Notables from Buffalo HC Pete Lembo's press conference ahead of Minnesota's season opener
On Tuesday, Buffalo head coach Pete Lembo met with the media for the last time before the Minnesota Golden Gophers welcome the Bulls to Huntington Bank Stadium on Thursday evening.
Here are some important takeaways from Lembo’s press conference.
Buffalo ‘aspires’ to be a Minnesota-like team
As most head coaches do during the non-conference slate, Lembo began his press conference on Thursday by discussing how good an opponent Minnesota is and praising the Gophers’ program.
“PJ Fleck’s done a really, really nice job of building this Minnesota program into a consistent winner,” Lembo said. “They’ve had a bunch of winning seasons. I think they’ve won six bowl games during his time there. He’s also had some really, really good assistant coaches. He’s got a great staff right now. He’s had some other guys go through there that have had really, really spectacular careers as assistants.”
Lembo is especially impressed with the culture of the Gophers’ program.
“The thing they all have in common is that they know what he wants, they know the culture, they know the systems, and you’ll see that he often promotes from within when he has a guy leave,”
he continued. “So that’s always a really good reflection on the quality of the people and having those people on the same page.”
On the field, the Gophers impress the Buffalo head coach as well.
“One thing that’s very consistent with all of their teams, they play really, really strong defense, and they play very good complementary football in all three phases,” he said. “And while we’re certainly not a Big Ten team, and we may be a very different program in some ways, I think that’s something that we aspire to as well, to play strong defense and to play complementary football.”
Minnesota Governor Koi Perich?
Lembo spoke very highly of Koi Perich in his opening statement as well.
“Their safety, Koi Perich, he’s a homegrown guy, Minnesota guy, had a great freshman year with five interceptions. He’s also an outstanding punt returner,” he said. “They’ll play him some on offense as well, but this is the type of guy that I’m sure the fan base really rallies around. He’s probably going to be one of these guys that runs for governor of Minnesota someday and maybe have a chance to win it.”
Lembo is a fan of Maverick Baranowski
Perich wasn’t the only Gophers defender that Lembo is a big fan of, as he also likes what he’s seen out of middle linebacker Maverick Baranowski.
“The middle linebacker is a really good player,” he said. “I’ve got to believe this guy’s parents were Top Gun fans, right, to name a Maverick. Now, if he’s got a good friend named Goose and he’s dating a girl named Charlie, I’m going to have to give this guy a hug before the game. Really good player, 65 tackles last year, and then the other safety, Kerry Brown, had 63 tackles.”
Drake Lindsey is a “perfect fit” for the Gophers:
Lembo believes the Gophers have the right guy at quarterback for Greg Harbaugh’s offense.
“They’ve got a new quarterback that they’re very high on, Drake Lindsey,” Lembo said. “He appears to be a perfect fit for their system. They’ve played bigger, pro-style quarterbacks, but a couple clips you see him last year running, scrambling. He looks to be pretty athletic during the snaps he got during his redshirt season.”
Lembo discusses the Gophers’ skill players on offense
Lembo continued his deep dive on the Gophers, discussing Darius Taylor, the wide receivers, tight ends, and offensive line.
“Running back Darius Taylor is a big-time back. He’s really a challenge to bring down. He’s one of the best in the country at yards after contact,” Lembo said. “They do a nice job getting him the ball between the tackles but also throwing him the ball, something as simple as a check down where he can catch it, turn, get north and south and try to split defenders for extra yards.”
The wide receiver core appears to be deep and athletic. They picked up a couple really good transfers,” he continued. “Their tight ends are big physical guys, and they become more of a factor in their offense once they get down into the red zone.”
On the Gophers’ special teams:
“They will have a new punter who comes in from UCLA who had a good season there last year. And their kicker is a transfer from Syracuse where he had a pre-existing relationship with the special teams coordinator, so I assume there’s a lot of comfort there with him coming in. He’s got a strong leg, and he hits a lot of touchbacks on kickoffs, so kickoff return opportunities could be limited in this game, and they play a lot of really, really physical cover guys on that unit.
Their kickoff return is a mix of boundary and field returns, complementary type returns. They’ll often try to create a double team at the point of attack. So in all three phases, this is going to be a really, really big test for our team.”
Ta’Quan Roberson gets the start for Buffalo
Kansas State transfer Ta’Quan Roberson is getting the start for Buffalo. Here’s what Lembo had to say on several aspects of Roberson’s game.
On being named QB1: “He has handled himself like a pro since the day he’s got here. He understands the commitment that needs to be made to play that position and to give yourself a chance to be successful.”
On Roberson not starting since 2023: “We try to make practices replicate games as much as we can…So I feel like we’ve done as much as we can going back to the spring and certainly during preseason to challenge him. Nothing replicates actually going out there Thursday night, but at least he has played in games before.”
The formula for MAC teams beating Big Ten teams
Over the last 20 years, it hasn’t been uncommon for MAC teams to upset Big Ten teams. Since 2005, the MAC has notched 32 total wins over Big Ten teams, including Buffalo beating Rutgers in 2018, 42-13.
Lembo on Tuesday discussed the formula for MAC teams.
“Don’t beat yourself,” he said. “Sometimes it’s doing nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, just not having the self-inflicted wounds, the procedure penalties that put you off schedule and put you into first and 15 or make a third and medium, a third and long.”
He also reflected back on his time at Ball State when the Cardinals knocked off Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“We only had two or three penalties in the game,” he said. “We didn’t turn the ball over. We didn’t give up explosive plays. We made a couple plays, and lo and behold, we pull off a huge upset.”
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