UB’s stout defense went the distance – and then some – in OT upset at No. 23 Northern Illinois
“It says how much grit we have as a team and the morale of the team,” said UB linebacker Shaun Dolac, who had a game-high 19 tackles, including 15 solo tackles. “We've got to show how we respond, and when we do face adversity, we respond well. It’s a 60-minute game and then today, it went 60-plus.”
It felt like a prizefight.
When a reporter described the mood of the entire football game to University at Buffalo head coach Pete Lembo, he didn’t disagree. The Bulls had just completed a 23-20 overtime win at No. 23 Northern Illinois, a game that ran the gamut of emotions and showed the good, the bad and the not-so-attractive sides of the Bulls.
“That’s actually what our defense talked about all week – a 12-round fight, and making sure we were blow for blow through all 12 rounds, and you’re exactly right,” Lembo said. “This one went the full distance.”
UB cornerback Jalen McNair, left, grabs the face mask of Northern Illinois running back Gavin Williams during Saturday's game. Associated Press
But it also showed Lembo the resiliency of this team. In recent years, UB may have folded – or at least lost some of its will – with an 11-point deficit at halftime. Not this team. Trailing 14-3 against Northern Illinois on Saturday at Huskie Stadium, UB linebacker Shaun Dolac recounted the main points of the discussion he and his teammates had in the bowels of the building.
It was a face-the-reality conversation. The Bulls had only 18 offensive yards on their first three drives and had been called for an uncharacteristic number of penalty yards in the first half. At that point, the Huskies had dictated the pace of the game and looked like the rugged Top 25 team that had upset then-No. 5 Notre Dame two weeks earlier in South Bend, Indiana.
The Bulls weren’t going out like that, and, as Dolac put it, the halftime chat went something like this:
“We just made a decision at halftime. It was, ‘Who do we want to be? How do we want to finish this game, as a defense?’ We chose to buckle down and do our jobs, plain and simple.”
NIU had 170 offensive yards in the first half, and 189 in the second half. The Huskies scored only six points in the second half, both on field goals by Kanon Woodill. Dolac’s 53-yard interception return against Huskies quarterback Ethan Hampton (23 for 43 passing, 194 yards) with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter set up a Upton Bellenfant field goal, which gave UB a 20-17 lead with 3:28 left.
Then, Woodill kicked a 27-yard field goal to tie the score with 24 seconds left in the fourth, and the Bulls had to play a few more minutes.
“It says how much grit we have as a team and the morale of the team,” said Dolac, who had a game-high 19 tackles, including 15 solo stops. “We've got to show how we respond, and when we do face adversity, we respond well. It’s a 60-minute game and then today, it went 60-plus.”
The offense’s roller coaster
Lembo put it plainly when discussing UB’s offense.“We were struggling offensively in the first half,” he said. “We did get that one nice drive to kick the field goal, but we knew we had to take some shots in the second half.”
Six of UB’s first seven drives went for only three plays. The one extended drive? Eleven plays for 54 yards that ended with the first of Bellenfant’s three field goals, a 42-yarder that cut NIU's lead to 7-3 midway through the second quarter. The inconsistent first half gave way to a productive second half for the Bulls (107 yards on 23 offensive plays) and showed Lembo the resiliency of his team.
UB’s two second-half touchdowns were on explosive plays: quarterback C.J. Ogbonna’s 46-yard pass to Victor Snow, who caught the ball in double coverage in the end zone four minutes into the second half, and Al-Jay Henderson’s 36-yard touchdown run three minutes into the third quarter.
“Offensively, we made plays, and we made the ones that we needed,” Dolac said. “That’s what’s going to get you the win. That’s what separates us from the top teams or the bottom teams. Whoever makes the most plays and plays consistently together.”
About those penalties
The Bulls were penalized four times for 59 yards in the first half. That's quite a bit higher than the average of 40 yards in UB's first three games, and those penalties were significant. A face-mask call against cornerback Jalen McNair set up Northern Illinois’ second touchdown, a 14-yard run by Antario Brown that gave the Huskies their 14-3 halftime lead.UB’s second half, though? The Bulls' only penalty was a 15-yard pass interference against Charles McCartherens with 39 seconds left in regulation, which moved the Huskies from the UB 24 to the 9. That drive ended with Woodill’s tying field goal.
