and he makes good decisions," Best said. "He's very sharp in the mental aspect of the game, (he's) got to get more consistent in the physical aspect, but very sharp in the mental aspect."
Secky's got the size, arm and game experience. The other quarterbacks, however, have virtues of their own. Piskorik's edge, coaches said, is his mobility. He certainly may see time on the field, to give defenses a different look and expose him to the elements he won't see or hear in practice.
"Randall is our quarterback, but we have other guys who play other positions and they're the starters, but other guys play," Hofher said. "The quarterback position in some ways shouldn't be different. If we got guys who can be productive, we need to play them. They should be able to be on the field.
"If that means the starter comes off and the second-team guy comes on because the second-team guy can do something well, it's good for our team and it's good for our players. As long as we're getting good play from the players who are on the field, that's what we have to have."
