Quick Hitting Recap: Bulls Fight for a Half but Fall 45-13

In a prime time game, against a top 25 team, the Bulls were looking to shock not only the Bull Run editorial staff, but also the nation. In a game in which the Bulls starting QB had only 10 pass attempts, the Nittnay Lion fans were out in full force, and the national media was broadcasting the game, Bull’s fans held their collective breaths for what some thought might be a long night.

The game started promising, as Matt Myers seemed to show confidence as he helped the Bulls to some first downs. It still felt as if Leipold wanted to run the ball, but this would prove beneficial in the first half. After an early Penn State TD off of a Kevin Marks fumble, the game had the feeling of one which could become ugly quick.

But it seemed to do just the opposite, the Bulls got tough, recovered from some early miscues and got down into FG range. The kick, which was inevitably wide, still gave the Bulls offense some hope. The defense began to take advantage of poor PSU play calling and before they knew it, Buffalo was able to knock in a FG, making this just a 7-3 game.

It seemed as if the Bulls were content taking a 7-3 deficit to half time, but Matt Myers began to think twice about the score. After a deep ball to a healthy Antonio Nunn, the young stud found an open wide out in the endzone which pushed the Bulls to an improbable 10-7 halftime lead. Beaver stadium boo’d their team off the field as it seemed like the Bulls were ready for a battle.

After a wonderful halftime show by the Penn State band which featured a moon landing tribute, it seemed as if the Bulls had not come back to Earth, as they forced a Lion’s turnover on the opening drive of the second half. The Bull’s had all the momentum and were ready to drop the hammer on Penn State. Then, much like a rocket taking off, Penn State hit their thrusters. Myers was picked off and had the ball brought back to the thundering student section for a PSU touchdown.

Things began to fall apart for the Bulls like a ship coming back into the atmosphere. The Lions, after forcing a 3 and out returned the punt as far as it was kicked, and promptly scored one play later. They had hit super-sonic speed and weren’t planning on looking back. The Bulls only managed to score 3 more points in the quarter as second half Lance Leipold struck again and the Bulls began to look thoroughly out coached.

If things were not already looking bleak for the Bulls, punter Evan Finnegan was hit after a tipped punt and has an injury which didn’t warrant a replay by the guys over in the Fox broadcast booth. We wish Evan the best as he recovers from this injury.

With Finnegan out, the Bulls brought in known big time punter Kyle Vantrease. He boomed a 17 yard punt and the Lions kept the foot on the gas. The end of third had finally reached us and the Bulls were down 35-13. Much like when Pluto was no longer a planet, Bulls fans are going to want to get the third quarter out of their systems quickly.

As the fourth quarter floated on, the Bulls were looking just to show they were like the Russian’s in the space race, never going to give up. The offense still showed flashes throughout the quarter, but were just never going to be able to make up for the 3rd quarter debacle. What once was a promising upset bid, quickly became a cold dark void which UB fans had expected.

However, when the final clock hit zero, the Bulls had nothing to be ashamed of. They had pushed a top 15 team to their brink for 30 minutes. Even with a final score of 38-13, the Buffalo Bulls had NOTHING to be ashamed of. Matt Myers showed some youth, but proved he will be a vital option this season for the Bulls. The running game still looked as good as always, and the trenches held up. Overall, this game may have been one small step for Leipold, but one giant leap for my trust in this team.

Full recap will be available tomorrow by Zach, but enjoy tonight fans, and as always, Go Bulls!