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Buffalo to make bowl debut against UConn

Jan 3, 2009 - 11:55 AM Buffalo (8-5) vs. Connecticut (7-5), 12:00 pm EST

TORONTO (Ticker) -- Now regarded as one of the hottest coaching prospects in the country, Turner Gill surprised some observers when he elected to stay at Buffalo.

Armed with a one-year extension that keeps him under contract through 2013, Gill leads the Bulls into the first bowl in the program's 94-year history - a contest against Connecticut in the International Bowl on Saturday.

The game will be played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, just a 90-minute drive from Buffalo's campus.

"On the day I came here to be the head coach I told my team that one day we would be successful here at the University at Buffalo," Gill said. "Now, more than ever, I have never been more proud to be the head coach of this program at this great academic institution.

"This program has proven it can win now and it is built to continue to win in the future."

However, Buffalo was considered one of the worst programs in the country when Gill took the job in 2006. Prior to his arrival, the Bulls had won just 10 games in seven seasons since making the jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1999.

Three short years later, he guided the Bulls (8-5) to their first Mid-American Conference championship. Buffalo claimed the title with a 42-24 victory over previously unbeaten and 12th-ranked Ball State in the MAC title game.

After the game, Buffalo accepted a bid to the International Bowl, an invitation that came 50 years after the team turned down an opportunity to play in the 1958 Tangerine Bowl.

The Bulls voted to turn down that bid after being told not to bring their two blacks players to Orlando, Florida due to a segregation policy in the school district in which the game was to be played.

"It is another great step forward for our university and particularly fitting that it occurs 50 years after our 1958 team earned our first bowl bid," added Gill, whose team is looking for a school-record ninth win.

A semifinalist for the Johnny Unitas "Golden Arm" Award, Buffalo senior Drew Willy is the school's career leader in passing yards (8,535) and touchdowns (52). This year, he led an offense that scored a school-record 401 points.

It was a record-breaking year all around for the Bulls, as James Starks rushed for a school-record 1,308 yards and Naaman Roosevelt set another single-season school mark with 96 receptions.

UConn (7-5), which dropped its final two regular-season games, did not get strong quarterback play throughout the season. However, the Huskies are led by Donald Brown, the top rusher in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Already UConn's all-time leading rusher as just a junior, Brown has run for 1,822 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.