While shoppers stuffed their shopping carts and battled crowded parking lots on Black Friday, the Dix Stadium stands were virtually empty during the Bulls' season finale in Kent, Ohio.
In front of a scarce crowd announced at 15,131, Buffalo hoped to close its underachieving season out with one last win before heading home to clean out the UB Stadium locker room.
Though the Bulls entered Friday's game preparing for the end of the 2009 season, Kent State players had bowl eligibility on their minds. With a win, Kent State would become bowl eligible for the first time since 2006 and have six regular season wins for just the fourth time in 31 years.
But on the afternoon following Thanksgiving, it appeared as though the Golden Flashes' offense had not overcome the effects of the tryptophan from their turkey dinner.
Against frigid and windy field conditions, the Bulls' (5-7, 3-5 Mid-American Conference) defense held Kent State (5-7, 4-4 MAC) to just 159 yards of total offense en route to a 9-6 win on Friday.
The two programs capped their seasons in different styles as Buffalo finished the season with two straight road victories, while Kent State dropped their final three contests.
'[It's a] great win for us. I'm proud of our football team,' said Buffalo head coach Turner Gill. 'They hung in there, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Our coaching staff continued to keep the team energized. Our guys executed towards the end and throughout the ball game.'
Despite committing four turnovers, sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard led the Buffalo offense down the field in the final five minutes to set up the game-winning field goal by junior kicker A.J. Principe. Principe's 22-yard field goal with five seconds left capped off an 11 play, 63-yard drive to send the Bulls' 16 seniors off with one last win.
'Obviously that's what you want as a kicker, at the end for it to come down to you with the team on your shoulders and the game on your shoulders,' Principe said. 'I just kept positive. I knew the offense was going to put us in scoring position on that last drive. I just had confidence in everybody and wanted to send the seniors off the right way.'
The game-clinching field goal was Principe's third of his career and third of the afternoon, making him the Bulls all-time leading scorer with 224 total points, eclipsing the 222 points held by senior running back James Starks.
Before capping its fifth win of the season, missed opportunities plagued the Buffalo offense. Three visits to red-zone during the first half yielded just three points as a Maynard fumble and a failed fake field goal attempt kept Buffalo from putting the game away early on.
While junior running back Brandon Thermilus rumbled for 75 yards on 19 carries in the first half, Maynard's inaccurate passing resulted in just seven completions on 21 attempts for 114 yards.
As Maynard appeared flustered and impatient in the pocket, Gill turned to his ground game in the second half to carry the team to the win.
For the second week in a row, Thermilus led the Bulls offense with 123 yards on 29 carries. The 224-pound tailback set up Buffalo's second field goal after a 36-yard run off a draw play. Hitting the holes with great vision and unmatched power, Thermilus continued to break down the Kent State defense throughout the second half. His 15-yard run on first-and-10 put Buffalo into position for the game-winning field goal.
'I was just trying to score,' Thermilus said. 'We put the play in this week. We changed a little bit of the footwork and when we ran it I saw the holes open up. The lineman did a good job and [sophomore wide receiver] Terrell [Jackson] did a great job blocking down field. I was just trying to put points on the board.'
Maynard finished 13-for-31 for 181 yards with two fumbles and two interceptions. He was held without a touchdown pass for the first time all season. With senior wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt sidelined for a second straight week, Maynard connected with senior wide receiver Brett Hamlin. Hamlin concluded his career at Buffalo with five catches for 85 yards.
But the afternoon was the Buffalo defense's time to shine.
A heavy pass rush led to four sacks on Kent State quarterback Anthony Magazu, who completed just five of 13 pass attempts for 31 yards. The Golden Flashes reached the red zone twice but could only muster two Freddy Cortez field goals.
For the first time since Gill's opening game as head coach in 2006, the Bulls held a team scoreless in the first half.
'Since I've been here, there's no doubt it's the best our defense has played,' Gill said. 'It was great to see them from the standpoint that they had their backs against the wall several different times and they responded. They were resilient, played with a passion and were doing what they were supposed to do.'
Junior safety Davonte Shannon led the Bulls with eight tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss. Senior defensive tackle Dane Robinson, junior Bruno Lapointe, sophomore Richie Smith and freshman linebacker Terry Peden each recorded a sack. The sacks were the first of Lapointe's and Peden's careers.
In spite of finishing the season sub .500, Buffalo enters the offseason with reason for excitement. Despite the losses of Roosevelt and Hamlin, the Bulls will return with the core of their defense and an offense with an experienced quarterback and proven running game.
'We still have a lot of guys coming back next year,' Gill said. 'We're going to lose a lot of great seniors that we had on this football team, but we do have a lot to build on. We'll be reckoned with for a championship in the MAC.'
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