Respect is something that the Buffalo Bulls (0-8, 0-4 Mid-American Conference) football team has been hard pressed to earn during its short, yet tumultuous existence in Division I-A.
With that said, a victory is what they would have died for Saturday in UB Stadium against the storied Marshall Thundering Herd, but in the end respect, and deservedly so, was all they left with in a shocking and heartbreaking 26-16 loss to the Herd (4-3, 2-1 MAC).
"Today was a hard-fought, almost valiant effort by our kids against a very good football team that in some ways is the gold standard of the Mid-American Conference," said UB head coach Jim Hofher. "I thought our guys fought with tremendous effort, intensity and emotion. They don't give us any points for that, but I'm very proud of the effort our kids gave together."
"Buffalo played hard," said Marshall head coach Bobby Pruett. "They actually played better than what they are. You have to give them credit for it. Jimmy (Hofher) did a good job of getting them ready to play."
"Clearly we had the best players," said Pruett. "When you let guys stay in games, they get excited by playing with enthusiasm as good as they can - we're standing over there like we have walkmans on. That can't happen."
Trailing by a score of 19-9 near the end of the third quarter, Buffalo would then engineer an unlikely 14-play, 77-yard drive that would take up six minutes and 39 seconds of the clock and push the game into the fourth quarter with the culmination coming on a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback P.J. Piskorik to Chad Upshaw that made the score 19-16 after the extra point.
It was also Upshaw's first career touchdown grab.
The touchdown would not have been possible if not for a clutch 25-yard reception by Gabriel McClover on a third and 17 play. McClover made the amazing catch by going over the middle and catching the ball with all hands.
On the sideline during the drive and after the touchdown, UB co-captain linebacker Lamar Wilcher was visibly and passionately rallying the defensive troops who had shut out the Herd completely in the second half up to that point, and would do so for the first 25 minutes of that second half.
"I just told everybody to do their job the way we've been doing it all day," said Wilcher. "Just trying to provide a little emotion."
"Defensively, I thought we tackled well in a lot of spots and probably created some of what might have been problems for Marshall," said Hofher. "It was a terrific job done against a very explosive offensive team."
That intensity that Wilcher was creating on the sideline carried over to the field as Demetrius Austrum blew right out of the gate on first down and sacked Marshall quarterback Stan Hill for a loss of four.
The Herd were able to put together a small drive, converting twice on third down, but on their third third down conversion attempt, Hill's pass was errant and Marshall was forced to punt, giving the Bulls offense a chance at taking the lead with under nine minutes remaining in the game.
"Loss for words," said Piskorik.
It was not to be however, as the Bulls went three and out and were forced to punt the ball away.
Dominic Milano punted away to the Herd's Tremel Guillory and Buffalo's Jared Patterson had seemingly made a great hit right on the spot of the punt recover, but the official's yellow flag flew on a questionable call of catching interference, which put the start of the Marshall drive in UB territory.
"It was very painful," said Hofher. "There was not a fair catch signal and we did not impede his ability to catch it, because he caught it. I don't understand why there was a penalty. We're always given an explanation, it's not always a good one."
"That was as clear as anything," said Pruett. "That was fair-catch interference, the ball was barely able to get in there."
On a second down play, Hill connected with all time MAC leader in receptions and receiving yards, Darius Watts, for a 25-yard back breaking play that put the Herd at the Buffalo six yard line.
"They made one dramatic play in their drive by a extremely talented football player," said Hofher.
From there it was elementary as Marshall's Earl Charles cashed in for a killer touchdown, an exclamation point on his superb day where he ran 23 times for 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Buffalo could not have had a more perfect game for homecoming, as they turned heads and created an actual "college football atmosphere" with their play on the field.
It's just too bad that only a meager 10,118 fans showed up.
"We respect and enjoy the fans that come to the game whether it's 200 or 20,000," said Wilcher. "Sure 20,000 screaming is great, but we respect the fans that come. We love them. We would love to see more students. We love the support."
UB's defense takes an immense amount of credit for their play on Saturday, limiting the high-octane Marshall offense to just 26 points and only 386 yards of total offense. The Bulls also shut down the Herd in the most important of times when the offense was surging for a comeback.
J.J. Gibson spurred the Buffalo defense with an awe-inspiring three-sack day of Marshall's Hill.
Hill finished with 292 yards on 26-42 passing with one touchdown. His prolific receiver, Watts, totaled nine catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.
The Bulls' quarterback Piskorik had a career day, going15-23 for 140 yards and a touchdown pass.
UB remains at home for next week's encounter at 1 p.m. in UB Stadium against the Ohio Bobcats.
