45 days to kickoff: Miracle Bulls get a taste of their own medicine

#45 UB Football Game

October 11, 2008 UB 28, Western Michigan 34

Some consider the 2008 Bulls lucky. That said, the 8-6 Bulls lost one game on a fumble at the 1-yard line, one game by a field goal that hit an upright, and this WMU game. The 2008 Bulls could have been 11-3 as easily as they could have been 5-7.

Nonetheless, on October 11, the 2-3 Bulls were undefeated at UB Stadium and they were well on their way to 3-3 with a 21-6 lead late in the 3rd quarter. Through 3 quarters, James Starks ran the ball 22 times for 127 yards and 3 TDs including a 66-yard TD run.

In the fourth quarter however, Starks ran 7 times for 8 yards. UB was unable to run the clock to the end the game, and WMU took advantage. Two Tim Hiller TD passes made it a 28-21 game with 4 minutes remaining. WMU had 3 timeouts, so UB was about 9 plays away from ending the game. UB's first two plays earned 14 yards and a first down, but Kyle Brey went out of bounds after his catch. Two James Starks runs and two timeouts later, UB was left with one of the great decisions in football: run on 3rd and 8 and force WMU to use their last timeout, or pass for the first down but risk leaving WMU with a timeout. UB passed and the ball fell incomplete.

The timeout loomed large. WMU got the ball 66 yards away from tying the game with 115 seconds to work with. A minute passed and WMU only gained 12 yards. On their fourth play, Jusitn Winters sacked Tim Hiller. Instead of losing 10-20 seconds, WMU used their timeout. WMU rebounded with passes of 29 and 24 yards to move to the UB 9 yard line. With 5 seconds remaining, Hiller found Jamarko Simmons for the game tying TD.

In overtime, UB threw the ball four times ending with a Drew Willy interception. Hiller threw his fourth TD pass since the final 9:23 in the 4th quarter for a shocking 34-28 WMU win.