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99 for 99 takes a look at the 99 biggest moments in UB Football history in anticipation of the 99th Season of UB Football which begins on September 1st, 2012. These moments are not in any order, however the top 10 moments have been saved for last.
November 4, 2000 - Buffalo 20, Kent State 17
Buffalo amassed 21 ties over the course of their first 64 seasons. Their last tied came in 1977 against RIT. 20 years later, the 1996 season brought overtime to college football and the end of the tie game. In 1998 the Bulls got their first taste of overtime, but it was a cruel one. Buffalo rallied from a 21-3 deficit against Liberty and took a 24-21 lead. The Bull's starting kicker was injured and the back up, a walk on, missed the extra point. With less than a minute remaining Liberty tied the game with a field goal.
In OT, Buffalo faced a 4th and 1, and rather than risk another botched kick, they tried to convert for the first down. Instead, they botched the snap and turned the ball over on downs. On their offensive possession, Liberty kicked a field goal and took the victory. It was the first loss in what would develop into an 18 game losing streak over 3 seasons.
In 2000, the defense was horrible. After 8 games, the defense allowed 46 points per game. However Kent State hadn’t scored a touchdown in two weeks going into the UB game, and had only scored 19 point in their previous 3 contests. Because of this, UB found themselves in a strange position, in a low scoring game with the lead going into the 4th quarter. The lead lasted 11 seconds into the 4th, as Kent scored to take a 17-14 lead. With time running down, UB had one last chance to score. After driving inside the 10, UB failing to get into the end zone and relied on Scott Keller, who was already 0-2 on the night, to send the team to overtime.
Keller made the kick, and then kicked a 38 yard field goal on the first possession of overtime. Kent swiftly moved the ball to the 4 yard line with 3 chances to end the game with a touchdown; the UB defense held. Still, Kent was left with a chip shot 21 yard field goal to force double overtime, but the kick hit the left upright and fell no good.
The win was UB’s first ever overtime win and the last win of the Cirbus era. The win gave the Bulls two MAC wins; it would take another 6 years for the Bulls to play in OT again, (2006 v. Temple) and another 7 years for the Bulls to win more then 2 MAC games.