Buffalo beats No. 23 Northern Illinois 23-20 on Bellenfant's field goal in OT

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) — Upton Bellenfant kicked a 37-yard field goal in overtime to give Buffalo a 23-20 victory over No. 23 Northern Illinois on Saturday.

The Huskies (2-1, 0-1 Mid-American Conference), playing for the first time since winning at then-No. 5 Notre Dame two weeks ago, managed just six points in the second half. Buffalo (3-1, 1-0), which began playing at the FBS level in 1999, beat a ranked opponent for the second time in its history.

“To me, it was just another kick,” said Bellenfant, who became Buffalo's starting kicker just last week. “Kind of a magic story out there. Everything went right.

“It really gives us hope we can go undefeated the rest of the season.”

The Bulls led 20-17 after linebacker Shaun Dolac’s interception and 53-yard return set up a field goal, but the Huskies tied it with a 13-play drive that ended with Kanon Woodill’s 27-yard field goal with 26 seconds to play.

“As a defense, we buckled it down but we know we can count on the offense when it counts,” Dolac said. “They scored, they tied the game up and the rest is history.”

Woodill, who booted the game-winner at Notre Dame, missed a pair of field goal tries, including a 42-yarder that was blocked in overtime. That set up the winning kick from Bellenfant, who was 3 for 3 on the day.

“We were prepared to play but didn’t make the plays necessary to put ourselves in a position to win,” said Huskies coach Thomas Hammock, whose team also lost a fumble. “The only way we can lose the game is if we turn the ball over, and that’s what we did.”

Buffalo’s Pete Lembo, a head coach again after nine years as an assistant at four schools, said his players deserved all the credit.

“For them to be rewarded with a signature win like this, this early in our tenure is a big deal,” Lambo said.

C.J. Ogbonna was 10 for 17 for 107 yards and a touchdown for the Bulls. His 46-yard scoring toss to Victor Snow early in the third quarter got Buffalo within 14-10. Al-Jay Henderson’s 36-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter tied it at 17.

Antario Brown rushed for 73 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Huskies.

He scored on a short run near the end of the first quarter and again on a 14-yard scamper late in the second that gave the Huskies a 14-3 halftime lead.

Ethan Hampton went 23 of 43 for 194 yards and an interception for Northern Illinois.

Buffalo’s only other victory against a ranked opponent came in the 2008 MAC championship game, when it beat No. 14 Ball State.

Buffalo: The Bulls looked lost offensively in the first half after averaging just 1.1 yards per carry but regrouped and kept the Huskies out of the end zone the rest of the way.

Northern Illinois: The defensive line that gave Notre Dame fits didn’t disappoint. The Huskies’ offense still needs some work, however, if they hope to match fellow MAC contender Toledo, which scored 41 points at Mississippi State last weekend.

The Huskies probably will fall out of the AP Top 25, but get another chance to show they belong when they visit N.C. State next weekend.

Buffalo: At Connecticut next Saturday.

Northern Illinois: At N.C. State next Saturday.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Buffalo place kicker Upton Bellenfant falls over a Northern Illinois defender after kicking the game winning field goal off the hold of Ethan Duane, during the team's 23-20 upset overtime win in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Buffalo quarterback C.J. Ogbonna throes as running back Jacqez Barksdale defends against Northern Illinois linebacker Jaden Dolphin during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Northern Illinois running back Antario Brown (1) celebrates his his second touchdown of the day with quarterback Ethan Hampton during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Buffalo on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Buffalo running back Al-Jay Henderson breaks the tackle of Northern Illinois safety Jordan Hansen and heads to the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Buffalo place kicker Upton Bellenfant, left, begins to celebrate his game winning field goal in overtime with holder Ethan Duane, during the team's 23-20 upset win in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Northern Illinois wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph just misses catching a deep pass from quarterback Ethan Hampton during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Buffalo cornerback Marquis Cooper breaks up a pass intended for Northern Illinois wide receiver Cam Thompson in the end zone, during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

The Buffalo defense blocks an overtime field goal attempt by Northern Illinois place kicker Kanon Woodill in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Buffalo place kicker Upton Bellenfant kicks the game winning field goal off the hold of Ethan Duane, during the team's 23-20 upset overtime win in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

TENERIFE, Spain (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization sought Saturday to reassure residents of the Spanish island where passengers of a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship are expected to be evacuated, issuing them a direct message that the virus was “not another COVID.”

