AMHERST — UB football fandom was in a somber state for a while in December.

Turner Gill, the man who completed, in essence, a 100-yard Hail Mary by transforming the Buffalo Bulls from Division I doormats into conference champions and generating a buzz for a program that was, before was arrival, irrelevant even on its own campus, was gone.

Everybody knew that one day Gill would cash in the credibility he created at UB for a higher-paying and higher-profile job. But when he finally decided to move on to Kansas, the sense of loss was profound.

Nobody came right out and said it, but the fear was clear in players’ expressions, staffers’ jilted tones, and fans’ wary whispers. Was the end of the Turner Gill era the end of UB’s football’s momentum?

Athletics director Warde Manuel wasn’t worried. He always insisted that Gill left, there wouldn’t be a void, but an opportunity. That good coaches with winning pedigrees weren’t willing to take the challenge of starting from the bottom like Gill did four years before, would be more than willing to pick up where he left off.

Manuel, on recommendation from venerable NFL offensive line coach and UB grad Jim McNally, eventually found a suitable replacement in Jeff Quinn, who had helped Brian Kelly build championship programs at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, and was on his way to becoming Kelly’s offensive coordinator at Notre Dame.

Almost immediately after Quinn was introduced to the public, the optimism returned.

Quinn’s combination of charisma, intensity and ring-wrapped fingers has captivated UB supporters almost as much as it has the veteran players — all Gill recruits — who are ignoring media predictions of sixth place finish in the MAC East division, and talking about another run to the championship game.

“What excites me is that everyone has bought in to what is being preached,” said senior cornerback Domonic Cook, a St. Joe’s graduate. “We feel like we can be a team that goes all the way this year. The same feeling we had two seasons ago when we won a MAC championship. We’re closer. We’re more of a family now. We all believe in each other.”

The fans have bought in too. Despite a 5-7 finish last season and the beloved Gill's departure, season ticket renewals were only “a little bit less” last year's post-championship total, Manuel said.

“Part of that is the economy,” Manuel said. “And I believe that with success, we’ll surpass where we’ve been in the past.”

A crowd of more than 15,000 people is expected for Thursday night's season opener at UB Stadium, where the Bills will shine brighter than ever before.

In a joint project with the New York Power Authority, UB has replaced the four existing light poles at the 18-year-old stadium and installed four more that will make drastically improve the level of illumination while saving $70,000 annually in energy costs. And no longer will the university have to rent extra lights for high definition ESPN broadcasts.

First-year coaches often have the luxury of low expectations at the onset. Struggles on the field can be chalked up to the trials of transition.

Quinn doesn’t want that luxury.

“I tell my guys every day, you really don’t get respect until you win,” he said. “We get 12 games and every single day I wake up, I think about those 12 games and how I can get our guys to compete at the highest level.”

Quinn won’t promise 12 wins, but he’s guaranteeing 48 quarters of playing to win. “Every player, every play, every day,” is one of the coach’s slogans that Cook said the players have embraced.

“I promise you this,” Quinn said. “My guys are going to compete for four quarters, and they’re going to play as hard as they can for as long as they can.”