Steven King

AKRON, OH - The University at Buffalo football team, looking to win its second straight game, dropped a Mid-American Conference clash with Akron, 44-21, at the Rubber Bowl on Saturday night. Buffalo twice took touchdown leads in the first half and threaten to tie the contest in the second half, however, Akron had an answer for every Buffalo threat.

"Akron did an outstanding job tonight," head coach Jim Hofher said. "They beat us in every phase of the game."

After UB stopped the Zips on their initial possession, the Bulls took little time to score the game's first touchdown. Steven King (Hempstead, NY/Uniondale) bolted 23 yards for his fifth touchdown of the season to give the Bulls a 7-0 lead just 4:45 into the contest.

Akron responded with an eight-play, 65-yard drive resulting in a Charlie Frye to Dennis Basch touchdown pass to tie the contest at 7-7 with 4:30 left in the first quarter.

Datwan Hemingway (Albany, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) entered the game on the Bulls' third possession and on his first collegiate pass attempt found Terrance Breaux (Randallstown, MD/Randallstown) who made an acrobatic catch for a 38-yard completion. Two plays later, Hemmingway rolled to his right and found Chad Upshaw (Southport, CT/St. Joseph's) for a 2-yard touchdown to put the Bulls ahead, 14-7. However, Akron's Domenik Hixon returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards to quickly tie the game, 14-14.

Akron moved 77 yards on four plays, capped by a 26-yard Brett Biggs' touchdown run, to take a 21-14 lead with 10:46 left in the first half. Biggs struck again for a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:07 left in the first half to give Akron a 28-14 lead. The Zips held the 14-point advantage at halftime.

On the opening play of the second half, King ripped off a career-long 52-yard run to put the ball in Akron territory. Four plays later, Jared Patterson (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere) pounded the ball across the goal line from two yards out to cut the Zips' lead to 28-21 just 2:20 into the third quarter. Patterson's touchdown was his seventh in the last nine games.

Akron regained a 13-point advantage on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Frye to Jason Montgomery. The key play of the 4-play drive was a 51-yard completion from Frye to Jabari Arthur.

Early in the fourth quarter, Biggs rushed for his third touchdown of the game, this time from 14 yards out to give the Zips a 41-21 lead. Two plays prior to the score, the junior halfback scampered 57 yards to go over the century mark in the game. Biggs finished the night with a career-high 165 yards rushing. "(Biggs) was very tough to tackle and he really hit the creases very well," Hofher said.

Akron added a Jason Swiger 25-yard field goal to make the score 44-21 with 5:46 left in the game.

The Bulls' defense was susceptible to the big play as the Zips connected on eight plays of 24 yards or more to gain an advantage in field position.

Miscues on offense also cost the Bulls. UB had five fumbles in the game. Although Buffalo regained possession on all five fumbles, it did cost them valuable yardage and spoiled positive momentum that it had established.

King rushed for a career-high 120 yards on only 12 carries, marking the second straight game that the sophomore running back has gained over 100 yards on the ground. It was also the fourth game of the season that the Bulls produced a 100-yard rusher.

Datwan Hemingway

The quarterback tandem of Hemingway and Chris Moore (Highland Village, TX/Flower Mound Marcus) fared well once again this week. Hemingway completed 4-of-10 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. Moore was 7-for-10 for 57 yards. The redshirt freshman made good on his first six passes of the game. Neither quarterback turned the ball over.

On defense, Buffalo was led by J.J. Gibson (Buffalo, NY/Sweet Home) who had 11 tackles - five of which were of the solo variety.

The Bulls will look to rebound against Miami (OH) next Saturday at UB Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 pm.