UAlbany already has an answer to that question for itself. The Great Danes opened their season by beating New Hampshire 28-14 under first-year head coach Tom Perkovich, and they did it almost entirely on the ground — 374 rushing yards at 7.1 yards a carry, led by Joey Koch's 144-yard, 1-touchdown night and 2 rushing scores from Aidan Semo. On defense, Shawan Lewis piled up 2.5 sacks and Dillon Dunathan added a sack, an interception and 8 tackles. The passing game barely showed up (57 yards), which tells you exactly how UAlbany wants to play this one, too.
History says this is a tough ask. UAlbany is 1-10 all-time against FBS competition, and its only win in that stretch was a 22-16 upset at Buffalo back in 2016. Buffalo, for its part, went 5-7 a season ago and is using this homecoming date at Broadview Stadium to find out what an offseason built on national transfer recruiting — including additions from Miami and coaches with Florida State and Columbia ties — actually looks like on the field.
The film-study edge, at least on paper, belongs to Buffalo — UAlbany has already played a game this season, so the Bulls' new staff has tape to prepare from that UAlbany's staff didn't have on them. Whether that matters against a group still learning each other's names in live action is the actual question of the night.
Neither side has much to hide behind after Thursday. A UAlbany team that just ran for 374 yards against an FCS defense is about to find out if that translates against an FBS front, and a Buffalo team fielding 50 new players is about to find out if a talented roster is the same thing as a cohesive one.