By Staff Reporter
AMHERST — For most of Saturday afternoon, it looked like the University at Buffalo would lose a game it had to have. UMass kicked a go-ahead field goal with 1:57 left. Then UB drove 65 yards, sophomore Oliver Hautanen made a 29-yard field goal as time expired, and the Bulls won 25-18 in overtime to keep the Flagship Cup.
The win, at what used to be called UB Stadium, improved the Bulls to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference, according to UB Athletics. With five regular-season games left, it is also the clearest sign yet of what this team is in coach Pete Lembo’s third season: rarely dominant, often close, and increasingly hard to put away.
How it was won
UB got the ball first in overtime. Sophomore quarterback Jason Wright hit tight end Clint Walker for a 15-yard touchdown, and the defense kept UMass out of the end zone on its possession. Walker finished with a career-high seven catches and two touchdowns.
The steadiest player was senior running back Messiah Burch, who ran for a career-high 172 yards, his fourth straight 100-yard game. Senior SaVeon Brown led the defense with 10 tackles. Senior Sedrick Vessah sacked the UMass quarterback in the end zone for a safety, and Kobi Blackwell had his first interception of the season.
A week earlier, the Bulls beat Toledo 23-8 on the road. Toledo had come in averaging 42 points a game.
“They’re averaging 42 points a game, 485 yards a game in total offense, and 200 yards rushing a game,” Lembo said at an Oct. 6 press conference, The Spectrum, UB’s student newspaper, reported. Buffalo held the Rockets scoreless through three quarters.
Lembo framed that win against the team’s collapse in its MAC opener, a 20-17 home loss to Western Michigan on Oct. 3. “Two weeks ago, we didn’t finish in the fourth quarter against Western Michigan,” he said. “In this game, we definitely finished.”
Young, banged up and still in it
The Bulls have done this short-handed. Before the UMass game, Lembo said running backs James McNeil Jr. and Terrance Shelton Jr. were still not available and listed several defensive linemen as hurt, UB Football Now reported. On the Toledo trip, the team bus was in an accident before the game and the starting left guard was hurt in warmups. Lembo described the approach with younger players simply.
“Throw them into the fire, whether they’re ready or not,” he said.
Lembo also said Wright, a sophomore, is taking “baby steps” each week, so the coaches have kept the playbook limited. UB’s game center for the Bowling Green game lists Wright with 860 passing yards this season.
The stadium with a new name
This is the first football season under a new name. In March, UB and Broadview Federal Credit Union announced a 15-year partnership valued at $31.75 million. It renamed the 30,270-seat stadium Broadview Stadium, Alumni Arena Broadview Arena, and the area between them Broadview Village, according to the university. UB says the deal, approved by the UB Council and the SUNY Board of Trustees, is the largest of its kind in the MAC.
The university says $29.5 million of the total is for naming rights and will support athletics: scholarships, financial education, academic advising and health insurance for athletes, plus new programs in life skills, nutrition and wellness. The rest, $2.25 million over 15 years, goes to scholarships across the university and to UB’s student emergency fund.
“This collaboration strengthens our ability to support our student-athletes as they pursue excellence in competition, academics and personal development,” UB President Satish K. Tripathi said in the announcement.
“This partnership ushers in a bold new chapter for both the University at Buffalo and Broadview,” said Michael Castellana, Broadview’s CEO.
Athletic director Mark Alnutt called it “a sustained investment into our Athletics program” and said he “can’t wait to welcome our fans to both Broadview Arena and Broadview Stadium.”
What the announcement did not say is how the money is paid out over 15 years, or whether any of it is tied to attendance or performance. It also did not say how much of the athletic department’s budget the deal will cover. The Buffalo Chronicle is seeking the payment schedule and this season’s home attendance figures from UB Athletics.
What’s next
The schedule now gets unusual. Bowling Green visits Broadview Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 3:30 p.m. for Senior Day. Then come the MAC’s midweek November games: Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Miami (Ohio); Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Ball State; Wednesday, Nov. 18, at home against Central Michigan; and a Friday, Nov. 27, finale at Akron.
At 2-1 in the league, with two straight wins, UB is in the race. Whether this team can turn close games into a conference title shot will likely be settled on those weeknights.
Featured photo: UB’s football stadium, renamed Broadview Stadium in 2026, seen in December 2023. Photo by Quintin Soloviev via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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