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James Evans

ATHENS, OH - Ill-timed turnovers spoiled a gutty defensive effort as the University at Buffalo football team fell to Ohio, 34-0, in Mid-American Conference action on Saturday night at Peden Stadium. The Bulls (0-4, 0-2 MAC) turned the ball over five times, including two for scores, to drop their fourth straight game of the season.

"It was a very thorough performance by OU, head coach Jim Hofher said. "They dominated the ballgame in most everything."

The game got off to an inauspicious start as Randall Secky's (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) first pass of the game was intercepted by Tyler Russ and returned 37 yards for a touchdown to give the Bobcats a 7-0 lead just 2:40 into the game.

Early on, the Bulls' defense was a force in the redzone as it stuffed Ohio on third and fourth down at the one-yard line and, on a later drive, forced a Bobcat fumble at the UB one-yard line. The fumble was forced by James Evans (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) and recovered by J.J. Gibson (Buffalo, NY/Sweet Home).

"Our defense had some terrific goal line stands," Hofher said. "We need to be proud of that and we need to be able to use that some how, some way."

The very next time the Bobcats got the football, the UB defense forced another turnover as Philip Jacques (Farmington Hills, MI/Brother Rice) jumped on a fumbled snap by Ohio quarterback Ryan Hawk. The Bulls were able to mount a 67-yard drive, however, P.J. Piskorik's (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) pass intended for Matt Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle) in the endzone was intercepted. The Bobcats quickly capitalized as Hawk, on the first play from scrimmage, found a streaking Scott Mayle for an 80-yard touchdown completion to give Ohio a 13-0 lead with 6:50 left in the first half. Mayle had five catches for 134 yards on the night. The Ohio lead would remain 13-0 at the half.

Buffalo was able to move the ball effectively to start the second half. However, like the first half, turnovers cost the Bulls. First, Piskorik threw an interception at the Ohio 18-yard line and later, on a third-and-goal play at the Ohio 3-yard line, Jared Patterson (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere), looking to punch the ball in for the Bulls' initial score, was hit, fumbled and Ohio's Matt Muncy scooped up the ball and ran 98 yards for a touchdown to put the Bobcats ahead, 19-0. Muncy had a monster game for the Bobcats with 10 solo tackles, five assists, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception and a sack.

Ohio (2-2, 1-1 MAC) went ahead 27-0 on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Hawk to Rudy Sylvan early in the fourth quarter and would add another score on a Kalvin McRae 1-yard touchdown run with 3:26 left in the game.

With 4:37 left in the game, Chris Moore (Highland Village, TX/Flower Mound Marcus) made his first-ever appearance at quarterback for the Bulls. He went 1-for-2 for 11 yards and an interception in his debut.

The Bulls did an effective job moving the ball on the ground, amassing 138 of their 232 total yards via the run. Patterson led UB with 62 yards on 17 carries.

Terrance Breaux

The Buffalo quarterbacks struggled all night. Piskorik saw the most time going 14-for-22 for 83 yards and two interceptions. Redshirt freshman Terrance Breaux (Randallstown, MD/Randallstown) made a career-best five catches to pace the UB receiving corps.

The loss marked the first time in 19 games that the Bulls were shutout. The last was a 49-0 loss to Miami (OH) on Oct. 19, 2002.

"We had a dismal offensive performance and there would be very few teams in American that would be able to overcome that kind of performance with the number of turnovers we had," Hofher said. "We started bad and we really never got better and that's the biggest disappointment of all."

The Bulls will return home to face Central Florida next Saturday at UB Stadium with kickoff slated for 6:00 pm.