AMHERST, N.Y. — Pay a visit to the University at Buffalo football practice this week, and you're likely to hear one song in particular played over and over.
That song would be 'Jump Around' by House of Pain, a song that's blasted over the speakers at Camp Randall and is a tradition at Wisconsin Badgers football games.
Camp Randall is where the Bulls will open their season this upcoming Saturday against 19th-ranked Wisconsin (3:30 p.m., FS1).
"We're excited about just being a part of the pageantry of college football, but obviously, we have some very clear objectives of why we we're going out there and what we have to get done, and what it's going to take for us to have a successful Saturday for ourselves," said UB head coach Maurice Linguist.
Linguist is entering his third season in charge at UB, and features a squad with veterans ready for the challenge of playing a team from the Big Ten, a conference that UB's only win against came in 2018 over in Rutgers.
"We're excited," said fifth-year senior safety Marcus Fuqua. "We put in so much work this offseason. We know that our process is right. We know we have the right people, and our purpose is there, and we're going to show everyone on Saturday."
The Bulls will lean on experienced guys like Fuqua, a 2022 AP All-American selection, as well as a couple of area natives. Cole Snyder, a Southwestern alum, is back for his senior season and his second year at UB after transferring over from Rutgers. He's joined by Shaun Dolac, a West Seneca East alum and a senior at linebacker.
They're both eager for the challenge of showing the country what they can do with the platform they'll have on Saturday.
"Now it's finally time to get out there and play in a new stadium, a new atmosphere," said Snyder. "It should be a great atmosphere. I'm sure it'll be sold out. It's going to be loud... We're really looking forward to it as a team."
"We're excited for the opportunity of course to play a Big Ten team, and we have something to prove," Dolac said. "It doesn't matter what anyone says about us. It matters how this locker room is--the people around us are. We believe what we can do, and we put in the work all summer, all spring, since the winter time we've been working, and we're just excited to put that all to show."
And as for 'Jump Around', the Bulls aren't tired of hearing that song just yet at practice.
"Nah, you can't," said Fuqua when asked about it. "I like the song, it's cool as fun."
He later added though: "That's their song. We're going to try to make it our song."