Bulls Outlast Flashes in Overtime
11/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
KENT, Ohio- -- Fourteen seniors came up short in their last
college game as Buffalo defeated Kent State 30-23 in overtime Saturday
at Dix Stadium. The Flashes (3-9, 1-7 Mid American Conference) end the
season on a seven-game losing streak.
Kicking errors, a missed
extra point and field goal, proved to be too much for Kent State to
overcome. Kent State has now lost three-straight games to Buffalo (5-7,
5-3 MAC).
"I thought that our kids played very hard with the
frustrations that we've had this season; the injuries, all the close
games, and all that type of stuff," coach Doug Martin
said. "It would have been real easy for them not to put the passion
into that game that they did. That's a compliment to our senior class
and these kids overall. They played hard."
On a day where the team's seniors were honored, it was a pair of sophomores that led the way for Kent State. Eugene Jarvis
capped off his brilliant year with 183 rushing yards, 68 receiving
yards and one touchdown catch. Jarvis carried the ball a career-high 34
times, finishing the season with a school-record 1,669 yards good for
sixth in MAC annals.
Making his first career-start, Anthony Magazu
completed 12-of--22 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Magazu had
been battling ankle injuries this year with his only significant
playing time coming in the way of a four-completion performance against
Ohio State.
"I thought that Anthony Magazu put everything into this game," Martin said. "He was really special today."
“I
haven't played a lot, but I've been here for three years, so I'm pretty
comfortable with the offense now," Magazu said. "We practice against a
great defense every day. When we do red zone scrimmage, I'm comfortable
in there. When you stay within the offense, it's easy.”
The
Flashes defense played tough inside the red zone all day. After the
Bulls took the opening kickoff 87 yards to the three-yard line, the
Flashes' defense held the Bulls for three downs before a field goal
gave the Buffalo the first points of the day. Kent State held the Bulls
to field goals inside the 20 on several occasions. Derek Burrell led Kent State with a career-high 16 tackles, while Colin Ferrel added a career-best nine tackles and 4.5 TFLs.
Kent
State responded quickly when Magazu connected with Jarvis for 32 yards
to set up a two-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Andre Flowers.
Magazu would find Jarvis again, this time for a 23-yard touchdown, on
Kent State's next series to put the Flashes up 13-3. Kicker Nate Reed missed what would prove to be an important extra point.
The Bulls added two more field goals after failing to convert inside the red zone to go into halftime trailing 13-9.
After
forcing a Kent State punt to begin the second half, Buffalo's Drew
Willy completed a 41-yard bomb to Ernest Jackson that gave the Bulls a
16-13 lead. Willy finished the game with a career-high 344 yards
passing and two touchdowns.
Kent State came right back with Magazu's second touchdown of the day, an 18-yard toss to senior Tom Sitko, who finished the day with a career high 61 yards.
A field goal by Nate Reed extended the lead to seven points (23-16).
The
field goal would be the last points of the season for Kent State. After
Buffalo scored the overtime forcing touchdown with under five minutes
to play Reed missed a would-be game winning field goal with 1:54 to
play.
The Flashes won the coin toss to start overtime and
elected to defend first. The Bulls would score on the possession and
proceed to hold the Flashes' offense on four downs to clinch the
victory and a share of the MAC East division.
"We've got a real
talented group coming back," Martin said. "We've got a lot to build on.
We've got one of the best running backs in the nation. We've got some
really good quarterbacks."
| Buffalo Postgame Quotes | |
| Kent State Postgame Quotes | |
| Postgame Notes |
