A few years ago an old friend of mine and fellow sportswriter at The Post wrote a column in the paper right before the 2003 Ohio football team went on the road to battle Buffalo.
It was a different Bobcats' team during the 2003 campaign. Brian Knorr was in charge of the Ohio sideline, and the team was struggling again, posting a 2-5 record with only four games remaining. The team's only wins of the season had come against VMI and UCF, both victories not worth bragging about.
With Kent State, Akron, Miami and Marshall remaining after the Bulls, Ohio had its chance to start turning the season around. The proverbial 180-degree turn would have to come against Buffalo on the road.
The Bulls were 0-8 that season, but just two years before - when Buffalo had the worst losing streak in the nation - they ended their winless ways with a 44-0 stomping at home against Ohio. The Bobcats were Buffalo's only win in 2001. and it took a last-second field goal in 2002 for Ohio to steal a narrow 34-32 win at Peden Stadium.
In his column, my friend called for the 2003 football team to know that, not only was the game against Buffalo a must-win game but a should-win game as well. He said it was time to avenge the 44-0 loss and set ourselves apart from teams like Buffalo. The best way to do that was by winning.
Ohio lost, 26-17.
While many of you might be thinking, It's just Buffalo
right now, I want to assure you that this game has played an important role in Ohio's season since the Bobcats started annually playing the Bulls in 1999.
During that season, coach Jim Grobe's Ohio team destroyed Buffalo, 45-6. The next year produced the same result, a convincing 42-20 win. Knorr's Bobcats defeated Buffalo in 2002 and also in his last season as head coach of Ohio, a 34-0 shellacking in 2004.
What do these four wins have in common? All these wins were at home at Peden Stadium.
An even more important similarity - every time the Bobcats have beaten Buffalo since 1999 during the season, Ohio has gone on to tally more victories before the year was over.
In 2001 and 2003, when Ohio fell to the Bulls on the road, the Bobcats ended their season winless.
Ohio's victory over Buffalo in 2004 allowed the Bobcats to carry momentum into Kentucky where Ohio rolled over the Wildcats 28-16. With Toledo - on ESPN2 - next in line after the Bulls, the 'Cats need to find all of the momentum they can.
Like my friend said a couple of years ago, this game is not only a must-win if Ohio has aspirations staying competitive in the Mid-American Conference East Division but a should-win after the successful campaign so far by the Bobcats.
It's a long road to Buffalo: Let's make the trip back a bit more enjoyable after we avenge the 2001 and 2003 losses.
- Shugar is a junior journalism major and sports editor for The Post. If he was a betting man, his money would be on Ohio this weekend. Send him an e-mail at ms314803@ohiou.edu. 17
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Mark Shugar
