The Bulls finish what they started 50 years ago
When Drew Willy’s Hail Mary pass dropped into the waiting hands of Namaan Roosevelt, pulling out a most improbable win over Temple back in September, it seemed like something special may be brewing for the UB Bulls. In the glow of that win Willy credited Coach Turner Gill for preaching the Bulls to be “relentless to the finish.” Ask Bowling Green if they heard that message.
The Bulls rallied from a 27-7 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Falcons 40-34 in 2 OT Friday at Bowling Green, earning in the most dramatic fashion possible the MAC East Division championship and an automatic bowl bid. Five decades after turning down its only other bowl invitation while taking a stand against inequality, UB has once again emerged as one of the select programs invited to participate in a college bowl game. Talk about relentless to the finish.
Sitting at 2-4 with losses to nationally ranked Pittsburgh and Missouri and back-to-back walk-off defeats against MAC West powers Central Michigan and Western Michigan, the Bulls (7-4, 5-2 MAC) refused to give up. They squeaked past Army in overtime. They plowed through Ohio and Miami (Ohio) before national audiences, then outlasted Akron in four overtimes. Trailing BGSU by three scores with 13:36 to go, UB still refused to relent.
They answered quickly with a James Starks 12-yard TD run. After holding BGSU twice, including on a 4th and 4 at the UB 20, the defense got the ball back to the offense with 4:05 to go. Willy ended a quick 71-yard drive with a TD pass to Brett Hamlin. UB recovered the ensuing onside kick and marched into the end zone on, fittingly, a pass from Willy to Roosevelt, tying the game with :37 remaining.
Overtime was a mere formality. On the second round, Bowling Green fired an incompletion on 4th and goal, setting up Starks’ 25-yard game-winning run.
UB now has three games remaining this season – next Friday at home against Kent State, the MAC championship game Dec. 5, and a yet-to-be determined bowl game. The MAC has three designated bowl slots – the Motor City Bowl vs. the Big Ten (Dec. 26), the International Bowl vs. the Big East (Jan. 3), and the GMAC Bowl vs. Conference USA (Jan. 6). it’s only speculation at this point, but how about a rematch with Pittsburgh in the International Bowl at the Rogers Centre in Toronto?
The fact that we’re talking about championship games and bowls is amazing enough, lest we forget where this program has been over the last 50 years. But the time for looking back is over. It’s only full steam ahead from here. Wherever the Bulls end up, you can bet that they’ll be driving relentlessly until this magical ride finally ends.
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