Albany vs Buffalo: Recap - Final Score 22-16

Recap

Oh dear. OhdearOhdearOhdear. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Our conference brethren to the northeast was supposed to rock and roll like so many of the MACbros (See: CMU, EMU) against inferior competition from the FCS. We said as much in our preview of the game, giving the Albany Great Danes approximately zero chance to roll into Buffalo and roll out with a win. In-state rivalry or not this was not the way it was supposed to be.

But a funny thing happened on the way to a Buffalo coronation, and the Bulls decided some charity was needed, coughing up four turnovers in route to a 6 point loss. To be clear, this was not a fluke victory. Yes, there were turnovers, but Albany came to play, leading the Bulls until Buffalo wrestled away a 16-14 lead with six minutes to go in the third quarter. It was a lead they would only hold for around 12 game minutes as Albany scored the go ahead TD and two point conversion with just over nine minutes remaining.

Buffalo outgained the Danes 403-238, but their turnovers proved costly both in setting up the Danes and killing Bulls’ opportunities. This was not how 2016 was supposed to start for Buffalo.

When was it over?

When Buffalo committed a roughing the kicker penalty, allowing Albany to continue the fourth quarter drive with no UB timeouts remaining and run the clock out. Though admittedly that was simply the mercy kill for an epic self defeat.

The Takeaway

As a BSU fan, I’ve had to pick up the pieces after a loss to an FCS opponent and it was one of the hardest things for a fanbase to do. The proper response is measured and not emotional, and you should head on over to our SBNation family and Buffalo site UBBullRun to see what the happenings are for Bulls football. It won’t be easy.