Three yards.
This was the closest the Buffalo football team came to taking the lead against the nation's ninth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday. But after Buffalo was unable to punch the ball in the end zone or through the uprights on a late second quarter drive, the Badgers would rattle off 28 unanswered points for a 35-3 win.
Often viewed as one of the worst teams, a win over a national powerhouse such as Wisconsin would have boosted the image of the Bulls' program. Buffalo has never defeated a nationally ranked opponent in its history and a victory would have showed major improvement to everyone watching.
Wisconsin (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten Conference) was able to get its first touchdown early in the game. After senior quarterback Tony Paoli threw an interception on the opening offensive play for the Bulls (2-9, 1-6 Mid-American Conference), the Badgers' backup quarterback Taylor Donovan, playing in-place of injured starter John Stocco, connected on a 26-yard pass to wide receiver Paul Hubbard to put them up 7-0.
Buffalo responded on the next drive when Paoli found freshman wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt on a screen pass that went for 47 yards. This set up senior kicker Adam Tanalski's 34-yard field goal to cut the Badger's lead to four.
"The first play of the game you don't want to start off like that," said Buffalo head coach Turner Gill. "Our guys were resilient. They didn't fold in and offensively we took the ball and got three points out of it and put ourselves back in right situation. It's tough and again our guys are really, really resilient and I'm very, very proud of the way they played football."
After the field goal, the Bulls' defense came up strong, stopping the Badger's attack on consecutive drives. In an effort to try and capitalize on a fumble lost by freshman running back James Starks, Wisconsin's kicker Taylor Mahlhaff missed a 44-yard field goal.
On their next offensive series, the Badgers attempted another field goal but this time it was blocked by junior defensive end Trevor Scott. This was Scott's second blocked kick of the year. Scott also recorded two sacks in the game and leads the team with eight this year.
After freshman cornerback Kendric Hawkins recovered a Wisconsin fumble on a second quarter punt, Paoli found Roosevelt again on a 46-yard bomb. This put the Bulls on the brink of a possible upset, at Wisconsin's three-yard line. But a strong goal-line stand by the Badger defense prevented Buffalo from taking the lead.
"It was a deep post," Paoli said. "He got behind the safety. I knew I had him. I didn't know if he scored or not. It was a big play and just really disappointing we couldn't punch it in after that."
Tanalski then attempted his second field goal on the afternoon from 24 yards out. This time though he pushed it too far left for his first miss on the season.
"We stopped ourselves," Gill said. "They have a very good defense and I won't take that away from them, but we had two or three opportunities to make plays and we didn't make them."
Wisconsin would kill off any of Buffalo's momentum that remained on an 80-yard drive capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by running back P.J. Hill. The Badgers would score again before halftime when Donovan hooked up with wide receiver Luke Swan for a 35-yard score to put the game at 21-3.
In the second half, Wisconsin's offense used its running attack to grind out the Bulls. The Badgers held an advantage in time of possession with 18:02 in the third and fourth quarters compared to the Bulls' 11:38. This was capped off by two rushing touchdowns by running backs Lance Smith and Dywon Rowan.
Roosevelt led the Bulls in total yards from scrimmage with 150 on the day. Ninety of those yards came off two catches and an additional 51 came on a second quarter kickoff return.
"Naaman's done well at receiver and special teams for us," Gill said. "He's very young so we don't have to worry about him getting tired. Naaman's done very well and has caught on very well this year when the ball's in his arms."
Donovan led Wisconsin's offense with 308 yards and two touchdowns through the air. His favorite target was tight end Travis Beckum, who snagged five catches for 135 yards, including one for 65 yards.
Although the Bulls had trouble stopping the Wisconsin aerial assault, they did manage to contain Hill for the most part. Hill, a Heisman Trophy and Doak Walker Trophy semifinalist, was held to 86 rushing yards in the contest.
Up next for Buffalo will be its season finale at home against MAC West Champions Central Michigan on Friday, Nov. 24. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
