The Chanticleers looked the part at the start of the game as they drove 55 yards and scored a touchdown on their first possession of the day. However, the Bulls answered right back as they mounted a 12-play, 86-yard drive on their ensuing possession, capped by a Dylan McDuffie 2-yard run to tie the game at 7-7.
UB scored again on its next possession as quarterback Matt Myers rushed up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown to give the Bulls a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. The key to that scoring drive was a heads-up play by Ron Cook, Jr., who
scooped up a UB fumble and scampered 63 yards to the Coastal 21-yard line.
Coastal Carolina answered right back, scoring a touchdown on its next possession to tie the game, 14-14. The game remained tied at the half.
The Chanticleers scored on their opening drive of the second half to take a 21-14.
UB was able to get points on its ensuing possession as Alex McNulty knocked home a 36-yard field goal to cut the Coastal lead to 21-17 with 6:08 left in the third quarter.
Coastal Carolina took an 11-point advantage early in the fourth quarter and, after getting the ball back, had an opportunity to put the game away. However, Logic Hudgens picked a good time for his first career interception. The sophomore cornerback picked off Coastal quarterback Grayson McCall in the endzone to give the Bulls life.
Buffalo capitalized as it drove 92 yards and scored on a seven-yard run by Kevin Marks, Jr. UB then added a two-point conversion when Kyle Vantrease connected with Quian Williams.
That left the Bulls trailing, 28-25, with 2:41 remaining. However, Coastal Carolina was able to earn a couple key first downs and ran out the clock for the victory.
"We had every opportunity to give ourselves a chance to come away with a 'W'," head coach Maurice Linguist said. "You can easily point to one or two things, collectively as a team, offense, defense, special teams, we didn't do enough to come away with the victory. We didn't run out of gas; we just ran out of time."
The Bulls relied heavy on the run game, rolling up 262 yards on the ground. McDuffie led the way with a career-high 92 yards on 15 carries. Cook rushed for 85 yards on only six carries and Marks added 64 yards.
Vantrease was efficient, finishing 13-of-20 for 146 yards. His favorite target was Dominic Johnson who had six catches for 66 yards, both career highs. Cook and Williams each added a pair of catches for the Bulls.
The defense held the Chanticleers' high-octane offense to a season-low 444 yards of total offense, including a season-low 212 yards on the ground.
Defensive end Taylor Riggins was a beast for the Bulls, finishing with seven tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. It was the second straight double-digit tackle performance for James Patterson as the senior linebacker finished with 11 stops. Safety E.J. Brown had a career-high 10 tackles in the game.
The Bulls (1-2) will close out non-conference play at Old Dominion next Saturday.