AMHERST — When Cole Snyder decided to transfer from Rutgers last winter, he just wanted to play.

Now the 6-foot-2 quarterback from Southwestern will get that opportunity.

University at Buffalo head coach Maurice Linguist named Snyder the starting quarterback for the Bulls on Thursday morning.

“Cole provided a ton of consistency from the time that he stepped in here as a transfer coming over from his other program,” Linguist said. “You look at the leadership, you look at consistent play, you look at great decision making on the field, you look at accuracy with short, intermediate and deep throws, and you look at a guy who has a lot of great command of the offense.

“He did that on a very consistent basis,” Linguist added. “We feel extremely strong and confident about naming him the starter.”

Snyder was locked in a competition with senior Matt Myers, a 2018 West Seneca West graduate, and Casey Case, a sophomore from Winter Park, Florida.

“I’m so grateful to have Casey, Matt, Brian (Plummer) and Mike (DePillo) all be super helpful and handle this thing the right way,” Snyder said of his fellow quarterbacks. “It’s great we can have a good relationship in the room, can rely on those guys to get all the information we can on game day.”

“He came in with the right approach. He came in very humble, but very confident at the same time. He came in trying to be a sponge and learn as much as he could. He’s always up here watching film,” Linguist said. “He’s a first-one-in, last-one-out type of guy. … The other ones were, too. It’s a very healthy room in terms of personalities working together and not necessarily working against each other.”

Through performance at spring and summer practices that preceded fall training camp and a pair of intrasquad scrimmages, Snyder was determined the winner.

“I was really just trying to focus on what I could do myself and not focus on anybody else. Just be my best every day,” Snyder said. “I really think I did that. Nobody’s perfect. You can always get better, but I was really just trying to focus on myself and doing my best.”

Snyder transferred from Rutgers after the fall 2021 semester in time to join UB for the spring semester and add his name to the quarterback room prior to spring practices.

That decision seems to have paid off with Thursday’s announcement.

“Going to Rutgers and being in all of those different quarterback competitions, it seemed like I kept going up a spot each year,” Snyder said. “That’s what it was all about, just getting better for me to get me where I’m at today.”

The Bulls will open their season next Saturday against the Maryland Terrapins in College Park, Maryland.

Coincidentally, Snyder’s final regular-season game with the Scarlet Knights last fall was against the Terrapins at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

“Maryland was actually the last opponent we played at Rutgers so I’m definitely familiar with them. They have a new defensive coordinator this year. He was on the staff last year so I’m sure there will be some (carryover),” Snyder said. “We have the spring game to look at, but we’re watching everything. We don’t have any tape from this year so we have to go into it with a little bit of an open mind; maybe not everything you see on tape is what you’re going to get.”

Snyder actually did play a game at Maryland Stadium during his time with Rutgers during the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season. The Scarlet Knights won 27-24 that afternoon, but there were no fans in the stands.

The son of Ron and Tammy Snyder had a successful career at Southwestern that included three straight trips to then-New Era Field for Section VI Class C championship games against Cleveland Hill. He threw for 5,164 yards and 73 touchdowns in his career and was named The Post-Journal Player of the Year after his senior season.

“Going back to my high school days, I credit Jehuu Caulcrick, my high school head coach, and Jon Kinder,” Snyder said, “and also my father for preparing me since I was in midget football just for this opportunity. I’ve been preparing my whole life for this.”

At Rutgers, he appeared in nine games, throwing for 165 yards and a touchdown. The Scarlet Knights moved on from head coach Chris Ash to Greg Schiano during Snyder’s time in New Jersey and after the 2021 season he decided it was time to move closer to home.

Now he’ll get the chance to show that was the right move.

“When I was at Rutgers, I think the closest game was probably Penn State,” Snyder said. “Now, I mean, you have games right in your backyard. It’ll be awesome to see family and friends, and then also just to play for Buffalo.”