Post Classifieds
Boyes' team back in D-III spotlight
By Aaron Garland
On September 19, 2012
Last Saturday night, a bus rolling through the Midwest could be heard for miles - and it had nothing to
do with a hole in the muffler. The sound was a four-hour jovial rendition of "American Idol" composed
by the passengers on the bus. Those passengers were Buffalo State's football team.
"Bengal Idol," as they call it, usually consists of newcomers getting in front of the team and singing a
song of their choice on the bus. After the rookies had their chance to shine on this bus ride, the veteran
players and coaches could not resist performing themselves. Tradition was broken on the heels of a
streak being broken.
The Bengals traveled to the No. 1 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater that afternoon to play the
three-time defending national champions and owners of a 46-game winning streak, the longest current
streak at any level of college football and third longest in history. Athletic Director and head football
coach Jerry Boyes scheduled the game back in the spring to use it as a measuring stick to see just how
far the program has come since he began his second-stint as head coach in 2009.
"If you want to purport to be the best, then you have to go out and play the best," Boyes said.
If truth were only held to that statement, then they were the best, if only for a day, because they walked
out of Wisconsin-Whitewater as the first team to beat the Warhawks since 2008, winning 7-6.
Boyes coached at Buffalo State from 1986-2000 where he built one of the Northeast region's top
Division III programs, compiling a record of 78-28 during the final 10 years of that period. He has
improved the team's win total each year since his return, after his predecessor Paul Shaffner, amassed
just a 13-36 record in five seasons.
The huge win Saturday was just a portion of the extended process of building the program back up to
the prominence it possessed in the '90's, noted Boyes, who called the win the biggest in Buffalo State
history. The gradual improvement over the last few years coupled with the upset win, suggests progress
is being made.
"Particularly in football, there's not an overnight process. It takes time," Boyes said. "You have to
understand that it's a team-building process. You can't take short cuts - when you do, your success is
never long lasting. There's a right way to do it, and we've been staying the course in doing that."
The model to rebuilding the football program has revolved around character - a personal trait more
highly regarded than talent at Buff State.
"We recruit a certain type of young man and it's not all about talent," Boyes said. "Quite frankly (talent)
is a piece to the puzzle, but a minor piece. Character is so much to us when we are recruiting. So we
have to fit - we find people who fit our program and also who're looking to find their fit, too."
The character Boyes preaches was on display Saturday as the Bengals' unrelenting resolve finally paid
off on the game-winning drive. After trailing the entire game, they went 75 yards in 1:32, including a 34-
yard "hook-and-double-ladder" play on fourth-and-19 to keep the drive alive. It was capped of when
junior quarterback Casey Kacz threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Ryan Carney
with three seconds remaining.
It was not one individual that won the game; it was one collective effort - just like the last four years
have been at Buff State.
"Everyone looks back in the record books and sees that we won - doesn't matter what the score was,
doesn't matter how ugly it was, nothing else matters but the win itself," Kacz said. "And just to say we
were out there as a team - that means a lot to me."
Kacz was reluctant to enroll at Buffalo State and decided not to enroll immediately after graduating high
school because of the team's losing record at the time. He transferred once the program began to show
rejuvenated potential and commitment to the football program, to which he credited his head coach.
"Boyes turned the program around in a couple years and it's unbelievable that Buff State is back on the
map again this fast," Kacz said.
Carney is also impressed with what the coaching staff has been able to accomplish. The same character
they seek in recruits Carney has found in his coaches. It's big reason why he and the team have found
success in this young season.
"They're a great coaching staff and most of (the success) is attributed to them," he said. "They prepare
us every week, they're all very football-smart, they know how to motivate a team, so we're very blessed
with a great coaching staff."
Not coincidentally, the Bengals are now ranked in the American Football Coaches Association national
poll (No. 24) for the first time since 2000 - when Boyes was the coach.
Now the team must build on the win. Boyes said for the win to mean something, the team must play
consistently. If they can continue to play at a high level, future recruits' interest in Buffalo State will
surely be heightened by this win.
"All those things obviously should help out," he said of the impact continued success will have on
recruiting. "But at the same time, this is kind of like, you know people who say 'Okay, a feather in your
cap.' Well yeah, but we have a headband yet to fill. You can't be a flash in the pan."
Though beating the best team in Division III football may seem like the pinnacle of Bengals' football,
it may be the start of something much more. The attention and national headlines this triumph
brought will not only benefit the perception of the school's football team - it will also bring positive
acknowledgment to the school itself.
"We're getting this great, free press, and that only helps sell Buffalo State," Boyes said. "So yeah, we
hope we can keep that going because our guys are not just playing for themselves, the football team -
they're playing for Buffalo State and that's really what it's all about.
"So the positive press and all those types of things are great for Buffalo State, not just Buffalo State
football."
Aaron Garland can be reached by email at garland.record@live.com.
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