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Bulls show they're now bigger, badder as Zips fight wind, crucial mistakes
By Miguel Rodriguez Special to the Beacon Journal
Published on Sunday, Oct 28, 2007
AMHERST, N.Y.: Mother Nature proved to be as much of a major ally for the University at Buffalo as the University of Akron's inability to do anything right during key moments of the Mid-American Conference football game Saturday.
The Bulls easily played the role of the big bad wolf on an extremely windy day by blowing away the punchless Zips in a 26-10 victory before 10,142 fans at Buffalo's stadium.
It was Buffalo's first win in nine tries against UA and all but ended any hope that the Zips (3-5, 1-2 MAC East) had of winning the division title.
Buffalo also confirmed with the win that it's no longer the runt of the MAC. The Bulls improved to 3-0 in the division, 4-1 against conference foes and 4-5 overall. This is the first time Buffalo has won four games in a season since becoming a Division I-A program in 1999.
''Everybody in this league is pretty close in talent level,'' UA coach J.D. Brookhart said. ''They played an efficient game. We had opportunities that we didn't take advantage of.''
On a day in which wind gusts reached 35-40 mph, UA couldn't score when it had the wind at its back in the second and fourth quarters, and that doomed any hope it had of winning, though it gained 327 yards, roughly 40 more than its average.
The Zips also failed to get the ball into the hands of Jabari Arthur, the conference's leading receiver. He caught just three balls for 39 yards.
''I don't think they were doing anything special,'' Zips quarterback Chris Jacquemain said of Buffalo's defense on Arthur. ''We just didn't find a way to get him the ball enough.''
Buffalo flowed its pass coverage in the direction of the fifth-year senior Arthur, taking away his favorite routes by using a linebacker as a shield between him and Jacquemain.
The UA quarterback completed 19-of-37 passes for 185 yards and was picked off twice inside the red zone. Big receivers have proven to be troublesome for the Bulls' young secondary, but all the extra attention that they paid to the 6-foot-4 Arthur resulted in their holding him to nearly 65 yards fewer than his per-game average of 103.7.
''I have to give it to the Buffalo defense; they had a great game plan,'' Arthur said.
''We had to prepare for him,'' said Buffalo sophomore defensive back Mike Newton, who recorded his third interception in four games in the second quarter. ''We knew we had to stop him. We knew he's the key to their offense.''
The Bulls outscored the Zips with the wind, 16-3, turning back UA on five trips to the red zone, including four times when the Zips had the wind at their backs.
The Bulls scored on all five of their trips inside the 20, the biggie on a Chris Scharon 3-yard touchdown catch 1:06 into the fourth quarter that gave Buffalo a 23-10 lead. That 10-play drive began with 3:27 left in the third quarter as the Bulls gained 57 of the 72 yards with the wind at their back. Still, Buffalo made the key play into the wind when quarterback Drew Willy (11 for 14, three touchdowns) found Naaman Roosevelt for a 9-yard gain from the UA 15.
''We talk about that all the time. There are six to eight critical plays that change the course of (each) game,'' Brookhart said. ''We weren't converting. We had opportunities for two touchdowns, made one field goal and missed on the other.''
Besides not finding a way to get Arthur the ball, UA's biggest mistakes included:
A dropped pass by a wide-open Bryan Williams (21 rushes, 100 yards) that would have been a 33-yard touchdown on the Zips' first offensive play of the fourth quarter. That was set up by a 49-yard kickoff return by Gerr McGroarty. The drive stalled at Buffalo's 13.
Settling for a field goal at the end of the first half after earning a first-and-5 play from the Buffalo 8 because of a face-mask penalty with 1:05 left. Three consecutive runs produced minus-2 yards and allowed the Bulls to go into the half with a 13-10 lead.
''I think we were still in good shape,'' Jacquemain said. ''We would have liked to have had a touchdown (there). In the second half, we just didn't execute and (Buffalo) played well.''
UA will look to end its two-game losing streak Friday night at Bowling Green.
AMHERST, N.Y.: Mother Nature proved to be as much of a major ally for the University at Buffalo as the University of Akron's inability to do anything right during key moments of the Mid-American Conference football game Saturday.
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