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BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo football team nearly pulled off a Homecoming miracle on Saturday afternoon against visiting Ball State at UB Stadium in Mid-American Conference football before 13,064 fans.

The Bulls (1-6, 1-3 in the MAC) spotted the Cardinals a 35-7 halftime lead before making an incredible comeback to trail just 41-35 with 6:40 remaining in the game. However, just when the Bulls appeared poised to pull off the greatest comeback in school history, Ball State (3-4, 3-1) put together a 13-play drive - all on the ground - to kick the game-clinching field goal from Mike Langford with 1:11 remaining to hold off UB, 44-35. Ball State has won three straight games while the Bulls have now dropped three straight.

Marcus Merriweather had 178 of Ball State's 192 rushing yards in the game on a career-high 30 carries and scored two touchdowns while quarterback Talmadge Hill completed 13-of-18 passes for 248 yards and four touchdowns for the Cardinals.

The game started off perfectly for the Bulls before everything went wrong in the first half. On the Cardinals' first play from scrimmage, Anthony Jones fumbled with UB's Craig Rohlfs (Cincinnati, OH/Moeller) recovering at the Ball State 44. Rohlfs had a superb game with a career-best 15 tackles, two fumble recoveries and two tackles for loss.

The Bulls' responded immediately as Joe Freedy (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park)and Andre Forde (Penfield, NY/Penfield) continued their touchdown magic. Freedy hit Forde on a 37-yard post pattern to make it 7-0 just 1:34 into the game. It was Forde's sixth touchdown reception of the season and the fifth straight game he has caught a touchdown pass from Freedy.

After that, however, the first half was a disaster for the Bulls. Ball State roared back with 35 straight first-half points as the Bulls made several crucial mistakes, the biggest being a 39-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown by Quentin Manley that broke a 7-7 tie.

The second half, however, belonged to the Bulls and in particular freshman receiver Zeke McKine (Hollywood, FL/MacArthur) and junior fullback Albert Grundy (Springfield, PA/Valley Forge JC). Freedy began the comeback with a one-yard run to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive all on the ground. After another Ball State touchdown made it 41-14, the Bulls' continued their relentless comeback as McKine scored two touchdowns and set up another.

After Grundy tore off a 31-yard gain, the Bulls' completed the drive on a 20-yard hookup from Freedy to McKine to make it 41-21 with 2:19 remaining in the third quarter. Grundy finished the game with 106 yards rushing on just 11 attempts while another freshman, Marquis Dwarte (Baltimore, MD/Perry Hall), had 20 carries for 93 yards as UB rolled up a season-high 252 yards on the ground.

After stopping Ball State, the Bulls' continued their comeback with a perfectly-executed faked punt on fourth down with Tory Smith (Centereach, NY/Half Hollow East) rushing for 11 yards on fourth-and-eight. One play later, Freedy hit McKine with a 48-yard fly pattern and UB was within, 41-28 with 13:49 remaining.

After the Bulls were stopped on downs and forced two Ball State punts, McKine did it again for UB. The freshman returned Reggie Hodges' punt 73 yards to the Ball State three-yard line, setting up a two-yard leap from Grundy to make it, 41-35 with 6:40 remaining. However, Merriweather made certain that Ball State escaped with the win, rushing for 56 yards on seven carries on the Cardinals' game-clinching drive.

"You've got to take your hats off to Ball State, that was as big league a drive as I've seen in a long time when they absolutely had to have it to ensure a win," said UB head coach Craig Cirbus. "I'm not at all disappointed in our effort. This team gave everything they had today and fought until the very end. We had some mistakes early in the game that cost us dearly and were critical to the outcome."

McKine finished with 151 yards of all-purpose offense and scored the first two touchdowns of his career. Defensively, UB racked up four more quarterback sacks as Chris Gray (Frewsburg, NY/Frewsburg), who had 11 tackles, Marcus Cole (Buffalo, NY/Turner-Carroll), who had eight solo stops and Duane Williams (Detroit, MI/Denby), who had five tackles, all racked up sacks. Chris Shelly (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) added six tackles for the Bulls, while both Cole and Bob Dzvonick (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) had forced fumbles for UB.