Blocked punts come back to haunt UB
Special teams has been an issue for the University at Buffalo for most of this season and the unit, specifically the punt team, played a huge role in the Bulls' disappointing 30-29 loss to Bowling Green on Tuesday night.
There were, of course, other reasons for UB's demise like the offense's inability to move the ball and score in the second half, and the defense — just like in the Western Michigan loss — couldn't stop Bowling Green on the final drive, when it failed to double-team Falcons wide receiver Freddie Barnes on the winning 18-yard touchdown catch with 39 seconds left.
There was also the curious decision by Turner Gill and his offensive staff of playing conservatively toward the end of the first half with a full load of timeouts and the offense moving the ball effectively.
But none was more significant than the blocked punts, which Bowling Green converted into two touchdowns.
"It's very tough to win with one blocked punt," Gill said. "If you get two blocked punts it's almost not going to happen. We still had the opportunity to win with two blocked punts, but you never like to put yourself in that situation. With two blocked punts we gave them a short field and they were able to get 14 points off of it."
On the first one, UB punter John Rachuna (Jamestown, ECC) bobbled the snap and the kick was blocked by Maraquese Quiles and recovered by P.J. Mahone, who was stopped at the UB 1. Falcons tailback Willie Geter tied the game at 7-7 with a 1-yard run.
Rachuna, who has taken over the punting duties from Peter Fardon, had a punt blocked again to start the fourth quarter. Mahone blocked and recovered it at the Bulls' 17. Tyler Sheehan's 4-yard touchdown run cut the UB lead to 29-23.
"The first one was a bit of a low snap," Gill said. "The second punt you're supposed to just take one step and punt the ball, he took three steps and got the punt blocked. Protection has to be better, but I think if he takes only one step the punt doesn't get [blocked]."
As for the rest of the season, the Bulls' bowl hopes are barely flickering (3-6, 1-4 Mid-American Conference) but they haven't quite been extinguished based on teams who qualified for bowls last year at 6-6.
Seven teams outside the BCS — Nevada, Hawaii, Fresno State, Southern Miss, Memphis, Colorado State and Northern Illinois — earned bowl berths in 2008 with .500 records.
Northern Illinois was one of five teams from the MAC to play in a bowl last year. Bowling Green, which finished second to UB in the East, was the only bowl eligible team in the MAC not to earn a berth.
Currently three teams — Temple (6-2, 4-0), Ohio (6-3, 4-1) and Central Michigan (7-2, 5-0) are bowl eligible while Kent State (5-4, 4-1) and Northern Illinois (5-3, 3-1) are a win away. The Bulls need to win their remaining three games against Ohio and at Miami (1-8, 1-4) and Kent State to have a chance.
The only .500 programs that didn't play in a bowl in "08 along with Bowling Green were the Sun Belt's Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette, and the WAC's San Jose State. So the season isn't totally lost for UB, yet.
"I just want to get our team to play better, " Gill said. "We can't control those things from our standpoint, we just have to get better as a football team and hopefully we're going to play better next week. Whatever happens, happens."
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