Willy and the offense would continue to add to the scoreboard as well. With 4:22 left in the first half, Willy connected with Jackson again on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Jackson would finish the game with 4 catches and a career-high 104 yards with two touchdowns. Going into Saturday's game, the Bulls were 2-0 when leading at the half. They looked to continue that streak as they headed into the locker rooms with a 36-19 advantage, knowing full well that Toledo had come back from double-digit halftime deficits twice already this season
"At halftime, we talked very little about Toledo's ability to come back," Gill said. "We talked about execution and finishing, and if we did that, everything will take care of itself."
The Rockets would not back down in the second half. Early in the third quarter, Toledo had a nine-play, 74-yard drive to cut the Buffalo lead to 36-26. The drive was capped off by a five-yard pass to Chris Hopkins from freshman quarterback D.J. Lenehan.
After the Bulls' offense stalled, going 0-for-3 on third down conversions in the third quarter, the Buffalo defense stepped up once again. Junior defensive tackle Mike Thompson caught his first career interception to stop a Toledo drive at the Buffalo 37-yard line with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter.
A turning point in the game occurred with five seconds to go in the third quarter. The Buffalo defense called a timeout on fourth down to force the Rockets to kick into the heavy wind. The result of the call was a 26-yard punt to set the Bulls up at the Toledo 48-yard line.
Starks took advantage of yet another short field situation. After a couple of short runs, he burst up the middle untouched for a 36-yard touchdown, giving Buffalo a 43-26 lead.
"I strive to be the best back out there," Starks said. "I have practiced harder the past couple of weeks and I didn't want to let the team down because I am a team player."
Toledo would get one more touchdown to cut the lead to 10 points again, but would not get any closer.
Buffalo converted on three fourth down plays on its final drive to seal their second consecutive victory.
"This is a good step for us to win two weeks in a row," Gill said. "We have played well at home and we are gaining confidence and we need to keep the mentality not to just win one game or two games but keep the mentality to finish the season out."
The Buffalo defense was led by freshman safety Davonte Shannon and sophomore safety Mike Newton. Shannon had 15 tackles, two and a half for a loss, while Newton recorded 13 tackles and two interceptions.
"I am proud of the defense," Gill said. "We had three freshmen in the secondary and the guys are responding. Toledo had 101 snaps and we pushed through that and hung in there and made stops at the end to win the football game."
For the game, the Bulls earned 435 yards of total offense. Willy threw for 172 yards and a career-high three touchdown passes.
Buffalo is looking for their third win in a row when they travel to face rival Syracuse on Saturday, Oct. 20. Kick-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will also be televised on ESPNU.
"We feel good winning two in a row right now," Willy said. "We know we can't look ahead and we need to focus one game at a time. We have a lot of confidence on offense and defense right now."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
