A shootout was expected for Buffalo's home opener against Texas-El Paso. With the Bulls starting three new linebackers and UTEP ranking 117th in total defense last season, the question of the game was whether either defense would be able to stop the opposing team from making fireworks explode like the Fourth of July.
The Bulls' defense made sure the only fireworks UTEP's offense took part of were the post-game explosions that lit of the sky over UB Stadium.
With the defense playing superbly and the offense running all over UTEP, Buffalo (1-0) easily took care of the Miners (0-1), 42-17, Thursday night.
Senior quarterback Drew Willy got the Bulls off to a great start, throwing two touchdown passes in the first 10 minutes of the game, including a 68-yard catch and run by junior wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt, to set the tone for the Bulls. After UTEP fought back to tie the game up in the second quarter, Willy finished the half by tossing a 34-yard touchdown to senior wide receiver Gary Rice, giving the Bulls a 21-14 halftime lead.
Willy would only throw four passes past that point, including a 56-yard touchdown pass to junior Naaman Roosevelt to give the Bulls a comfortable 28-14 lead to begin the half. Willy finished with 221 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, while Roosevelt had four catches for 154 yards and a 68-yard touchdown.
Willy's arm was not needed in the second half of play. After Roosevelt's touchdown, the Buffalo running attack dominated UTEP's new defense. Junior running back James Starks and sophomore Brandon Thermilus, Starks' backup, ran for a combined 281 yards, most coming in the second half. The duo drove the Bulls' offense time after time; Thermilus, who ran for 85 yards last season, finished with 102 yards and his first two career touchdowns.
"I don't consider (Brandon) a backup just because he's a very skilled guy," said Starks, who finished with 179 yards rushing. "He's a great back. He can do a lot of things. The line did a great job opening up holes for him and he did great in finding those holes."
Head coach Turner Gill was ecstatic after the victory. He acknowledged that Willy had a great game throwing the ball down the field, but didn't go to him more because of the solid running attack.
"If the running attack is going well, that wears the defense down," he said. "We took our opportunities downfield when we thought it was best to do it, and the guys executed to the best of their abilities."
Even with the Bulls' offense providing much firepower, the star of the game was the defensive unit. Facing a powerful UTEP offense, the Bulls held UTEP to three second-half points and forced stand-out quarterback Trevor Vittatoe into three interceptions while limiting UTEP's rushing attack to 67 yards.
Sophomore linebacker Justin Winters stood out on the defensive side of the ball for Buffalo. After playing special teams last season, Winters came in as the starting right outside linebacker and racked up star-like numbers, totaling eight tackles, a sack, an interception and two tackles for loss.
Gill couldn't have been more proud of his young, but talented, defense.
"They had a great opportunity to make plays, and they made them," Gill said. "It was great to see the turnovers. If the guys didn't have great effort, there probably wouldn't have been that many interceptions. To hold that explosive offense under 20 points is a great job."
According to Winters, winning was all about the Bulls' practice and preparation for victory.
"We knew everybody thought it would be a shootout, but we practiced for them all week and they did exactly what we practiced for. It was kind of easy, we were just running around making plays like in practice," Winters said.
After the game, the entire team ran over and greeted True Blue, the student fan organization that provided a loud, full section. Throughout the game, the announced crowd of 16,656 was ecstatic, going wild with every play.
"The students were tremendous tonight. Every third down you could hear them, and when we scored they were going nuts," Willy said. "They've done a great job supporting us and it's time for us to give back to them."
Buffalo next travels to Pittsburgh for a 6 p.m. kickoff against the Panthers on Sept. 6.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
