By now, seemingly everybody at UB knows what happened on Saturday. It was the missed kick heard ‘round Buffalo, conjuring heart-wrenching memories of Scott Norwood. It put UB on the map; it put UB on SportsCenter.
It was a missed extra point.
Twenty nine-year-old senior kicker Peter Fardon hooked an extra-point to the left with 14 seconds remaining, sending the Buffalo Bulls to a 31-30 loss and a 2-6 record.
It's easy to blame Fardon for the loss, but of course his teammates didn't do that. Sophomore receiver Alex Neutz said: "we all love Peter and nobody blames him." Coach Quinn said his team lost because the Bulls committed five turnovers, and honestly, he had a point.
All in all, when it comes down to it, Fardon blew the game. There's no guaranteeing that Buffalo would've won in overtime, but at least the squad would've come all the way back (after trailing 31-10 in the fourth quarter) to send it to OT.
Sometimes this job sucks. Sometimes, you have to go down to a press conference immediately after the game, look an obviously distressed kicker in the eyes, and listen to him talk about how he's going to regret missing the kick for the rest of his life.
Some reporters thrived on the opportunity to write a big-time story about a huge missed PAT and they salivated with every excruciating word that fell from Fardon's awe-struck mouth. Others cringed at the thought of Fardon getting even more attention for his miscue, and they didn't even think Fardon should be brought to the press conference.
I guess I'm somewhere in between. Was the loss his fault? Yes. It absolutely was.
However, this team was already struggling. It's extremely unlikely that the Bulls would've made it to a bowl game (or the MAC championship game) this year. Fardon lost the game for a mid-major team that really wasn't going anywhere.
It could be worse.
He could be Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman, who missed two potential game-winning kicks against Nevada. He single-handedly halted a miracle underdog's run to overtake the country's major schools, and thus, he received numerous threats afterwards.
He could be Jay Feely, who missed three kicks – one in the closing seconds of regulation and two in overtime – that cost the Giants a game against Seattle in 2005.
He is neither of these players and he doesn't play on as big of a stage. He's a kicker for the Buffalo Bulls. Actually, he's a converted punter who started kicking this year because the Bulls needed a kicker.
Let's get down to it – this column isn't a desperate cry like: "leave Peter Fardon alone!"
It's just a reminder that Peter Fardon is a human being who makes mistakes, and I assure you he's beating himself up right now. He probably felt like somebody wound up and drilled him in the stomach as soon as he missed that kick.
The loss is 100 percent his fault, and no words will be enough to stop his pain. He said it himself: "I have a job to do and I didn't do it, and it's inexcusable."
In the grand scheme of things, this is just football. It's just a kicker. It's just a football team – a subpar football team.
Peter Fardon, I honestly feel terrible for you; it's my human nature.
I still have to sit in the press conference with the other bloodthirsty reporters and listen to your painful words. I still have to write that you lost the game, because, well, you did.
But I hope you don't beat yourself up over this single kick for the rest of your life. This game wasn't worth it.
Email: aaron.mansfield@ubspectrum.com
