FOOTBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Bulls Fall To Bowling Green, 31-17, in Home Finale

James Starks

“I want to first of all say thank you to the fans,” said head coach Turner Gill. “That’s what its all about here, to bring excitement in the Buffalo area about Division I football. I’m proud of my football team. They played hard, but Bowling Green made more plays than we did and that’s usually what happens as far as who wins and who loses.

“We still have one football game left (at Kent State next week) and we have to be ready to play that game to the best of our abilities,” said Gill.

Despite the loss, the Bulls had several individuals set single season milestones.

Sophomore tailback James Starks (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) became the first player since the Bulls moved up to Division I-A in 1999 to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. Starks finished with 137 yards on 21 carries to become the first UB back since Anthony Swan in 1996 to break the 1,000-yard barrier. Starks, who now has 1,049 yards for the season, needs 141 yards at Kent State next week to break the school record for yards in a season. In addition, quarterback Drew Willy (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) set a new school record for completions in a season. His 19 completions in the game gives him 224 for the season, six more than the previous record.

Freshman strong safety Davonte Shannon (Jeannette, PA/Jeannette) had a career-best 17 tackles in the game which made him just the fourth I-A player to amass over 100 stops in a season and the first freshman to do so. Shannon now has 107 tackles on the year, just six short of the most by a Bulls player in I-A history.

The Falcons showed they were ready to play by driving 68 yards in nine plays on the game’s opening drive. Anthony Turner capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run with 11:27 remaining in the first quarter.

The Bulls got on the board on the very next possession, their first of the game, as quarterback Willy connected on 5-of-7 passes for 52 yards to move Buffalo from its own 10-yard line to the BG 10. From there, freshman kicker A.J. Principe (Columbus, OH/Geneva DeSales) drilled a 27-yard field goal to make the score 7-3 with 6:05 remaining in the first.

On Bowling Green’s next possession, the Bulls forced a punt when senior Trevor Scott (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam) and Shannon combined to sack Sheehan to force a punt. On the ensuing punt junior Alex Pierre (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) burst through and blocked the kick which rolled out of bounds at the BG 44-yard line.

Davonte Shannon

On the next play, sophomore tailback Mario Henry (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent) raced 26 yards off right tackle to set Buffalo up deep in Falcon territory. Two plays later, tailback Starks blasted five yards for a touchdown. It was Stark’s 14th touchdown of the season, 12th by rush.

The Falcons would tie the game early in the second quarter by virtue of a 15-yard penalty on Buffalo for interference on Bowling Green’s punt returner. The Falcons only had to drive 21 yards to get a 40-yard field goal that tied the game at 10-10.

The Falcons retook the lead 17-10 on a 44-yard pass and run from Tyler Sheehan to Freddie Barnes with 6:41 remaining in the second quarter. The Falcons advanced the lead to 24-10 on an 83-yard pass from Sheehan to Chris Wright with 2:24 remaining before halftime.

The Bulls threatened to cut into the lead late in the quarter as Willy connected on a 47-yard pass to Naaman Roosevelt (Buffalo, NY/St. Joseph’s) to the BG 16-yard line. However, the Bulls were not able to convert the drive into points and trailed 24-10 at halftime.

After the Falcons increased the lead to 31-10 early in the third quarter, the Bulls answered back, driving 92 yards in six plays.

Starks went over the 1,000 yard mark for the season with a 63-yard run that set the Bulls up inside the Bowling Green 20-yard line. Willy then connected on a 17-yard slant pass for a touchdown to flanker Ernest Jackson (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili) and after the PAT the Bulls trailed 31-17 with 9:28 left in the third quarter.

The Bulls defense then rose up on BG’s next drive, with Scott recording his second sack of the game to stop the Falcons drive.

After a Bowling Green punt, Buffalo took over at its own 21-yard line. Willy got the Bulls moving with a 35-yard completion to Roosevelt That catch put Roosevelt over the 100-yard mark for the second time this season. The Bulls eventually drove to the Falcon one-yard line, but after a three-yard loss on third down, the Bulls were stopped two yards shy of the goal line and turned the ball over on downs.

The Bulls would have two more possessions that they would drive into Bowling Green territory, but could not come up with any more points.

Naaman Roosevelt

Roosevelt finished the game with a career-high 148 yards on six catches, while Jackson would add six catches for 41 yards. Shannon paced the Bulls’ defense with 17 tackles, 2.5 for losses. Senior linebacker Larry Hutchinson (Seattle, WA/Franklin) matched his career best with 11 tackles, a quarterback hurry and a tackle for loss. Scott finished with six tackles, 1.5 sacks and a pass broken up.

 BULL-etins: With ten first quarter points today, the Bulls have now scored 92 first quarter points this season, a school-record since returning to Division I-A. The previous record was 38 in 2004. UB has scored in the first quarter in eight of 11 games this season... running back James Starks went over 100 yards for the fourth-time this season and the sixth-time in his career. His four 100-yard games this season tie him for third in 100-yard games in a season. The six career 100-yard games ties him for fourth. With one touchdown today, Starks has now scored 120 career points, 12th best in UB history... quarterback Drew Willy has not thrown an interception in his last 191 pass attempts...Starks recorded his 12th rushing touchdown of the season, tying him for third in single-season rushing scores for the Bulls with Lee Jones (1967) and Pat Whitehead (1962). In addition, Starks’ first pass attempt of his career made him the third Bull besides Drew Willy to complete a pass this year (joining Mario Henry and Brett Hamlin)...Willy has thrown for 2,238 yards this season, the fourth-most passing yards by a UB quarterback in a single-season...Ernest Jackson tied a career-high with six receptions. Jackson previously had six at Penn State on September 15...placekicker A.J. Principe connected on his 12th field goal of the season, tied for the third-best mark in school history with Dallas Pelz in 2001. Principe scored five points on the day, leaving him three shy of the single season mark of 68 by Gerald Carlson...Alex Pierre had a blocked punt in the first quarter; it was the second blocked punt of the season for the Bulls...Larry Hutchinson recorded one tackle-for-loss, giving him 16 for the season. That ties Hutchinson for fifth in single-season tackles-for-loss...Naaman Roosevelt recorded a season-long reception of 47 yards late in the second quarter...wide receiver Brett Hamlin recorded his first career rush. Hamlin gained 10 yards on the carry...Trevor Scott registered 1.5 sacks, giving him 9.5 for the season, the fourth-best season for any UB player. Scott now also has 18.5 career sacks, third all-time in school history...a 44-yard field goal missed by Principe broke a string of nine straight makes.