INSIDE SLANT

Buffalo, a team with little to show for its efforts this season, met an Ohio University team still in the hunt for the Mid-American Conference East Division title.

And the Bulls played the role of spoiler to the hilt—tossing in some drama at the end—before the Bobcats (7-3, 5-1) brought them back to reality. In the final seconds Shannon Ballard’s interception gave Ohio a 27-24 victory and a step closer to the divisional title.

For the Bulls (3-7, 1-5), it was another heartbreaking loss that came on the heels of coming back from an early 21-7 deficit.

“It’s definitely been difficult and it hurts,” said senior wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt. “I know we play with great effort but to be on the losing end definitely hurts.”

The Bulls tied the game at 24-24 with 7:04 remaining in the game on a 26-yard field goal by A.J. Principe but with 1:25 left, Ohio took a three-point lead with Matt Weller’s second field goal of the game, this one from 47-yards.

But the final play will haunt the Bulls for months. It came down to this: On its final drive quarterback Zach Maynard found wideout Marcus Rivers but the ball tipped off Rivers’ hands and into the waiting hands of Ballard. The Bulls were stunned.

When the ball glanced off Rivers’ fingertips, it was over the Bulls. The game was over. Their season relegated to playing out the string of two games. There would be no chance at a bowl berth which was a long shot coming into the game to begin with.

“In the second half we came out with a lot more momentum and getting the ball into the receivers’ hands and making good plays for us,” Maynard said. “We were driving and unfortunately it bounces off our receiver’s hands. That hurt us really bad.”

Where are the Bulls headed? Who knows? But for a program that set repeating as champions as its goal, to lose the way they have the last three weeks represented a major step back, when the season ends in two weeks will perhaps set the groundwork for an off season to second-guessing within the program.

For all the progress the program made with last season’s championship the reality is this: In 11 seasons of Football Bowl Championship competition, the Bulls have 10 losing seasons.

After escaping so many desperate situations in 2008, the Bulls have not been able to do the same in 2009. On Tuesday, they fell behind, their defense was porous at times and when they had to depend on another fourth-quarter rally, they fell short.

NOTES, QUOTES

• With a pair of touchdown passes against Ohio, sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard set a school record by throwing a touchdown pass in 10 consecutive games. He broke the previous record of nine straight games set by Drew Willy.

• The Bulls have had a different running back lead the team in rushing in each of the last three games. Henry ran for 43 yards against Ohio; Jeffvon Gill had 172 yards against Bowling Green and Nduka ran for 172 yards against Western Michigan.

• Senior wideout Naaman Roosevelt is 46 yards shy of becoming the first player in school history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

Series History:   Miami 10 leads series 10-1 (last meeting, 2008, 37-17 Buffalo)

Scouting The Offense:   Buffalo’s offense has outgained its opponents in seven of ten games this season. However, the Bulls have won only one of those games (Gardner-Webb). Buffalo is 1-6 when outgaining its opponent in total offense. In addition, the Bulls have run more plays than their opponent in eight games and have only won twice.

Scouting The Defense:   The Bulls’ defense has definitely picked it up over the last three games. In the first four games, opponents averaged 339.2 yards a game and 32.7 points. But in their last three games against Western Michigan, Bowling Green and Ohio, the Bulls have allowed 313.5 yards and just 13.0 points a game.

Quote To Note:   “It hurts losing close games and we’ve lost quite a few of them. We just have to break down the film and see what we did wrong and get ready for next week.”—Buffalo quarterback Zach Maynard.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

This Week  ‘S GAME: Buffalo at Miami, Nov. 18—Buffalo will play the first of back-to-back road games to close the season. The game will air on ESPNU, marking the third consecutive game the Bulls will appear on national television.

Keys To The Game:   Miami is one of the nation’s worst teams in terms of ball security. Take the ball away, and the Bulls should win easily.

Players To Watch:  

LB Josh Copeland stepped in and made his first start of the season against Ohio following an injury to starting outside linebacker Justin Winters. The sophomore had one of the finest games of his career with nine tackles (six solo), two for a loss and a hurry.

WR Naaman Roosevelt has caught a pass in 48 straight games—the second longest streak of any player in the nation.

DE Steven Means had his sixth sack of the season against Ohio. All six have come in the last five games since the redshirt-freshman was inserted in the starting lineup. His six sacks are two more than the team leader from a season ago.

Roster Report:  

• Senior right tackle Andrew West will not play at Miami (Ohio) for disciplinary reasons. West was ejected from the Ohio game following an unsportsmanlike like conduct penalty for blocking below the knees.

• Sophomore Matt Ostrowski will start in place of West and is the only significant change on the Bulls’ two deep. Four tailbacks—seniors Ike Nduka and Mario Henry, junior Brandon Thermilus and true freshman Jeffvon Gill—are listed on the depth chart with Nduka as the starter.

On defense, senior Dane Robinson will start at defensive tackle and backup junior Bruno Lapointe at defensive end because junior Jerry Housey (knee) is out.

• The injury list includes sophomore cornerback Joe Petit (concussion) and senior fullback Lawrence Rolle (concussion) who are questionable and Nduka (ankle) and junior linebacker Justin Winters (stinger) who are probable.