HUNTINGTON, WV - The University at Buffalo football team took on the best in the Mid-American Conference on Saturday night and it took Marshall University's best to defeat the hungry Bulls.

In the second half, the Thundering Herd (2-3, 1-0 in the MAC) had to pull out its 'A' game to eventually pull away from a 17-14 halftime lead and beat Buffalo, 47-14, before 29,019 fans at Marshall Stadium. Quarterback Byron Leftwich completed 25-of-36 passes for a career-high 372 yards and three touchdowns as the Thundering Herd blew open a close game late in the third quarter.

The Herd took control of the game with two touchdowns in a one minute period late in the third. Marshall drove 55 yards on eight plays with Frank Wallace scoring from one-yard out to give MU a 31-14 lead. On the first play of UB's next possession, All-America cornerback Danny Derricott intercepted a pass by Joe Freedy (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) and returned it all the way to the UB three-yard line. Two plays later, Leftwich hit Lanier Washington with a three-yard score that ended UB's hopes and made it 38-14 on the final play of the third quarter.

UB (1-4, 1-1) had a chance to get back in the game in the fourth, but two plays summed up their second half. Junior linebacker Duane Williams (Detroit, MI/Denby) intercepted a Leftwich pass and returned it 53 yards to the Marshall five before being stripped and having the ball roll through the end zone for a touchback. After Marshall got the ball back, backup quarterback Steve Galbraith hit Lanier Washington on a 90-yard flanker screen pass for a touchdown on a third-and-20 play.

The Bulls played an inspired first half and trailed the mighty Herd, winners of 33 straight at home, just 17-14 at intermission. UB stopped Marshall on a long drive on the Herd's first possession of the game inside its 20-yard line. Marshall went for it on fourth-and-three at the UB 23, but junior Ron Gannello (Middletown, NY/Middletown) stopped Chanston Rodgers on the fourth down try a yard short of the first down.

The Herd took a 7-0 lead with 1:21 remaining in the first quarter when Byron Leftwich hit David Foye on a 53-yard scoring strike. Buffalo responded when freshman Mark Graham (Monroe, MI/Monroe) intercepted Leftwich early in the second quarter at the UB 46-yard line. It was Graham's first career interception and UB's first since the opener against Syracuse.

Buffalo took advantage of the interception by driving 54 yards yards on seven plays to tie the game. Freedy and Dahnel Singfield (Baltimore, MD/Dunbar) played the key roles on the drive. Freedy hit Singfield for 20 yards on a third-and-four play. Three plays later, the two hooked up again as Singfield scored his second touchdown of the year on an 18-yard pass to the right corner of the end zone. Singfield had four receptions for 61 yards while Freedy finished the game 15-of-28 for 186 yards.

The Herd went back on top late in the second quarter by driving 75 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Chanston Rodgers finished the eight-play drive with a one-yard plunge after a costly offside penalty on third-and-one nullified a three-yard loss and set up the Herd first-and-goal inside the one.

UB didn't take long to respond, however, :21 in fact. Freedy hit sophomore Andre Forde (Penfield, NY/Penfield) with a quick post pass that Forde turned into a 72-yard score. The pass was the longest touchdown strike of Freedy's career and Forde's fourth touchdown in five games this season. It was the longest TD pass for the Bulls since 1996 when Mark Taylor and Kali Watkins connected on a 87-yard score vs. Maine on Nov. 16, 1996.

The Herd took the lead at halftime,17-14, when J.R. Jenkins kicked a 36-yard field goal with :26 left to cap a 14 play, 51-yard drive. They extended the lead to 24-14 when Leftwich hit Darius Watts on a perfect 61-yard post pattern after the two teams exchanged two possessions each to start the third quarter.

The UB defense was led again by senior linebacker Chris Gray (Frewsburg, NY/Frewsburg). Gray had a game-high 11 tackles, three for loss, and a sack. Safety Tory Smith (Centereach, NY/Half Hollow East) had 10 tackles for UB while Duane Williams had five tackles, a sack, an interception and a pass breakup.