Published: October 24, 2009 10:13 pm      

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: UB falls to W. Michigan in OT

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — For the second straight year, the University at Buffalo needed overtime to decide its game with Western Michigan. And for the second straight year, the Bulls lost in overtime, 34-31, in a Mid-American Conference game Saturday.

Western Michigan’s John Potter kicked the game-winning 28-yard field goal in overtime. The Bulls began the OT session on offense but came up empty after John Rachuna, attempting his first field goal as a Bull, missed from 43 yards away.

Sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard completed 26 of 51 passes — the most attempts by a UB quarterback in the Bulls’ Division I-AA history — for 327 yards in the loss, dropping UB to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the MAC.

Buffalo led 28-24 on Ike Nduka’s 56-yard touchdown run with 5:16 remaining, erasing a 10-point Broncos lead. Nduka matched his career high with 172 yards on the ground.

The Broncos (4-4, 3-2) took the lead on Brandon West’s 3-yard run with just under two minutes to go. The Bulls forced overtime on the final play of regulation on A.J. Principe’s 28-yard field goal.

“We are disappointed, but our guys will be resilient and we’ll come back ready to play another football game,” said UB coach Turner Gill.

“We had our chances to win the game on offense, defense and special teams, but Western Michigan made more plays than we did. ...I still think we have a good football team, too, we just have to take advantage of the opportunities we have. Games like this always come down to a few plays and Western made them,” he said.

Naaman Roosevelt (St. Joe’s) had eight catches on the day, moving into a fifth place tie with Miami’s Ryne Robinson (2003-06) with 258 career catches. He has caught a pass in 46 straight games, the second-longest streak in the nation. Brett Hamlin had 10 catches for 136 yards, including a 33-yard TD in the third quarter.

West ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, and Tim Hiller threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns for Western Michigan.

Buffalo has a bye next weekend. The Bulls host MAC east rival Bowling Green Nov. 3. That game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rowan 57, Buffalo St. 7

Grand Island’s Eddie Weiser led the Bengals’ defense with 11 tackles in the NJAC loss. Jermaine Rose (Niagara Falls) added a fumble recovery. Sherman Nelson (Cardinal O’Hara) had two catches for 46 yards. Buffalo State is now 1-6 on the year.