The Carrier Dome of Syracuse saw the end of two streaks that had the Bulls expecting to win this past week.
On Saturday, Buffalo (3-5) came into the game having won their past two consecutive games, while Syracuse (2-6) had dropped their past three contests. In the end, both those streaks were disrupted as the Orange emerged with a 20-12 victory.
With the recent success of his team, Bulls head coach Turner Gill made it clear that it was not a moral victory playing close with a team that has the history of Syracuse.
"I'm a competitor. I play to win, coach to win, and it doesn't feel very good right now. That's the way it goes," Gill said. "I understand you're not going to win every single football game, but we'll get those things corrected."
Buffalo received the opening kickoff and drove the ball down the field with relative ease until they reached the Syracuse 14-yard line. Freshman kicker A.J. Principe kicked the first of his four field goals in the game, this one from 31 yards out, to put the Bulls on the board first.
The Bulls stopped the Orange on their ensuing drive, but a downed punt had Buffalo starting their drive at their own two-yard line.
The Bulls were unable to pick up the first down, but senior punter Ben Woods booted the ball over the head of Bruce Williams. Williams tried to make an over-the-shoulder catch, but fumbled the ball and recovered it around his own 21-yard line.
An illegal block forced the Orange back to their own 11, which pushed the field position advantage over to Buffalo. However, the Orange put together a 73 yard drive that ended with a field goal by Patrick Shadle, to tie the game at three.
The Bulls moved the ball into field goal range once again on their next drive, but the series was stalled when a personal foul for a late hit brought them back 15 yards. Rather than try a 51-yard field goal, Buffalo punted the ball away.
Syracuse's ensuing drive put it within the Buffalo redzone, but freshman cornerback Joshua Thomas intercepted Syracuse quarterback Andrew Robinson in the end zone.
Despite another 15-yard penalty for a second late hit, Buffalo was able to get into Syracuse territory. However, junior quarterback Drew Willy fumbled the ball on 3rd and 1, which forced the Bulls to punt again.
Willy knew that the Bulls needed to put more points on the board with the opportunities they had.
"We shot ourselves in the foot a lot," Willy said. "We moved the ball on them a lot, but we know we have to do better in the red zone, on offense. We played hard out there."
The punt by Woods was downed at the Syracuse 1-yard line, but a 60-yard reception by Taj Smith helped set up a 6-yard touchdown rush by Doug Hogue to conclude a 99-yard drive for the Orange.
With less than a minute remaining before halftime, freshman Terrell Jackson fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give Syracuse the ball back. Robinson connected with Mike Williams for an 11-yard score to put the Orange up 17-3 as the teams went into the locker room.
"We were very fortunate that we got that ball out," said Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson. "That was a huge play right there and to get points at that time was a plus and it played a major role in the rest of the ball game."
To start the second half, each team had to punt on their first drives. Following an interception by freshman safety Davonte Shannon, Buffalo was able to add another field goal to bring the score to within 11 at 17-6.
Both teams were unable to add to their scores until another Buffalo field goal with 10:24 remaining in the game brought the Bulls to within one possession at 17-9. However Syracuse answered with a field goal of their own on their next drive. The Bulls were able to tack on another field goal to make the score 20-12 with 4:42 left.
Down eight with three time outs left, Buffalo chose not to attempt an onside kick and hope for a defensive stop.
"I felt with four minutes left in the football game I'd have a chance to stop them and get the ball back with possibly no time-outs and two minutes left in the game," Gill said.
However, Syracuse was able to acquire enough first downs to force Buffalo to use their timeouts, and eventually the Orange ran out the clock.
Buffalo turned away from the run, especially late in the game. 52 of their 73 rushing yards were in the first half. Sophomore running back James Starks was held to 70 yards on 20 carries. He only had 6 carries in the second half.
"Today the guys just got a little bit aggressive. I talked to them about being aggressive, and they maybe took it to another length and didn't get control of it. You got to play with aggression, but you have to have control of it," Gill said. "We'll get those things corrected, but I like our guys playing aggressive, and I don't want them to back down to anybody."
There are four games left in the season and the possibility of a Mid-American Conference title is on the line for Buffalo. Gill knows the stakes are high, but remains confident that his team can get the job done.
"We still have a lot of things that we got to get corrected and get better at...all those things. I think the thing we've improved the most at since I've been here from day one is really that our guys have learned how to compete," Gill said. "They understand how to compete in every single play...that's what we talk about. We show them how and why you do that. They pay the price here and understand that we can get it done."
Buffalo looks to get back on the winning track this Saturday. They will host MAC opponent Akron at UB Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
