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99 for 99 - #48 - Marty Barrett Leads UB's Renaissance

Marty Barrett
Marty Barrett

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 12, 1983 - Buffalo 47, Alfred 17 - Marty Barrett Becomes Most Prolific Passer in UB History, Most of His Records Stand for a Quarter Century.

Buffalo defeated Alfred 47-17 capping Bill Dando's renaissance of UB football. Dando inherited the team in 1977 after six years of no football and won eight games in a season for the first time since the glory days in 1959. The Renaissance was led by starting quarterback Marty Barrett, and in his final game as a Bull, he delivered his masterpiece.

Chris D'Amico set a UB record that stands today with 4 touchdown receptions. With those receptions, he finished with 10 touchdowns on the season, also a UB record that stood for 25 years. D'Amico edged out his teammate Tom Frank who had 9 touchdown receptions in 1983 making D'Amico and Frank the most deadly WR scoring duo in UB history.

As for the man throwing to them, Marty Barrett threw 2 touchdowns in addition to the the 4 he threw to D'Amico, for a UB record 6 touchdown passes. Barrett added the 2nd (now 9th) most passing yards in a single game with 370 yards. Barrett came into the game 21 yards behind his own UB record for passing yards in a season set in 1981, and left as UB's all time passing leader with 2,504 yards. It took 14 years for Chad Salisbury to break that record, and Barrett's 1983 passing yardage stands as the 5th best season in UB history. The 6 touchdowns also gave Barrett 18 touchdowns on the season a UB record that stood for 25 years.

In his final game, Barrett extended many career records. He extended his record with his twenty-first 200-yard game, the previous record was six 200-yard games, set by Jim Rodriguez. Barrett's 21 is second in UB history, it stood as a record for 25 years. Also standing for 25 years was Barrett's career touchdown passes record. Barrett's 44 TD passes almost doubled the previous record, Gordon Bukaty's 25 TD passes between 1958 and 1960. If Barrett would have thrown only 4 touchdowns instead of 6 in the Alfred game, his record would have been bested in 1994 by Cliff Scott. But Barrett threw six,and in doing so, ensured he'd be on top of the record books for an additional 14 years until Drew Willy eclipsed him with 52 career TD passes in 2008.