QUARTERLY REPORT
FIRST QUARTER
Brown delivers
Donald Brown is as good as advertised. UConn’s All-America tailback and the nation’s leading rusher entered Saturday’s game with 1,822 yards and 17 TDs, then tacked on another 96 yards and a TD to that total in the first quarter.
Brown’s 45-yard touchdown with 4:07 left gave the Huskies a 7-3 lead. Brown has been atop the national leader board in rushing (151.8 yards per game) for the majority of the year, having run for at least 100 yards in 10 games while surpassing the 200-yard mark twice, including 214 yards in UConn’s 12-9 victory over Temple on Sept. 6.
Brown, who totaled a career-best 261 yards on Saturday, announced after the game that he will skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
Key play: Peter Fardon’s 36-yard punt bounced off UConn’s Jonathan Jean-Louis and was recovered by UB’s Alex Pierre at the Huskies’ 23, which led to a 38-yard field goal by A. J. Principe.
THIRD QUARTER
Where’s the offense?
UB’s 17 unanswered points in the second quarter are misleading because it didn’t do much of anything offensively. After UConn settled down and made ball security a priority, UB’s lack of offense came to the forefront.
The Huskies defense held the Bulls to a mere 16 yards of total offense in the period. The Bulls’ offensive woes could be summed up thusly: One play after Starks rushed for 9 yards, his longest run of the game, he lost 12 yards and UB was forced to punt three plays later.
It was tough sledding for the MAC’s second-ranked team in total offense, which scored to the tune of 31.1 ppg during the regular season.
Key play: UB’s Davonte Shannon blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt that would have given UConn a seven-point advantage.
Second-guess: Throwing a screen pass to Naaman Roosevelt on third-and-8 at the UB 3-yard line for a loss of 1 yard. Roosevelt caught the pass in the end zone and was nearly tackled for a safety.
SECOND QUARTER
Bulls taketh away
Stop if you’ve heard this story before. Bulls fall behind early after giving up a big play, then manage to climb back into the game with takeaways.
UB scored 17 points in the quarter, thanks to four Huskies turnovers. UConn’s Robbie Frey muffed a kickoff attempt that rolled into the end zone, then instead of downing it, he elected to run. Justin Winters forced the fumble that was recovered by John Syty at the UConn 4. That led to a touchdown by tailback James Starks.
The UConn turnovers, five in the first half –meant the Bulls traveled just 24 yards for their 20 points in the game.
The Bulls led the Mid-American Conference in turnover margin at plus-16, which was a whopping eight more than Ball State, which ranked second.
Key play: Ray Anthony Long’s fumble recovery in the end zone.
Second-guess: Unless your name is Devin Hester, it isn’t wise to run out of the end zone on a kickoff.
FOURTH QUARTER
Pick six
Drew Willy has pretty much avoided throwing interceptions for touchdowns throughout his career, but Jasper Howard nearly picked off Willy’s first pass of the game. Howard dropped it, but Dahna Deleston didn’t drop his opportunity.
The Bulls were threatening to cut UConn’s lead to four points when Howard knocked away a pass intended for Naaman Roosevelt that bounced into the hands of Deleston, who returned it 100 yards for a score. It was a bang-bang play that sent many UB fans to the exits.
Willy, who threw only six interceptions this season, leaves UB with 13 career and 20 single-season records. His last interception was costly, but it doesn’t detract from an otherwise brilliant four-year career.
Key play: Deleston’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown was the back breaker.
Second-guess: With Starks pretty much removed from the offense, the passing game should have gone downfield more, especially to Roosevelt, who had one-on-one coverage for most of the quarter.
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