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BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo football team played its finest half of the season, but couldn't put the whole 60 minutes together in a 38-21 loss to Akron in a Mid-American Conference game at UB Stadium.

Akron, which led 17-14 at halftime, scored three straight touchdowns early in the second half to send Buffalo to defeat in its MAC opener. Buffalo is now 0-5 and 0-1 in conference play while Akron is 3-2 and 2-1 in the MAC.

"When you play in the Mid-American Conference, the way it's going these days, there are good teams and there are excellent players and we played some tonight," said Buffalo head coach Jim Hofher. "I'm absolutely proud of the fight that our kids showed. They are a willing, learning, fighting bunch and I'm very certain we made some progress tonight despite the score. I'm absolutely convinced as a coach that the players are committed to keep on going forward.

"Akron did a good job and they took it to us in the second half," said Hofher. "We didn't capitalize on the close game as the score indicated coming out of halftime. They made a couple of key plays and we didn't make enough plays all the way around."

The Zips broke out on top after Buffalo was stopped on its first possession and was forced to kick into a stiff breeze. Akron got the ball at the Buffalo 45-yard line and converted two key third down conversions take a 7-0 lead.

On third-and-10, Akron quarterback Charlie Frye hit receiver Miquel Irvin with a 35-yard pass down the right sideline. Then on third-and-5 at the UB 10-yard line, Frye hit Mike Brake for the first touchdown of the game.

Akron extended the lead to 10-0 with 2:42 remaining in the first quarter on a 41-yard field goal by Jason Swiger. The Bulls held Akron to the field goal despite the fact that the Zips started the drive at the Buffalo 46-yard line. Akron led 10-0 after the first quarter despite the fact that they were on the UB side of the field on all four possessions.

After Buffalo turned the ball over at its own 47-yard line on a reverse, senior free safety

Mark Graham

Mark Graham (Monroe, MI/Monroe) made a huge play. Graham made Buffalo's first interception of the season, and the 12th of his career, on the very next play, intercepting Frye at the Buffalo three-yard line.

After UB moved the ball impressively out near midfield, Buffalo committed another turnover as quarterback P.J. Piskorik (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) and tailback Dave Dawson (Camp Hill, PA/Bishop McDevitt) mishandled a handoff.

The Bulls, however, came up with the biggest defensive play of the season, again by Graham. Sophomore Bryan Cummings (Cincinnati, OH/Madeira) had a blind-side hit on Frye and as the ball popped loose, Graham tipped it once,

Bryan Cummings

then grabbed it and took it back 66 yards for Buffalo's first defensive touchdown since the first game of the 2001 season. After Dallas Pelz (Holland, NY/St. Francis) added the extra point, Akron led 10-7 with 13:02 remaining in the first half.

The Bulls could not hold the momentum as penalties stopped their next drive, as an illegal motion penalty wiped out a third down conversion. Akron built the lead to 17-7 on a 40-yard drive in six plays, capped by a four-yard touchdown run by Frye.

The Bulls rallied to make it 17-14 at halftime with one of their best drives of the year. Aaron Leeper (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown) got the Bulls in good field goal position with a 30-yard kickoff return and Buffalo marched the rest of the 50 yards in nine plays, capped by a five-yard touchdown pass from Piskorik to wideout Matt Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle) with 1:18 remaining in the half. It was Piskorik's first career touchdown pass and the first by a Bulls' quarterback this season.

"Give Buffalo a lot of credit, they had us off-balance for most of the first half," said Akron head coach Lee Owens. "They brought a lot of pressure off the edge which hurt our sprint-out and that's what happened on the fumble return. They had some schemes that created problems."

Akron regained control to start the second half, driving 80 yards in seven plays with Bob Hendry capping the drive with a three-yard burst off left guard. The Zips put the game away on a huge third-and-11 play in the third quarter when Frye hit Matt Cherry with a 46-yard pass play to the Buffalo 32-yard line. Akron had been pinned at its own five-yard line to start the drive after an excellent punt by junior Dominic Milano (Hacienda Heights, CA/Los Altos). That key conversion allowed the Zips to finished off a 95-yard drive in nine plays on another two-yard burst by Hendry.

The Zips would score two more touchdowns before the Bulls answered back in the fourth quarter. Junior tight end Brian Miller (Santa Clarita, CA/Valencia) made his first career catch memorable with a seven-yard TD toss from Piskorik to cap a 72-yard drive in 11 plays. Freshman Chris McDuffie (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) had 23 yards rushing on the drive and another freshman - DeSean Larmond (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) - had a 34-yard catch on third-and-19 to keep the drive alive.

Flanker Matt Knueven had an excellent game for the Bulls with five receptions for 63 yards and a

Matt Knueven

touchdown. Piskorik finished 13-of-18 passing for a career-best 119 yards and two touchdowns. Aaron Leeper had a season-best 61 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Defensively, corner Michael Arroyo (Seymour, CT/Seymour) and safety Gemara Williams (Oak Park, MI/Brother Rice) had seven tackles each and both broke up pass. Graham had a big game with an interception, five tackles (four solos) and the fumble return for a touchdown.

BULL-etins: The Bulls debuted blue pants with their home blue jerseys for the first time in their Division I era. The players were not aware of it until they went back to the lockerroom after pre-game warmups...sophomore Dave Dawson had a career-best 46-yard kickoff return in the first half, also the longest for UB this season...Buffalo had not had a fumble returned for a touchdown in 66 games, dating back to 1997 when Londell Young picked up a fumble and returned it 28 yards for a score versus Delaware State...Mark Graham now has 12 career interceptions, tying him for fourth all-time with Dan Sella (1964-66) and Tim Hurd (1965-67), and a career-best 35 passes defended (breakups + interceptions). He also moved into fourth-place all-time in career solo tackles (150), passing Shane Currey (1978-81) who had 148...kicker Dallas Pelz moved into a tie for 17th place in career scoring with Roy Hobson (96 points) with his three PATs.