Staff Report Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Thu Nov 24, 2011, 10:23 PM EST
Youngstown native Dave Clawson was able to come home for Thanksgiving, but one of his former employers is going to do its best to make him feel blue on Black Friday.
Clawson, a Lewiston-Porter graduate who spent two years on the University at Buffalo football staff in the early 90s, will lead his Bowling Green team into UB Stadium today for both team’s season finale.
The Falcons (4-7, 2-5 Mid-American Conference), like the Bulls (3-8, 2-5 MAC), are playing mostly for pride and momentum heading into the offseason at this point.
“It’s the 12th game and these last games of the year, when you’re not playing to get into the MAC championship or playing ot get into a bowl game, I think you find out a lot about the character of your team and who your true football players are and who really loves football,” Clawson said this week.
UB has much more at stake today than one would surmise from looking its record.
For all of their struggles, the Bulls have been very solid at home this season, averaging 27 points per game, with only a 17-3 loss to Connecticut qualifying as a poor performance. A win today would give the Bulls a winn record at home for the first time since 2008, double their win total from last season, and give them back-to-back wins to end the season for just the second time since joining the MAC in 2009.
It would also mark the first time UB has beaten Bowling Green in consecutive seasons. Last year, the Bulls won 28-26 at Bowling Green. Two years ago, in Clawson’s first season, the Falcons rallied in the fourth quarter to pull out a one-point win.
UB tailback Branden Oliver needs just 66 yards today to break Niagara Falls native James Starks’ single-season school record (1,333). In last week’s 51-10 win over Akron, Oliver, a sophomore, broke Starks’ single-game rushing record with 235 yards. Oliver’s rushing total currently ranks 15th in the country.
The Bulls are also hoping to send their 21 seniors off on a winning note.
“Right now I’m trying to set that aside and really focus on the game,” left tackle Matt Ostrowski said earlier this week. “But, I mean, it’s hard to tell. Once I”m out there with my family and seeing the coaches and all the other seniors I might shed a couple tears. I’m not going to say I’m not going to. I’m just going to try and keep that out of my mind until it happens.”
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