The taste of victory had been rare for the football team this year, as it headed into UB Stadium on Saturday. The luck of the Bulls changed, however, and in a dominating fashion they defeated Kent State 41-14 on Saturday.
Buffalo had lost seven straight games and was coming off its worst defeat of the season, a 41-0 drubbing handed to them by Boston College. The Bulls (2-7, 1-5 Mid-American Conference) also entered the game with key pieces of its team missing as sophomore quarterback Drew Willy suffered a sprained thumb at practice on Thursday and was not able to suit up. Senior linebacker Ramon Guzman did not play as well, due to a knee injury.
Saturday was not about injuries for the Bulls, but about players that stepped up, as Buffalo head coach Turner Gill was forced to replace Willy with senior quarterback Tony Paoli. Paoli entered the stadium on Saturday, having only passed for 70 total yards on the season, and having completing 46.2 percent of his passes.
Paoli finished the day with 193 yards and completed 14 of his 20 pass attempts.
"It was hard watching Drew (Willy) go down, but I knew I needed to step up and because the offensive line played great I was able to do that," Paoli said.
The Bulls scored 41 unanswered points against Kent State (5-4, 4-2 MAC). 38 of those points came in the second half. Buffalo trailed the Golden Flashes 14-3 going into halftime. The Bulls' rushing attack struggled in the half, as freshman running back James Starks only produced 25 yards on the ground in the first half.
The second half was a different story, as Starks rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns in the final thirty minutes. Starks shattered his career-high by nearly 50 yards. His longest run came on the first possession of the second half, when the former Niagara Falls High School quarterback trotted for 54 yards, which set up his six-yard touchdown run two plays later.
"We were sick of losing, and coach challenged our offense and defensive lines at halftime," Starks said. "I just didn't want to let those guys down."
The Bulls' defense, like the offense, started the game slow as they allowed the Golden Flashes to produce 205 total yards in the first half. However, the Bulls forced four turnovers and held Kent State to 93 total yards in the second half.
The defense was lead by junior linebacker/safety Kareem Byrom, who recorded 10 tackles with six of those being solo. Byrom was forced into the linebacker position with Guzman not able to participate. Also making a contribution on Saturday was freshman safety Mike Newton, who recorded two interceptions and had eight tackles, which was a career-high.
Buffalo was also able to apply a lot of pressure from its pass rush. The Bulls accumulated six sacks, and were led by junior defensive end Trevor Scott who had two. Scott now leads the team in sacks on the season with six.
The Bulls, who have struggled to stop the run this year, held Kent State to only 103 rushing yards. Buffalo entered the game allowing an average of 224 yards on the ground.
"I knew that if we came out and played hard that we could spoil them," Byrom said.
Kent State came into the game just one win short of being eligible for a bowl game, and in second-place in the MAC East. The Golden Flash remain in second with the loss but the Bulls were able to dampen the Golden Flashes' chances of going to a bowl game and moving up in the division standings.
"Give all the credit in the world to Buffalo," said Kent State head coach Doug Martin. "They played better on both sides of the ball than us, and we were just not emotionally ready for these guys this week."
Turnovers proved to be a problem for the Golden Flashes, as they had three fumbles and two interceptions in the contest.
With their second win of the season, the Bulls doubled their win total from last season. Buffalo last achieved this feat in 2004 and are now one win away from tying the record for wins in a season since being moved up to Division I football in 1999.
"It was a great win for our university and the students and the whole entire community of Buffalo," Gill said. "We came in with the realization we could win and we did."
The Bulls now have a short week, as they will meet Akron on Thursday at 6 p.m. The game is scheduled to be shown on ESPNU.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
