Another Game, Another Moral Victory for Buffalo

If I would have told you that Buffalo would have caused Missouri to cough up the ball twice in the red zone in the first half and would only be down 20-14 at the half, would you have believed me?

Chances are, you wouldn't have, but that's exactly what happened in Missouri's 42-21 doubling of Buffalo.

The game started off as expected as Missouri cruised to a 10-0 lead in their first two drives but the momentum and energy was sucked out of Missouri when Ernest Jackson ran the kickoff back 97 yards untouched and brought the Bulls to within three.

Buffalo then snapped Missouri's 15-drive scoring streak when they forced the Tigers to punt late in the first quarter. Jeremy Maclin ran in a 16-yard touchdown to put the Tigers ahead 17-7.

Missouri fumbled the ball on their next two drives, and Ernest Jackson caught a 32-yard pass from Drew Willy and Buffalo was back in the game 17-14. Missouri added a Jeff Wolfert 48-yard field goal as the half expired to head into the locker room with a slim 20-14 lead.

Missouri came out and scored a quick touchdown to pull in front 27-14. On the ensuing drive Buffalo coughed up the ball inside their own 40, but on the next play stripped Jeremy Maclin of the ball and marched down to bring the game back to within six at 27-21.

After Missouri turned the ball over on downs, Buffalo had the ball at their own 39 with a chance to take the lead. They couldn't convert on the opportunity and had to punt. This punt happened to be one of the better punts Peter Fardon was able to get off for the Bulls.

Abysmal long snapping hurt the Bulls' punt game by only allowing time for Fardon to punt the ball 16 and 7 yards on two consecutive punts at a point in the game. Missouri then scored a touchdown on a Derrick Washington 3-yard run, but Missouri missed the two point conversion to give the Tigers a 33-21 lead.

Buffalo stalled on their next drive, leading to a punt that was turned into a Chase Coffman touchdown catch to extend the lead to 40-21. Missouri capped off the day with a safety after Fardon had to kick the ball over the endline to avoid a Missouri touchdown.

Heisman Candidate Chase Daniel went 36-of-43 for 439 yards and two touchdowns. Buffalo QB Drew Willy went 22-of-40 for 237 yards a INT and two touchdowns. Buffalo was held to 49 yards on the ground but were missing starting running back James Starks to a hip injury.

Once again, Buffalo comes out of a game against a major program with a moral victory. The major reason Buffalo isn't getting stomped into the ground is the coaching of Turner Gill.

Since Gill became the head coach, Buffalo has trailed by less than two touchdowns to No. 2 Auburn (2006), Pittsburgh (2008) and No. 5 Missouri (2008) after three quarters of play. However, on all three occasions, the Bulls have come up just short.