Saturday afternoon represented a changing of the guard for the Buffalo Bulls (1-10, 1-6 Mid-American Conference), with unheralded senior warriors like Lamar Wilcher, Jeff Mills and Tom Shaughnessy playing out their final moments on the grass of UB Stadium.
But with the No. 23 ranked Northern Illinois Huskies (9-1, 5-1 MAC) rolling into Buffalo, a happy ending for the UB seniors was not in the cards.
The Bulls' cause was certainly not helped by the fact that Huskies' running back and Heisman hopeful Michael Turner has no conscience when it comes to playing football.
Turner, affectionately referred to as "the Burner," scorched Buffalo early and often in the 40-9 NIU win, detonating on his first run for 60 of his 163 total yards in two and a half quarters of action.
"We wanted to start strong," said Turner. "We knew that they were going to play with a lot of emotion because it was their seniors' last home game."
A mixture of ill-timed turnovers and Turner's Matrix-like running proved fatal for the Bulls, who were still in the game against Northern Illinois until the wheels began to fall off late in the second quarter.
"He's a great back," said Wilcher. "He's deceivingly fast and has great eyesight."
Despite facing off against an imposing team such as the Huskies, Buffalo played tough football in the early goings and had multiple chances at taking command.
UB was knocking on the door and only trailing 17-9, but tragedy struck the Bulls, with Jared Patterson fumbling the ball away on the three-yard line of the bowl-bound NIU squad.
The Huskies did not capitalize on that fumble, but a crucial opportunity for the Bulls was wasted, and things began to unravel quickly.
"Right there, that key point of the game, was where we lost the momentum and never really got it back," said Mills.
That lost momentum was completely utilized by the bloodthirsty NIU squad, taking any mistake UB presented to them and turning it into Huskie gold.
Buffalo quarterback Randall Secky, playing for the injured P.J. Piskorik, attempted to rally the troops while still behind only 17-9 in the second quarter, but threw a critical interception to Ray Smith with just under two minutes remaining when his intended receiver, DeSean Larmond, fell flat on his face while running the route.
Turner would cash in on the turnover when quarterback Josh Haldi connected with him on a thirteen-yard touchdown strike with one minute 20 seconds remaining in the first half.
Haldi was extremely efficient on the day, passing for 241 yards while going 14-25 with three touchdowns and one interception.
"Josh can still get better, but he's been playing well," said NIU head coach Joe Novak. "He's doing everything this team needs. He reads the blitz and checks into the right plays. He's giving more to this team than his statistics indicate. Today we were able to get the running game going early and then they started focusing on Michael (Turner). That opened up the passing game for us and Josh did a nice job."
A 24-9 lead would have been sufficient for the Huskies going into halftime, but much to the chagrin of Buffalo, NIU's assault upon the UB endzone was not yet complete.
The Bulls were forced to punt away the ball after going three and out on the possession following the Haldi to Turner touchdown.
Being the recipient of good field position after the Buffalo punt, the Northern Illinois offense took over at the UB 38 yard line and quickly marched down the field. PJ Fleck ripped the Bulls on first down for a 30-yard reception from Haldi, and from there it was simply elementary as Haldi hit Shaton Powers for an eight-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds remaining in the half.
A game that seemed competitive for a while was suddenly blown open with the Huskies taking an insurmountable 31-9 lead into halftime.
"When a ballgame is 10-9 and then there's 30 unanswered points, it's as much about your offense not making plays as it is your defense," said UB head coach Jim Hofher. "When you roll all that up as far as turnovers and missed opportunities against a good football team it's going to make it very difficult."
Secky finished the game going 19-37 for 176 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
"I think there were times when some good plays were made today," said Hofher. "But I don't think he was as consistent as he was in his last game."
Wilcher, playing his final game inside the confines of UB Stadium, recorded 3.5 tackles for a loss.
Wilcher and the other thirteen seniors' leadership and heart will be sorely missed by the team, as they are players who have been through the most trying times of UB football, from the end of the Craig Cirbus era to the birth of the Hofher era.
"It's an unreal feeling," said Shaughnessy. "After all these years, for it to come to this, it's really hard to swallow ... it's almost unbelievable. It was another day to go out there and play the game that we all love."
UB has a bye-week to rest and prepare for their next game, then the Bulls will head to Kent State Nov. 22 to play their final game of the season.
