OXFORD, OH - Football coaches are always preaching about the importance of special teams to the outcome of a game.

The University at Buffalo found out the truth the hard way on Saturday as Miami University, on the strength of several big plays on special teams defeated the Bulls, 31-14, at Yager Stadium before 20,108 in a Mid-American Conference East Division battle.

The game turned on a several special teams plays in the second and third quarter. Trailing 14-7 late in the second quarter, Buffalo (1-4) saw an impressive 10-play drive in the final minutes of the first half end with a 32-yard missed field goal by sophomore Dallas Pelz (Holland, NY/St. Francis) with just :23 left in the half. Than after allowing Miami to extend the lead to 17-7 on a 34-yard field goal by Jared Parseghian, the Bulls saw Miami punt returner Eddie Tillitz weave his way 80 yards on an ensuing Buffalo punt to put the RedHawks up 24-7.

That sequence set up a third quarter than saw Buffalo outgained 136 to -7 as the RedHawks gained the momentum. Buffalo, however, would bounce back in the fourth quarter and get themselves back in the game behind quarterback Joe Freedy (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park). Freedy engineered a 12-play, 80-yard drive by completing all three passes on the drive and scrambling twice for 38 yards. The drive capper came when tailback Marquis Dwarte (Baltimore, MD/Perry Hall) slammed in from five yards out.

However, Miami -whose only losses have come on the road to the Big 10's Michigan and Iowa, would finally break through Buffalo's tremendous second-half defense this season. The RedHawks drove 65 yards in just six plays, with the big play a 37-yard hookup from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to Jason Branch. That set up a four-yard touchdown run by Steve Little the first touchdown Buffalo has allowed in the second half in four games.

The Bulls played an inspired first half against Miami, which was looking to become just the 22nd team in college football history to win 600 games. The Bulls outgained Miami in total yards 155-146 in the half but trailed 14-7, again due to some big special teams plays by the RedHawks.

The Bulls couldn't take advantage of great field position early as their first two drives of the game ended at the RedHawk 35- and 34-yard lines. Miami, meanwhile, was stopped cold on their first two possessions before Buffalo forced the first turnover of the game. After Miami drove to the Buffalo eight-yard line, UB senior defensive tackle

Omari Jordan

Omari Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Collingwood) forced his second fumble of the season which was pounced on by linebacker Bobby Johnson (Trabuco Hills, CA/Trabuco Hills). Johnson had another outstanding game for Buffalo, sharing team-high honors with J.J. Gibson (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) in tackles with 10.

The Bulls, however, could not take advantage and were forced to punt with the Redhawks taking over on the UB 40-yard line late in the first quarter. On the first play from scrimmage, however, Roethlisberger was intercepted by UB's Mark Graham (Monroe, MI/Monroe) at the Buffalo two-yard line.

Mark Graham

It was Graham's first interception of the season and the fourth of his career. He would go on to record a career-best nine tackles (seven solos) and a team-leading fifth pass breakup as well.

After Buffalo was stopped on the ensuing drive, Tillitz began his outstanding special teams performance by returning a punt by Scott McMahan (Santa Ana, CA/Oceanview) 32 yards to the Buffalo 35. Twelve hard-earned plays later, Miami would draw first blood on a one-yard toss from Roethlisberger to Matt Brandt who outfought J.J. Gibson for the ball in the end zone. It took the Redhawks five plays from inside the Buffalo five-yard line to score.

The Bulls responded immediately, however, driving 73 yards in seven plays to knot the score at 7-7. The key play in the series was a 34-yard hookup from Freedy to freshman receiver Matt Kneuven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle) on a third-and-16 play. Kneuven, who had a number of friends and family from his native Cincinnati on hand, had a career-best five receptions for 77 yards in the game.

After an 18-yard hookup from Freedy to senior Ruben Vargas (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy) - who had a career-best three receptions for 36 yards - Freedy hit tight end Chad Bartoszek (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca) for a touchdown strike for the second straight week. Bartoszek ran a post pattern and caught the pass in stride for a nine-yard scoring play to tie the game with 3:08 left in the half.

The RedHawks, however, had a response of their own bouyed by a 54-yard return by Milt Bowen on the succeeding kickoff. From there, Miami moved 46 yards in six plays to take the lead for good on an 18-yard fourth down scoring play from Roethlisberger to tailback Steve Little down the left sideline.

BULL-etins: Quarterback Joe Freedy moved into sole possession of fifth place all-time in career touchdown passes (26) with his scoring toss to Bartoszek. Freedy had been tied with Gordon Bukaty (1958-60) on the all-time chart...next up for Freedy is Frank Reilly who threw 27 scoring passes. Freedy's 40 pass attempts were the most this season and his 17 yards rushing were themost since he ran for 24 at Akron in his first career start (9/11/99)...senior defensive end Chris Shelly (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) moved into 11th place in career tackles for loss with a pair on Saturday. Shelly tied Todd Schaffer with 22 and is one behind former teammate Dan Poulsen (1995-98) for 10th place. Shelly and defensive line teammates Jamie Guerra (Belle Vernon, PA/Belle Vernon) and Bob Dzvonick (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) all finished with five tackles in the game...junior split end Andre Forde (Penfield, NY/Penfield) missed the second half after straining his back on a 32-yard kickoff return in the second quarter. Forde moved into fifth-place all-time in kickoff returns (38) and seventh place in return yardage (747)...Buffalo did not have a sack in the game while Miami got to Freedy four times...Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hurt UB's MAC-leading pass defense by completing 23-of-30 passes for 212 yards and a pair of scores.

Post-Game Comments

Buffalo head coach Jim Hofher...

On the difference in the game

"The one that jumps out is the punt return and frankly today we didn't do our best in terms of our coverage teams. Our punt coverage team gave up a long one in the first half that resulted in a touchdown and than we gave up a touchdown, that's significant field position and 14 points right there because of the field position or the outright play itself. In the third quarter we really didn't come out of the shadow of our own goalpost...it was a tough quarter for us."

"A lot of things happened out there in the second half, at 24-14 there was a lot of time left in the fourth quarter, there's a chance. I thought the methodical drive that followed our touchdown where they hit the long pass and scored on the next play really made it tough. Our kids didn't stop, and frankly, they show a tremendous amount of grit, but we've got to make more plays, we've got to eliminate a few of those execution things by units and than some guys in position have got to rise up and make a play, and that will come."

On the play of Miami freshman quarterback Ben Roethlisberger

"He's a very poised young quarterback. His height allows him to see things and his offensive line allows him to see things, I was very impressed with their tight ends, they made several catches on the perimeter. Their backs ran very hard and although their receiver made a big play to set up the last touchdown, I thought we did a pretty good job on them...they hurt us much more in the return game."

On the struggles of the UB running game

"Miami is very stout. They really brought more pressure than they had shown previously and it was run game pressure more than anything against the pass. They did an excellent job with their ends, they closed very hard and we'll see how much they outplayed us (watching the film)."