Staff Report
PHILADELPHIA — When the Mid-American Conference preseason poll was released in early August predicting division titles for Buffalo and Central Michigan, it looked like a championship game preview was set for Oct. 3 at UB Stadium.
Not so much anymore.
The Bulls began conference play Saturday by getting trounced 37-13 by Temple in front of 13,949 fans at Lincoln Financial Field.
In losing to Temple (1-2, 1-0 MAC) for the first time since 1970, the Bulls (1-3, 0-1) gave the ball away five times, bringing the turnover total to 13 during their current three-game losing streak.
“I’m disappointed in the loss, but I have to give credit to Temple,” coach Turner Gill said. “They played the better game. In offense, defense and special teams, they made plays when they presented themselves and we didn’t.”
The Bulls must now prepare to face a Central Michigan team that is favored to win its third MAC championship in the past four seasons.
“We have to get better and we will,” Gill said. “We’ll get back to practice and guys will get a better focus and we’ll see how they respond. We have plenty more football games to play — there is still enough games to do what we have to to get things accomplished.”
UB never recovered from a momentum-shifting play late in the second half. After driving 59 yards to get to the Temple 21, quarterback Zach Maynard was intercepted near the goalline by Elijah Joseph, who weaved his way 95 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-6 at halftime.
Maynard finished the day with four interceptions and one fumble lost. He did manage to throw a six-yard touchdown to Marcus Rivers in the second half.
Naaman Roosevelt (St. Joe’s) had nine receptions for 120 yards, surpassing 3,000 receiving yards for his career, and moving past Lance Moore for 12th place on the MAC’s all-time list.
Davonte Shannon led the defense with 10 tackles, including nine solo stops.
