Gill does the job at Buffalo

AMHERST, N.Y. – Turner Gill can draw on personal experience when confronted with the suggestion that something can’t be done.

In the early 1980s, Gill proved wrong doubters who said he’d never be a starting quarterback at Nebraska because he’s black.

Now he’s shooting down the nay-sayers who questioned whether he, in his first chance as a head coach, could turn hapless Buffalo into a contender.

“How come it can’t happen?” said Gill, 28-2 as a starter at Nebraska and a 1983 Heisman Trophy finalist. “That’s what I told this football team when I first came in here. I said to them, ‘We will be successful here and I will not be ashamed of being the head football coach at the University at Buffalo.’ ”

Three years later, Gill has nothing to be embarrassed about. The Bulls (5-4, 3-2 Mid-American Conference), once the laughingstock of Division I-A football, have won three in a row and prepare for a critical game at Akron (5-4, 3-2) on Thursday that will go a long way in determining the East Division champ.

Buffalo has registered consecutive five-win seasons for the first time since 1980-84. The Bulls are 12-21 under Gill. They were 10-69 in their previous seven years since jumping to Division I-A. One more win will be their most since 1996 in I-AA.