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The Robert Morris Colonials of the FCS take to the road to face the pride of the MAC, the Buffalo Bulls, Thursday night at UB Stadium in what will be each team’s 2019 season opener.
The game (7 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but you can watch it right here via ESPN+, the digital streaming service from ESPN that includes multiple MAC football games every week, other college football and live sports, all the 30-for-30 documentaries and additional original content (both video and written) all for $4.99 per month.
You can sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch Buffalo vs Robert Morris live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
Robert Morris vs Buffalo Preview
Robert Morris is coming off another tough season as they finished 2-9 with a 0-6 record in NEC play – good for last place in the conference. Robert Morris has found themselves at least sharing a slice of last place in the NEC for each of the past three years and hasn’t finished higher than third in the conference since the last time they won it in 2010. Thankfully for Morris, they return nine offensive and eight defensive starters – meaning they should be one of the more experienced units in the NEC.
Returning star tight end Matthew Gonzalez is arguably Morris’ biggest weapon and is coming off a stellar 12 touchdown season last year. Buffalo had some trouble containing tight ends last season, so don’t be surprised to see Gonzalez have himself a nice day to start the season. Make no mistake, while he plays in the FCS, Gonzalez is a legitimate NFL prospect and well worth keeping an eye on.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bulls steamrolled through MAC play last season before stumbling mightily at the finish line. First losing in a blowout to Ohio, the Bulls would go on to lose the conference championship to Northern Illinois two weeks later before dropping their bowl game to Troy. When all was said and done, the Bulls had lost three out of their last four games and soured what had been shaping up to be one of the best seasons in program history.
Buffalo should look entirely different this year as Tyree Jackson and his favorite target, Anthony Johnson, both moved on to the NFL. Buffalo also lost a number of breakout players to larger programs and is now tasked with filling in almost an entirely new offense alongside some key pieces on the defensive side of the ball. That said, the Bulls have plenty of talent waiting in the wings ready to step up and produce. Most notably, standout freshman running back Jaret Patterson looks ready to step into a larger role this season and the MAC freshman of the year could be in line for a huge season.
The game should likely serve more as a tune-up for Buffalo as while they are missing a number of key contributors from last season, they remain by far the more talented squad. Expect Gonzalez to give the Bulls some trouble early before Buffalo opens up the game with an offensive onslaught in the second half to pull away.