After three straight road games, the men in blue and white finally had a chance to perform in front of their home crowd. However, the Buffalo Bulls' home opener was spoiled by a Baylor Bear offensive attack that racked up over 400 yards of offense on the Bulls defense. This offensive attack helped the Bears leave Buffalo with a 34-21 victory in toe.
Though Baylor quarterback Blake Szymanski threw three touchdowns, the Buffalo defense did a good job holding the Bears passing game to only 172 yards. Szymanski completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes.
Sophomore running back James Starks would not allow the Bulls to go into the half with no points on the board. Starks accounted for all 25 yards on this abbreviated drive, capping it off with the first of his three touchdowns on the game. The touchdown pulled the Bulls to within three, 10-7 going into halftime.
The second half did not start as the Bulls would have liked. The Bears took the opening drive 85 yards on 11 plays, and finished off the series with a Szymanski touchdown toss to Krys Buerck to take a 17-7 lead. This touchdown took away the momentum that the Bulls had gained before halftime.
"In halftime we're preparing. We needed to get a three and out and get momentum back, but they moved the ball down the field on us and took the wind out of our sails a little bit," said senior defensive lineman Trevor Scott.
Baylor's offense was run primarily from the shotgun formation. At first, it consisted of many halfback delays and halfback draws, that threw the Bulls defense off. Baylor also mixed in fake delays, which Szymanski would then keep and run himself. He finished the game with 102 yards on the ground, including a 39-yard touchdown scamper late in the fourth quarter. Jay Finney led the Baylor running backs with 81 yards on 15 carries.
"We hadn't seen (their type of offense) as much as far as this season," Gill said. "We saw it last year. Bowling Green does it, so it wasn't the first time we had ever seen four wide receivers and that set. It's not something we were shocked by or anything of that nature."
Besides stopping the run, Buffalo's weakness was turnovers. The Bulls had five turnovers, including three interceptions from junior quarterback Drew Willy, while their defense forced only two turnovers. However, Gill says that the team had several opportunities to create turnovers and failed to do so.
"...When they turn the ball over, sometimes the ball is on the ground and we're not able to get the turnover or get the fumble," he said. "I think they had four fumbles and we only got one, and you hope that you're going to get a couple of those."
Coming into the game, Willy was first in completion percentage in the MAC, completing over 72 percent of his throws. However, Willy was unable to live up to this standard against a Baylor defense that blitzed on many occasions and seemed to take Willy out of his rhythm at times. Willy finished the game 29-46, throwing for 276 yards, one touchdown and those three interceptions.
"Yes, Drew was maybe a little off on a pass here or there, that does happen," Gill said. "He made some good throws, the situation was it wasn't one of his better games but he did make some good throws in the game."
While most of the team struggled, Starks had one of the best games of his short collegiate career. To go along with his three touchdowns, he had 64 yards rushing and 33 yards receiving. Starks now has five touchdowns on the season and at least one touchdown in the last three games. However, the loss tempered Starks' joy in his personal success.
"It's hard. We just have to work harder as an offense, and I have to work harder and all around we just have to do better," Starks said.
Gill does not believe effort was his team's problem. He felt it came down to executing the game plan and Baylor executed more plays than the Bulls did.
The Bulls get a chance to rebound this Saturday. They will travel to Muncie, IN to play Ball State at 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
