No matter how close a dog gets to catching its tail, he never gets that final bite.
This past Saturday, Buffalo was the dog left chasing the tail of Western Michigan.
And this tale ended up in favor of the Broncos.
After trailing nearly the entire game, the Bulls found themselves down 31-28 with just less than two minutes to play. Buffalo's offense moved the ball 69 yards to set up a 28-yard field goal attempt with just three seconds left in regulation.
Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit called two consecutive timeouts to try to ice the Bulls' special teams unit, but junior kicker A.J. Principe drilled the field goal to send the game into overtime.
Buffalo (3-5, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) had the first chance to score in the extra period but were not able to move the ball forward. Junior kicker John Rachuna attempted his first career field goal from 43 yards out against strong winds. Though the strike was on target, the ball barely reached the end zone and Western Michigan (4-4, 3-2 MAC) took over. The Broncos kicked the game-winning field goal on their first possession in overtime for a 34-31 victory.
The Bulls were hurt, but not depleted.
'I think our guys will be resilient,' said Buffalo head coach Turner Gill. 'We'll come back ready to play in 10 games. It obviously hurts. We had opportunities to win the football game, but the bottom line is, Western Michigan made more plays than we did.'
Adding insult to injury, three Buffalo cornerbacks were forced to exit the game early.
Senior Kendric Hawkins went down in the third quarter with an internal injury and junior defensive backs Josh Thomas and Joe Petit both left the game in the first half after suffering concussions.
Senior running back Mario Henry also exited the game with an ankle injury. Without the services of James Starks and junior Brandon Thermilus, the Bulls' ground attack was left with one rusher – junior Ike Nduka.
Despite rushing for 172 yards, Nduka was unable to carry the team to victory. On the afternoon, Nduka also set career-highs for longest single rush (56) and touchdowns (3).
'We're a good football team,' Nduka said. 'Losing a game like this hurts a lot, but our mentality is to go out there and play football to win. That's not going to change whether we win or lose this week.'
Sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard threw for only 83 yards and tossed two interceptions in the first half.
But Maynard's shaky play was aided by a stingy Buffalo defense.
The Bulls were able to stay even on the turnover ratio thanks to sophomore middle linebacker Scott Pettigrew, who scooped up two fumbles.
Maynard would finish the game 26 of 51, for 327 passing yards. The young quarterback showed great poise at the end of regulation when he executed an ideal two-minute drill to help send the game into overtime.
The gunslinger connected with senior wide receiver Brett Hamlin 10 times for 146 yards and one touchdown. Despite the impressive stat line, the receiver wasn't entirely pleased with his performance and understands that his team will have a lot of work to do in order to finish the season on a high note.
'It hurts because from here it's an uphill battle,' Hamlin said. 'We knew we had to win this one in order to have a shot at the MAC title and a bowl game. We're going to have to bounce back from [the loss].'
Buffalo's defense couldn't stop the Broncos' impact players all afternoon.
Western Michigan running back Brandon West ran wild for the Broncos, racking up 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Tim Hiller complimented the running game with two rushing touchdowns of his own, in addition to throwing for 350 yards.
Nduka broke off a career-high 52-yard touchdown run to give the Bulls their first lead of the game with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. With a defensive stop and a kneel down, Buffalo would've sealed the victory. But the Bulls couldn't come up with the big defensive plays.
Junior linebacker Justin Winters felt that the defense didn't do their share at the end of the game.
'The quarterback, Tim [Hiller], is a good player,' Winters said. 'He made plays and we didn't make plays. It's very [disappointing]. We feel like we let the team down, but we're going to come back next week.'
The Bulls return home Tuesday, Nov. 3, to face off against the Bowling Green Falcons. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
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