Through 30 minutes of football on Saturday at UB Stadium, "Homecoming" at Buffalo seemed destined to take on a meaning beyond plates of chicken wings and obliterated Jeeps.
The Bulls (1-6, 1-4 Mid-American Conference) displayed a glimmer of what big-time, competitive MAC football can be in a hard-fought first half that ended with UB up, 7-6, against Miami (4-3, 3-1 MAC). But any thoughts of an upset were short-lived, as the defending MAC-East Champion RedHawks out-fought, out-executed, and out-scored UB in the second half en route to a 25-7 win.
"As we came out in the second half, the spoken goal was 'win the half,'" said UB Head Coach Jim Hofher. "We didn't do that."
Miami may have won the half and the game late in the third quarter when quarterback Josh Betts and the offense claimed momentum with a go-ahead touchdown, and a stout Redhawks defense weathered UB's last counter-punch with a crucial goal-line stand.
After turning the ball over once in the first half, and again on the first series of the second half, Betts took the RedHawks on a 65-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ryne Robinson.
UB responded quickly as tailback Steven King took the ensuing kickoff back 39 yards, setting up a drive that brought the Bulls deep into Miami territory. On third and goal from the three, quarterback P.J. Piskorik faked a handoff and bootlegged right, but found no open UB receivers, ultimately being forced out of bounds for a sack.
Coach Hofher said after the game that the Miami coverage was there, but that a final, unnamed dimension to the play wasn't utilized, and the sack of Piskorik ensued.
"The opportunity was there, and we failed to execute," said Hofher of the key third down play.
On the ensuing fourth down, the Bulls failed to put any points on the board in what was still a tight, 13-7 game, as Michael Baker's 26 yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.
That was all the momentum Miami needed, as Betts converted a key third and eight with a 34 yard strike to Robinson, and then proceeded to pick apart the UB pass defense on a nine play, 80 yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run by Luke Clemens, and a 20-7 RedHawks lead.
With the heavy wind and icy rain that had been prevalent throughout the game intensifying, and the Miami defense following suit, UB didn't come close to RedHawk territory for the rest of the game.
The RedHawks' offense did their part by controlling the ball for all but two minutes and 37 seconds in the fourth quarter. They held the ball for 40 minutes in the game.
"(Miami) did what they do, throw first, run second," said Hofher of a RedHawks offense that produced 422 total yards. "They did an excellent job in tough conditions."
The key to Miami's success was Betts, who completed 25 of 36 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns, despite the inclement weather.
Betts found seven different receivers for completions on the day, but clearly his favorite target was Robinson, the electrifying receiver who brought back two punt returns for touchdowns a year ago against UB.
According to Hofher, the Bulls worked hard to minimize Robinson's impact in the return game, and the team was relatively successful overall in limiting big plays from the Redhawks standout. But when all was said and done, Robinson accumulated 153 yards receiving on a career-best 10 catches.
"(Robinson) makes plays that others can't make; that's his uniqueness as a player," said Miami head coach Terry Hoeppner.
Robinson's "uniqueness" seemed to be most prominently on display on third downs as the Miami passing game had its way with the Buffalo defense in the second half on third and long situations.
The RedHawks converted 10 of 17 third downs on the game, including four conversions when they faced third and longer than eight. Able to stay on the field and string long, clock-winding drives together, Miami wound up outgaining UB 422-165 on the game.
Of course, the game numbers were a lot closer in the tight first half, thanks to another aggressive, opportunistic performance by the Bulls' defense.
With Miami driving effortlessly on its first drive of the game, a well timed blitz by UB defensive back Ryan Sherwood-Ericsson forced a fumble that was recovered by Aaron Sanders, turning Miami possession at the UB 14 into Bulls' ball at the 27.
In the second quarter it was another defensive back, this time James Evans, who broke into the sack column. With Miami threatening at the Buffalo 20, Evans came hard off the left side of the Redhawks' line and laid a vicious hit on Betts, forcing another fumble that rolled all the way back to the 42 before being covered by a Miami offensive lineman.
"I saw it coming," Evans said of the huge play that took Miami well out of scoring position. "I saw that he pump faked and I knew it was over."
Evans was seemingly all over the field on Saturday as, along with the sack and forced fumble, he added two pass breakups, a career high eight tackles, and a third quarter interception of Betts off of a tip by defensive cohort Ramon Guzman.
Offensively, it was a tale of two halves for the Bulls, as they moved the ball somewhat effectively in the first, producing 137 yards, including 70 on a second quarter drive that featured some efficient passing by UB's Piskorik, and culminated in a one yard touchdown run by Steven King, his sixth TD run of the season.
The second half however, was a different story for UB, as the Bulls only managed 28 yards of total offense.
"We just executed in the first half, and in the second half, we didn't so well," said Piskorik, who in his return from a suspension took every snap under center for the Bulls.
Piskorik did a good job buying time in the pocket and escaping the Redhawks' pass rush. On the day he completed 10 of 19 passes for 98 yards, with a second half interception.
Unfortunately for the Bulls, the offense didn't receive a customary contribution from its "Four Horsemen" at the running back position, as Chris McDuffie, Dave Dawson, Jared Patterson and Steven King only managed 66 yards on 24 carries against a suffocating Miami defensive line, led by MAC sack-leader Marcus Johnson.
Ultimately it was a disappointing day for UB, as even the Bulls' relatively improved special teams faltered, with Baker missing two field goals, and a snap on a punt attempt sailing over Woods' head late in the fourth quarter for a Miami safety.
The team started out well, but UB simply couldn't maintain momentum well enough to stick with the impressive Redhawks. Still, Coach Hofher was encouraged by UB's ability to play at such a high level, even though that level couldn't be maintained.
"It's games like these that make me believe our day is coming. Miami is an elite MAC program, and I think our guys competed toe to toe," said the UB coach.
Buffalo will have another chance to go toe to toe with top-level competition next week, when they travel to take on current MAC leader Marshall (3-3, 3-0 MAC).
