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Buffalo beats Bowling Green in double overtime

The Bulls clinch their first MAC East title with a 40-34 win

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Drew Willy threw two late touchdown passes to tie it and James Starks ran 25 yards for the winning score in double overtime to give Buffalo a 40-34 win over Bowling Green on Friday night.

Starks and Willy led the Bulls (7-4, 5-2 Mid-American) back from a 27-7 fourth-quarter deficit, with Starks scoring on a 12-yard run early in the period. The win clinched the school's first Mid-American Conference East Division title.

Buffalo will face Ball State in the MAC championship game in Detroit on Dec. 5. The Bulls will play in one of the three bowl games that have MAC tie ins — the Motor City Bowl, the GMAC Bowl and the International Bowl. It will be the Bulls first bowl as an FBS member since joining the MAC in 1999.

Willy threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Brett Hamlin with 2:29 to play and then a five-yard TD pass to Naam Roosevelt with 37 seconds on the clock to send it into overtime.

Willy and Hamlin hooked up again on Buffalo’s first overtime possession for a 26-yard score. Bowling Green’s Tyler Sheehan tossed a 23-yard TD to Corey Partridge on the Falcons’ next drive, but couldn’t score on their ensuing drive, setting up Starks’ winning score.

Willy was 29 for 41 for 297 yards and one interception and Roosevelt caught 10 passes for 188 yards.

Sheehan ran for two touchdowns and was 24 for 32 for 240 yards and one interception, while Freddie Barnes caught 10 passes for 107 yards for the Falcons (5-6, 3-4).

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The Associated Press contributed to this story

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