OXFORD, OH - While the Bulls kept highly-regarded Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the sidelines for most of the first quarter, it did not occur in the fashion they desired. RedHawks' wide receiver Ryne Robinson returned a pair of punts for touchdowns in the opening 11:26 of play, igniting Miami to a 59-3 win over Buffalo at Yager Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Robinson finished the game with a Mid-American Conference record 237 punt return yards, including the touchdown returns of 86 and 76 yards. The touchdown returns were part of a first quarter in which Miami outscored UB 24-0.

"Miami dominated us in every phase of this football game," said Buffalo head coach Jim Hofher. "They dominated our defense, they dominated our offense and, they dominated us in the kicking game. They created our mistakes and that's why it was such a massive difference in the score."

Dave Dawson

Buffalo's only score of the afternoon came with 11:50 remaining in the game when Dallas Pelz (Holland, NY/St. Francis) successfully kicked a 24-yard field goal. The Pelz kick capped off an eight-play, 74-yard drive for the Bulls. Dave Dawson (Camp Hill, PA/Bishop McDevitt) had a 55-yard rush on the drive - UB's largest gain of the afternoon.

Dawson finished the day with 104 yards rushing for Buffalo, giving him a team-best 424 rushing yards on the season.

The RedHawks stormed out of the gates, opening the game with an eight-play, 92-yard touchdown drive. Roethlisberger hit Miami wide out Michael Larkin with a 30-yard touchdown pass to cap off the drive only 3:15 into the contest.

The UB defense held the RedHawks' offense in check on their second possession, including a key third-down stop when Rob Schroeder (East Rochester, NY/East Rochester) deflected a Roethlisberger pass. Miami's Martin Nance still made the catch, but had to wait for the ball to come down to him, allowing Demetrius Austrum (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) to tackle him well short of the first down.

Miami regained momentum soon after that though, forcing another Bulls' punt, which resulted in Robinson's first touchdown return. He took another one back only 2:19 later.

Jared Parseghian kicked a 22-yard field goal to give the RedHawks a 24-0 lead near the end of the first quarter.

Roethlisberger and Larkin would connect again on a six-yard touchdown pass at the start of the second quarter, extending the RedHawks' lead to 31 points. Roethlisberger next hit Nance for a touchdown pass with 2:27 remaining in the first half, making it a 38-0 Miami lead.

The RedHawks' Heisman candidate, Roethlisberger, finished the day with 18 completions on 24 attempts, totaling 234 yards and four touchdown passes.

Aside from its punt coverage woes, UB also had a punt blocked by Miami's Adam Ciborowski at the tail end of the first half. Joey Card recovered the block for the RedHawks, giving them excellent field position at the Bulls' five-yard line. The blocked punt set up a three-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Cal Murray, giving Miami a 45-0 lead, which it took into halftime.

The Bulls' special teams started the second half on a different note, as punter Dominic Milano (Hacienda Heights, CA/Mount San Antonio) forced a fumble on a Robinson return. Chris McDuffie (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) recovered the fumble, immediately allowing the UB offense to return to the field.

The lone scoring play during the third quarter came on a one-yard touchdown run by Miami's Mike Smith, which put the RedHawks ahead, 52-0. The play came moments after Delando Bradford (Franklin, MI/Groves) forced a fumble at the goal line, only to see Miami retain possession.

Following the Pelz field goal in the fourth quarter, Miami added a rushing touchdown by backup quarterback Josh Betts to close out the scoring.

Dallas Pelz

Bulls' quarterback P.J. Piskorik (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) went 11-for-23 with 86 yards passing, including one interception. Aaron Leeper (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown), who compiled 134 yards on eight kickoff returns, also chipped in with 45 rushing yards.

BULL-etins: Dave Dawson had his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season and the third of his career (tying him for eighth-best all-time). Earlier in the season he ran for a career-high 125 yards against Rutgers, while he also had 103 yards rushing versus Marshall during the 2002 seaso. Dawson recorded his third 50-plus yard game of the season with his 55-yard burst in the second half. ..with his 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, Dallas Pelz moved into second place on the Bulls' all-time field goals made list with 23 in his career. Gerald Carlson (1993-96) sits atop that list with 28 career field goals made. Pelz also jumped into 14th place in career points with 103...the 45 points surrendered by the Bulls in the first half were the most UB has allowed in any half this season. Previously the high was 42 points, which the Bulls gave up in the first half against Iowa...Buffalo - which entered the game as the least penalized team in the MAC - was penalized a season-high 11 times for 106 yards...safety J.J. Gibson set a new career-high with 10 solo tackles and his 12 total tackles were a season high for the junior. In addition, Gibson moved into seventh place all-time in solo tackles (136)...sophomore Aaron Leeper, after returning a career-high eight kickoffs, is now eighth all-time with his 30 career kickoff returns.