KENT, OH - Heading into its final game of the 2003 campaign against Kent State on Saturday afternoon, the University at Buffalo football team knew that its toughest task would be containing the Golden Flashes multifaceted quarterback Joshua Cribbs. At the end of the day the Kent State signal caller had racked up 372 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in a 34-24 victory over Buffalo in front of 7,196 at Dix Stadium.

Cribbs' efforts spoiled a strong rally by the Bulls who fell behind 27-10 in the first half, only to narrow the Golden Flashes lead to 27-24 in the fourth quarter, before Cribbs' 56-yard run with 10:11 remaining settled the issue.

"I saw a team that fought like crazy in the second half despite what may have occured in the first half," said UB coach Jim Hofher. "I looked at it as a game of big plays, they made three spectacular plays, two that were direct scores and one that led to another, that we have to be able to stop.

"My hat is off to Kent, this is now the sixth consecutive game that they have scored 30 points or more and they have an excellent offense and a singularly great talent in Josh Cribbs, who did a terrific job today," said Hofher. "I am very proud to have been able to work with the 12 seniors who traveled today who have contributed greatly to the beginnings of UB's football program in the Mid-American Conference. I'm really grateful to them and their efforts and really proud to have been a part of football with them in college."

The resurgence of the UB offense continued on Saturday as the Bulls racked up a season-high 434 yards of total offense, including a season-high 262 yards rushing. The Bulls also eclipsed the 24-point barrier for the third time in the last four games.

The Golden Flashes opened the scoring on their first drive on a 42-yard field goal by Travis Mayle with 12:32 left in the first.

On the next Kent State possession, a botched handoff attempt by

Gemara Williams

Cribbs was pounced on by Gemara Williams (Oak Park, MI/Brother Rice) at the Kent State eight-yard line. The Bulls capitalized on the turnover with a 21-yard field goal by Dallas Pelz (Holland, NY/St. Francis) that tied the contest, 3-3, with 6:58 remaining in the first quarter.

Kent State regained the lead on a 30-yard field goal by Mayle with 12:12 remaining in the second quarter. Both field goals were results of the UB defense hunkering down once the Golden Flashes reached the redzone.

The Golden Flashes engineered an 11-play, 85-yard drive, capped by an eight-yard touchdown run by Elijah Brooks, to extend their lead to 13-3 with 5:20 left in the first half. Kent State struck again on its next possession as Cribbs darted 80 yards on a third-and-two play to the endzone to give the Flashes a 20-3 lead.

The Bulls answered right back on the ensuing possession with a five play, 87-yard drive that included a 32-yard pass completion from P.J. Piskorik (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) to Gabe McClover (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Coconut Creek) and was capped by a 21-yard touchdown toss from Piskorik to Matt Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle). Piskorik hit all four of his passes on the drive for 72

Matt Knueven

yards on the drive that cut the lead to 20-10 with 1:17 left in the second quarter.

However, the Golden Flashes marched 70 yards in just 51 seconds to score once again before the end of the half. The key play was a 52-yard completion from Cribbs to Derrick Bush. Cribbs connected with Neil Buckosh on a four yard touchdown strike with 19 seconds left in the half to give the Flashes a 27-10 halftime advantage.

The Bulls cut the lead to 27-17 on a six-yard touchdown run by Jared Patterson (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere) with 1:39 left in the third quarter. Aaron Leeper (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown) had 27 yards on thd drive. The touchdown was Patterson's fourth score of the season and it capped a 10 play, 87-yard drive. The redshirt freshman finished the game with a career-high 60 yards on eight carries.

Following a three-and-out by the Flashes, the Bulls struck again by marching 57 yards on nine plays and scored on a two-yard touchdown pass from Piskorik to Knueven - with 12:10 left in the fourth quarter - to make the score 27-24.

Jared Patterson

Patterson had a 25-yard run on the drive, while the second touchdown catch by Knueven was a career high for the junior wideout and brought his season total to four.

Cribbs silenced the Bulls' rally, however, on Kent's next possession with a 60-yard touchdown run to extend Kent State's lead to 34-24. The Bulls had two more possessions, but could not convert on a fourth down play at the Kent 42-yard line and had the clock run out on them on their final drive.

The Bulls had three running backs run for at least 50 yards in the game. Dave Dawson (Camp Hill, PA/Bishop McDevitt) led the way with 66 yards on 15 carries, Patterson gained 60 yards and Leeper went for 56 yards on eight carries.

Piskorik led the Bulls offense throughout most of the day, after missing the previous two games due to injury,

P.J. Piskorik

and had a career day. Piskorik ran for 37 yards and threw for a career-best 172 yards by connecting on 18-of-24 passes. Knueven finished the day with five receptions for 51 yards and a pair of scores. Leeper added five receptions for 27 yards while McClover had three catches for a career-best 42 yards.

Defensively, the Bulls were led by junior safety J.J. Gibson (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home), who had eight tackles, while linebacker Bryan Cummings (Cincinnati, OH/Madeira) added seven stops. Sophomore defensive tackle Rob Schroeder (East Rochester, NY/East Rochester) matched his career-high with six tackles, including 3¹/₂ tackles for loss and a sack. Sophomore tackle Kirk Berry (Norristown, PA/Norristown) added a career-best five tackles, while senior Demetrius Austrum (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) had five tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass breakup.

BULL-etins: Flanker Matt Knueven moved into ninth place in career receptions with five on the game. Knueven now has 90 career catches (moving past Chris Behan who had 88). His two touchdown catches bring his career total to seven...tailback Aaron Leeper moved into tenth place in career all-purpose yardage with 65 yards on the day. He moved past Willie Evans (1957-59) with 2,251 yards for his career...tailback Dave Dawson had 51 yards on kickoff returns to move into the top ten in that career category. Dawson is now ninth all-time with 578 yards, all this season, which ranks third for a single season...Rob Schroeder's 3¹/₂ tackles for loss raised his career total to 14...quarterback P.J. Piskorik set career-highs in completions (18), passing yards (172) and total offense (209 yards)...cornerback Brandon Smith (Miami, FL/Coral Reef), who got his fourth career start, had a career-best two pass breakups in the game...safety Gemara Williams had a fumble recovery in the game, his second of the season, and the fourth straight week he has gained a turnover for the Bulls. Williams had interceptions in Buffalo's previous two games...senior kicker Dallas Pelz finished his career with 11 consecutive made field goals (a school record) and a school record 35 field goals. Pelz finished the season 14-of-17 in field goals (.824)...Matt Knueven and Jared Patterson finished the season tied for the team lead with four touchdowns each. For the year, all 18

Jeff Mills

of the Bulls' touchdowns were scored by underclassmen...for the season, Buffalo outscored its opponents 55-38 in the fourth quarter...senior tackle Jeff Mills started his 34th and final game of his career...with a season-best 262 yards rushing as a team on Saturday, the Bulls finished the season with 2,026 yards on the season - the best since moving to Division I-A in 1999 - and a gaudy 168.8 yards rushing per game.