UB hopes to spoil Ohio's run
Tonight's University at Buffalo-Ohio game can be viewed in different ways. If Ohio wins, it could go a long way in determining who wins the Mid-American Conference East Division. A UB win gives the Bulls hope to become bowl eligible.
A Bobcats loss and Temple can almost taste its first divisional title, while a Bulls loss means another losing season, the UB's 10th in 11 seasons in Football Bowl Subdivision play.
So Ohio (6-3, 4-1) is alive and controlling its destiny. The Bulls (3-6, 1-4) are playing the role of spoiler.
"We can still become bowl eligible, and what happens after that we'll have to wait and see," UB coach Turner Gill said. "Our players are continuing to have a good attitude, they're very excited and anxious to get back on the football field again because we have three more opportunities. We still have an opportunity to finish out with a good football season and then seeing what happens after that."
The players echoed Gill's sentiments.
"We are very focused on winning these next three games and finishing out the season," junior defensive tackle Anel Montanez said.
Completing the season with a .500 record would be surprising considering the way the Bulls have played recently. They have lost too many players to injury and suffered through too many fourth-quarter collapses.
Four of the Bulls losses have been by a total of 17 points with the blowouts coming against Pittsburgh (54-27) and Temple (37-13), in which they committed a combined nine turnovers. The last two losses to Western Michigan and Bowling Green have been the most stinging because UB had fourth-quarter leads.
The Bulls know all about controlling their own destiny because they were in a similar situation last season. But the breaks the Bulls received last season simply aren't occurring this time around.
"I feel like things haven't gone our way," Montanez said. "We're a good team — I know that — and I feel like we still have things to prove that we're a good team and get these last three wins. We can't always expect things to happen the way we want them to and they did last year."
Meanwhile, the Bobcats have much more riding on this game.
Kent State's loss to Akron last Saturday dropped the Golden Flashes (5-5, 4-2) to third in the East Division race behind Temple (7-2, 5-0) and the Bobcats (6-3, 4-1). If Ohio wins out, it will win the division via a tiebreaker. After tonight, the Bobcats host Northern Illinois (Nov. 21) and Temple (Nov. 27) to close out the season.
"Every game counts," said Ohio coach Frank Solich, who worked with Gill for 13 seasons on the staff at Nebraska. "Right now we're in position to get some things done. We've got to play great football and we have to beat three very good football teams. Our last three games are maybe the toughest three in conference play. With that in mind we've got a big challenge ahead, but if we get things done we'll be in position for things to work well for us this year."
Ohio is a lot like UB was in 2008: a team that feasts off turnovers.
The Bobcats lead the nation in takeaways (27), are tied for seventh in turnover margin (1.00 per game) and tied for second with Rutgers in fumbles recovered (14).
"They're giving the ball back to their offense and the more opportunities your offense gets the more opportunities they're going to have to score," Gill said.
Defensively, the Bobcats are stout up the middle. Noah Keller, a 6-foot-1, 231-pound junior middle linebacker is the leading tackler with 32 solos., Nose guard Marcellis Williamson, a 342-pound junior, has five tackles for losses.
"The bottom line is they really strip the ball away and do some good things by creating turnovers," Gill said.
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