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BUFFALO, NY - A few precious mistakes were the only thing separating the University at Buffalo Bulls football team from their first Division I-A victory in 30 years.

The Bulls played visiting Connecticut, winners of five straight over the Bulls, on even terms but saw two key second half turnovers and a few mental mistakes keep them from snapping a 17-game losing streak. The Huskies, with a strong second half performance, improved to 2-1 on the season while Buffalo fell to 0-3.

Buffalo, which had turned the ball over nine times in their two previous losses had two costly turnovers in the second half and dug themselves a 24-13 deficit with under eight minutes remaining in the game. That's when the Bulls rallied behind great special teams play and gritty defense and nearly pulled off the miracle.

After a partially blocked punt, the Bulls drove 41 yards in eight plays capped when quarterback Joe Freedy (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) hit split end Andre Forde (Penfield, NY/Penfield) with a three-yard scoring strike for their second touchdown hookup of the evening. When Freedy hit freshman flanker Zeke McKine (Hollywood, FL/MacArthur) with the two-point conversion the Bulls cut the lead to 24-21 with 2:20 left.

After stopping the Huskies with under a minute to play, junior Javunt Pratt (Rochester, NY/John Marshall) blocked yet another kick and set the Bulls up first and ten at midfield. After a 16-yard pass play to Forde and a two-yard completion to running back Bam McDonald (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) , Freedy was sacked at his own 39 with time winding down. With no timeouts left all the Bulls could do was spike the ball and attempt a long field goal. Senior Scott Keller (Amherst, NY/Amherst Central) had his 58-yard try on line but it fell short giving the Huskies the win.

"I've seen Scott kick that before in practice so I had faith that he could make it," said UB head coach Craig Cirbus. "A loss like this just makes us stronger, and hopefully, this will help us play better as a team. We have to turn the last three weeks into something constructive for the strong conference schedule ahead of us."

The Bulls had a strong offensive first half and led 13-10 going into intermission. After the Huskies scored on their first drive to make it 3-0, Buffalo responded by going 61 yards in 13 plays with Keller tying the game with a 20-yard field goal. The Bulls took the lead in the second quarter when Forde and Freedy hooked up for the first time. Freedy scrambled to buy time and then hit Forde for a 38-yard scoring strike to put UB up 10-3. That play capped an impressive 97-yard drive in 11 plays.

The Huskies would come back to tie when Tommy Collins scored from six yards out on a pass from quarterback Ryan Tracey. Tracey would complete 20-of-37 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns in the game. UB took their last lead on a 23-yard field goal with just :12 in the half after a nine-play 60-yard drive.

In the second half, the Huskies hurt Buffalo on several crucial third-down conversions. On their first drive in the second half, UConn converted a third-and-17 play at their own 10 and went on to cap the drive with a 22-yard strike from Tracey to John Fitzsimmons to retake the lead at 17-13.

After the Huskies drove inside the Buffalo 20, senior Carlos Spencer (Buffalo, NY/South Park) forced a fumble by Fitzsimmons that was recovered by senior Chris Gray (Frewsburg, NY/Frewsburg) at the Buffalo nine-yard line.

After two changes of possessions, the Bulls took over at the Huskies 48-yard line after an 18-yard punt return by McDonald. However, a botched snap on the first play gave Connecticut the ball back. UB's defense, however, came up big forcing a punt before Freedy was intercepted inside the UB 25 by Jamie Lenkaitis, who returned the ball to the Buffalo 15. Three players later, Taber Small burst in from two yards out for the game-winning score.

There were many outstanding performances for the Bulls on both sides of the ball. Freedy completed a career-high 26-of-39 passes for a career-best 259 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was McKine, a true freshman, who had 10 catches for 122 yards. Forde, meanwhile added six catches for 95 yards and hit paydirt twice. Forde now has four career touchdown receptions on 22 career catches.

Defensively, UB got big games from Gray, Spencer, Tory Smith (Centereach, NY/Hall Hollow East and Jamie Guerra (Belle Vernon, PA/Belle Vernon). Gray had a career-best 12 tackles, two for loss, and a fumble recovery. Smith had 10 tackles, including two for loss, while Spencer (forced fumble, pass break) and Guerra (1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss) each had seven tackles.

The Bulls will host Bowling Green next Saturday at 7:00 pm in their Mid-American Conference opener.