UB football's Marcus Fuqua returns with championships, consistency in mind

DETROIT – Marcus Fuqua says he never considered leaving the University at Buffalo football program.
Four years out of high school, he heard the urging: Go for the pros.
He looked at his statistics from a breakout 2022 season, including the big one: seven interceptions, which tied for the national lead with Middle Tennessee State cornerback Decorian Patterson.
Then, he looked at how the 2022 season ended: The Bulls won the Camellia Bowl in December. But they didn’t win the Mid-American Conference championship or the MAC East Division.
One of the nation’s most productive safeties will tend to unfinished business this season with the Bulls. He made that clear at the MAC Football Kickoff on Thursday at the Fox Theatre.
“A lot of people mentioned it to me,” Fuqua said of considering an NFL future. “But I didn’t feel like I did enough. I did well last year but I feel like I can do so much more. Why leave then? I want to win a MAC championship and that’s a big goal I want to cross off, before I leave.”
The fifth-year senior from Southfield, Mich., was a third-team Associated Press All-America selection in 2022, and he will be the veteran on a defense that lost safeties Jahmin Muse and Keyshawn Cobb, and cornerbacks Elijah Blades and Isaiah King.
Way-too-early 2024 draft projects list Fuqua anywhere from the No. 20 draft eligible safety to No. 46. Timing also may have played a role. Fuqua would have entered a 2023 draft in which NFL teams took 22 safeties over seven rounds in April, according to ProFootballNetwork.com.
The Bulls were 7-6 in 2022 and begin preseason practices Aug. 3 at UB, then open the regular season at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 2 at Wisconsin.
“Process, process, process,” UB coach Maurice Linguist said. “He is an absolutely invaluable player. He really embodies a lot of what is great about college football and what is true about our program.
“He is a great leader and he’s hungry and he still wants to prove more. He’s a great example that you can point to because a lot of trust comes in showing proven results, that, hey, if you stick to the process and you do something the right way, here’s what the results look like. And he’s good for the locker room, to see, ‘Here’s what it looks like when you do it the right way.’ ”
Fuqua was nowhere near satisfied with his 2021 season. In fact, he told a reporter last fall that he considered it one of his worst seasons in football.
His 2022 a-ha moment, though, came in UB’s season opener at Maryland, when he intercepted quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa in the third quarter of a 31-10 loss. That came against a Big Ten/Power Five program, a measuring stick for a MAC safety.
More resources, more skill, more money – and here was Fuqua, intercepting a former Alabama quarterback and the younger brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Toledo Rockets at UB Bulls (copy)
Toledo tight end Lenny Kuhl gets tackled by UB safety Marcus Fuqua at UB Stadium last season.
Joseph Cooke, Buffalo News
Then, in mid-October, Fuqua notched three of UB’s four interceptions in UB’s come-from-behind, 34-27 win against Toledo on Oct. 22 at UB Stadium. He intercepted Dequan Finn just before halftime, then intercepted Finn on a pass that caromed off UB linebacker Shaun Dolac midway through the fourth quarter. His third pick, with three minutes left, helped set up Alex McNulty’s field goal with 47 seconds left.
“I started that game kind of flat, kind of slow,” Fuqua said. “That gave me momentum going through the year.”
Finally, in the last game of the regular season – rescheduled from Nov. 19 to Dec. 2, due to a snowstorm that hit Western New York and shut down highways – Fuqua intercepted Akron quarterback Jeff Undercuffer with 63 seconds left, helping the Bulls earn a 23-22 win and bowl eligibility for the fifth time in six seasons.
“I started the game with a pick and I ended the game with a pick, so I feel like that was my most complete game,” Fuqua said. “I didn’t miss any tackles. I was really efficient.”
Fuqua’s room for improvement this season? He wants to strengthen his own personal consistency.
That begins with forming habits and following those habits. He’s trained this summer at UB and adheres to a daily schedule that begins with an early wake-up and some time for self-reflection, which usually means reading a book. He just finished “Tuesdays With Morrie” by Mitch Albom.
Then, Fuqua logs onto YouTube, where he watches film of safeties. He spends a lot of time during the day working out at UB Stadium, where, at one point in the day, he watches more film, primarily studying the techniques of NFL safeties.
Footage of Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard is Fuqua’s go-to. They have a similar style of play. Byard had 19 interceptions from 2012-15 at Middle Tennessee State; Fuqua has eight the last three seasons. At 5-foot-11 and 212 pounds, Byard is of similar physical stature to Fuqua (6 feet, 195 pounds).
More than a few coaches expressed some tongue-in-cheek disappointment when they saw Fuqua circulating at MAC Media Day in Detroit. They know they’ll have difficulty game-planning for UB’s defense with Fuqua manning the backfield this season.
“I wish he graduated,” Akron coach Joe Moorhead said Thursday with a laugh. “A leader of the defense on the team and you can see the amount of respect the guys on the field have for him. He’s a great communicator, always in good position, plays the ball well in the air, and he’s adept at pass defense.
“I think he’s the best player on their defense.”