Tonight, I only managed to catch a few minutes of Buffalo's 42-24 victory over previously undefeated Ball State in the MAC Championship game. ESPN prefered to point to Ball State's four fumbles as the story of the game, but for Husker fans, it was all about the head coach of the Bulls.
In just three years, Turner Gill took a team from ten wins in seven years to 8-5 and MAC champions in his third season. Think about that for a second. ESPN noted that Gill had to take the league standings with him on the recruiting trail to prove to players that the Bulls were actually in division 1-A.
MAC champions, knocking off a top-15 team? Are you kidding me?
If you weren't in awe of Turner Gill already, all you need to do is catch Gill's postgame interview with ESPN. Nearly speechless and in tears, he deflected all of the credit to his team, praising "them" for what "they" had accomplished. Truly a class act. The ESPN broadcast closed with a poignant scene of Gill huggling Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel; both men in awe of what had just occured.
Way to go, Turner Gill.
Also noteworthy was tonight's UNO 1-0 shootout victory over #20 Alaska tonight, with great goaltending by both UNO's Jeremie Dupont and Alaska's Chad Johnson. It stayed 0-0 through regulation, overtime, and the first four rounds of the shootout before UNO finally scored in the 5th and 6th rounds. Dupont's final save in the 6th round gave the Mavs the victory.
(I'm pleasantly surprised all three local TV stations stayed to cover the end of this game. Props to our local media!)
No word if Alaska's governor was wearing her UNO jersey tonight back in Wasilla.
Gill could do in 3 years what Solich couldn't do in 4 in the MAC. And he can now leave the school for more money and fame elsewhere right now with Buffalo's everlasting gratitude and his own head held high. I just hope he finds the right fit, which would involve ignoring calls from Auburn boosters and Al Davis.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I'm thrilled for him.
Uh...Solich may not have won a MAC Championship, but he did win nine games at Ohio a couple of years ago and did get to the MAC Championship game and a bowl game at a school that hadn't been to a bowl since 1968.
ReplyDeleteBoth coaches have done very well.