On the road to respectability in the MAC, the Bulls hit a large roadblock in the Akron Zips. Saturday's disheartening 41-14 loss at home gave Buffalo a reminder of just how much farther they have to go after the two previous Saturdays showed fans just how far they had come.
On paper, it looked like Akron, coming off a five-game losing streak, could be easy pickings for a Bulls team flying high after consecutive wins against Ohio and Army.
That is why games are not played on paper.
Instead, it was Akron who came out of the gates fired up, racing to a 31-0 first-half lead before the Bulls got on the board. All three units for Akron (offense, defense and special teams) accounted for at least one touchdown in the scoring barrage. The closest the Bulls came was within 20, at 34-14 on an Albert Grundy one-yard dive in the third quarter.
But, the team was clearly never in the game from the opening kickoff. This effort may have been more an outcome of the team leaving everything they had on the field at West Point rather than anything that took place on the field Saturday.
"To play poorly, and be defeated soundly like we were today, it's obviously a disappointment," said Bulls head coach Jim Hofher.
"We came in as a battered football team. Someone asked me if the punt return was a turning point; I think last week was the turning point. We don't have two captains out of four that are playing, we're battered in a variety of places. But, that's part of the game."
If the Bulls were battered before Saturday, they were bludgeoned by the day's end. Ironically, quarterback Joe Freedy, who hadn't missed a snap due to injury in three years, was knocked out of the game with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Freedy was preliminarily diagnosed as having a sprained MCL, which he suffered when he was hit low by an Akron defender after attempting a pass.
"He's a very tough guy, and he's been a very tough guy all year long. It wasn't his best," Hofher said. "We've all seen him be able to play better, so that's a tough way to go for anybody."
In his final game, Freedy didn't save his best for last. He connected on only 14 of 30 passes for a modest 140 yards while throwing three interceptions and being sacked four times.
The Bulls were also without the services of starting safety Craig Rohlfs, who was forced to sit out his final game in his illustrious college career with a high ankle sprain. The Bulls' pass defense, which has been the teams most consistent unit throughout the season, clearly missed his big-play presence.
The Zips were certainly the fresher team, reaping the benefits of the open date they had the previous Saturday. Akron's trip to Buffalo was originally scheduled for Nov.10, but was pushed back because of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We had two weeks to get ready for this game. We've come off a really embarrassing loss, and we had something to prove. It just happened to be Buffalo on the schedule," said Akron head coach Lee Owens.
Zips receiver Matt Cherry was a human highlight reel for Akron in the first half. Cherry had a 47-yard punt return that set up a field goal, a 17-yard touchdown catch, and put on the cherry on top with a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown that gave the Zips a 31-0 lead.
Bob Hendry accounted for the first Akron touchdown when he rushed in from the six on the Zips first possession to take an early 7-0 lead. The key play on that drive was a 37-yard hookup from quarterback Charlie Frye to tight end Tim Ritley on a third-and-three. Frye faked a handoff to Hendry and threw down field to Ritley, who was wide open downfield. That was a prevailing theme all afternoon, as almost all of Akron's big pass plays involved play action.
"Their safeties get real nosey," said Frye, referring to the Bulls' safeties propensity for playing close to the line - not listening in on the Akron huddle. "We thought we could get behind them."
Derrick Gordon broke off his longest run of the season, a 38-yarder down to the 15-yard line, to set up the Bulls' first touchdown of the afternoon. Freedy's last touchdown toss of his college career came on a ball that should have been intercepted, but for a little help from his friends. Under heavy pressure, Freedy floated a pass into double coverage that bounced off the arms of an Akron defender and into the waiting hands of tight end Chad Bartosek.
The Bulls had a chance to score again at the end of the half, but a sack and then a missed 41-yard field goal by Dallas Pelz halted the Bulls momentum and eliminated any chance Buffalo had of getting back in the game.
The Bulls finish their season at 3-8, with a 1-7 mark in the conference.
