Pushovers no more, the Buffalo football team is showing the rest of the Mid-American Conference that it is a team to be reckoned with after defeating defending conference champion Ohio 31-10 on homecoming day.
With the victory came many firsts in school history. It was the first time the Bulls (2-4, 2-1 MAC) have beaten two MAC East opponents in the same season. This also was the first victory on homecoming day since 1998. Buffalo is now in first place in the East division.
"It's certainly unexplainable right now how it feels to be 2-1 in conference play," said senior defensive end Trevor Scott. "It's a bittersweet feeling because it's the first time we've ever done this and the program is turning around and we took a step forward today."
The Bulls focused their offensive game plan on the ground game, out-gaining Ohio (2-4, 0-2 MAC) 251 to 90 in rushing yards.
"Our offense did simplify some things," said head coach Turner Gill. "We sat down with Drew and added things that he can execute and he believed in it and was confident. It's all about execution and how well it gets done in the game."
Buffalo started the game with a couple of trick plays. One was a double reverse with sophomore wide receiver Brett Hamlin completing his first pass of his collegiate career for 28 yards to junior wide receiver Ernest Jackson. On the same drive on fourth and one, the Bulls tried a fake field goal, but freshman kicker A.J. Principe was stopped short of the first down on an option run.
With 2:03 left in the first quarter, Buffalo was the first to put points on the scoreboard. Sophomore running back James Starks began his career day with a one-yard touchdown to put the Bulls up 7-0. Starks' touchdown was his team-high eighth of the season.
Starks finished the game with 183 yards on 36 carries. The 183 yards were the ninth highest in school history and the most for a Buffalo running back since moving up to Division I in 1999. The 36 carries were a career-high for Starks.
"The coaches pushed me to work harder," Starks said. "I keep striving to do the best that I can every game and I know my team will look out for me whether I am doing good or not."
The Bobcats mounted a 64-yard drive and tied the game at seven with a four yard rushing touchdown by Kalvin Mcrae with 12:01 in the second quarter. With the score tied at seven, Buffalo began its domination outscoring Ohio 24-3 for the rest of the game.
"Our defensive coaches put together a great game-plan," Gill said. "Our guys played aggressive and believed in the plan we had and attacked and were aggressive running to the football and tackled better."
Buffalo responded to this score with a 68 yard drive on 12 plays that lasted six minutes. Redshirt freshman running back Brandon Thermilus finished off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run 5:45 before halftime to put Buffalo up 14-7. Thermilus set up the score with a 14-yard screen-play on a third and 12.
Ohio tried to create some offensive pressure, but threw an interception to sophomore safety Mike Newton, who returned the ball to Buffalo's 42 yard line. This interception set up a Principe career-long field goal of 43 yards to give the Bulls a 17-7 lead.
The Bulls continued to add to their lead in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Junior quarterback Drew Willy found sophomore wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt for a 10-yard gain on third and six. Later in the drive, Willy pounded his way into the end zone on fourth and one to put the Bulls up 24-10.
Ohio had numerous chances to cut into the Bulls' lead, but was unable to put any points on the board. The backbreaker was when the Bobcats were moving the ball and got to the Buffalo 30-yard line when freshman safety Davonte Shannon leapt in front of the Ohio receiver to grab his second interception of the season at the Buffalo goal-line.
Starks capped off the scoring with a career-long 72-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for the Bulls. Starks is one touchdown short of tying the school record of 10 touchdowns in a season by a running back since Buffalo moved up to Division one.
For the game, Buffalo totaled 397 yards of total offense while Ohio gathered 276 yards.
"Our guys were really focused," Gill said. "They believe in what we are trying to get done and you can see it in their body language at practice and it carried over to the games."
The Bulls defense was led by Shannon, Newton and freshman Josh Thomas, all making nine tackles. Senior linebackers Larry Hutchinson and Kareem Byrom, each recorded eight tackles. Scott continued his strong season recording one and a half sacks, tying him for fourth-all time in school history with 16 sacks in his career.
"This week at practice was tough on us," Scott said. "The focus was to stay disciplined and stay true to your roles and get in the backfield."
Buffalo hopes to continue their strong start to conference play when they battle Toledo on Saturday, Oct. 13. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at UB Stadium.
"We are 2-1 in conference right now," Gill said. "We are right where we hope to be and we have to take it one game at a time."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