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, with more than 140 passengers and crew on board, is headed to Spain's Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, and is expected to arrive at the island of Tenerife early Sunday.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, were due on the island Saturday to coordinate the disembarkation of passengers and some crew.

“I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word ‘outbreak’ and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment,” Tedros said in a message to the people of Tenerife.

“But I need you to hear me clearly: This is not another COVID. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now,” Tedros added.

The WHO, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said nobody on the Hondius is currently showing symptoms of the virus.

Hantavirus can cause life-threatening illness. It usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus.

Some on Tenerife say they are worried. On board the cruise ship, some Spanish passengers have voiced concern about being stigmatized.

“I tell you, I don’t like this very much,” said 69-year-old resident Simon Vidal. “Anyone can say what they want. Why did they have to bring a boat from another country here? Why not anywhere else, why bring it to the Canary Islands?”

Others said they empathized with the boat's passengers, but were still concerned.

“The truth is that it is very worrying,” said 27-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Samantha Aguero. She added: “We feel a bit unsafe, we don’t feel as there are 100% security measures in place to welcome it. This is a virus after all and we have lived this during the pandemic. But we also need to have empathy.”

Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said passengers and some crew would disembark in Tenerife “under maximum safety conditions.”

The ship will not dock but will remain at anchor. Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms and won't be taken off the ship until a flight is already in Tenerife waiting to fly them off the island, Garcia said during a news conference in Madrid. There are currently people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.

Both the U.S. and the U.K. have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens. Americans are to be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.

All Spanish passengers will be transferred to a medical facility and quarantined, Garcia said. Oceanwide has listed 13 Spanish passengers and one Spanish crew member on board.

Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, Garcia said, and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, charger and documentation.

Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection, the minister added.

According to a letter sent by the Dutch foreign and health ministers to parliament late Friday, Spain has activated the EU civil protection mechanism for a medical evacuation plane equipped for infections diseases to be on standby in case anyone on the ship becomes ill. That person would then be transported by air to the European mainland.

The Dutch government will work with Spanish authorities and the ship company to arrange repatriation of Dutch passengers and crew as soon as possible after arrival in Tenerife, subject to medical conditions and advice from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the letter said. Those without symptoms will go into home quarantine for six weeks and be monitored by local health services.

As the ship is Dutch-flagged, the Netherlands may also temporarily accommodate people of other nationalities and monitor them in quarantine, it said.

Health authorities across four continents were tracking down and monitoring more than two dozen passengers who disembarked before the deadly outbreak was detected. They were also scrambling to trace others who may have come into contact with them.

On April 24, nearly two weeks after the first passenger had died on board, more than two dozen people from at least 12 different countries left the ship without contact tracing, Dutch officials and the ship’s operator have said.

It wasn’t until May 2 that health authorities first confirmed hantavirus in a passenger.

Dutch public health authorities have been monitoring people who were on a flight that was briefly boarded by a Dutch ship passenger who later died and was confirmed to have hantavirus. Three people who were on the flight and had symptoms have all tested negative for hantavirus, Dutch National Institute for Public Health spokesperson Harald Wychgel told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Becatoros reported from Sparta, Greece. Associated Press reporters Angela Charlton in Paris and Helena Alves in Tenerife contributed to this report.

A Spanish Civil Guard officer inspects the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Media crew members stand in the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Workers set up temporary shelters in the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Passengers on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, scan the horizon with binoculars during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

Passengers on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, watch epidemiologists board the boat in Praia, during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

A passenger checks his camera inside his cabin on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

Crew members of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, wait their turns for a first interview with epidemiologists, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

A passenger on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, takes a photo of the ship's weighing anchor in Praia, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)