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BUFFALO, NY - Marshall All-American candidate Byron Leftwich threw for a career-best 455 yards and accounted for three touchdowns as the Thundering Herd defeated Buffalo, 34-14, on Homecoming weekend before 12,438 fans at UB Stadium.

Leftwich accounted for three touchdowns and threw for 324 yards in the first half as Marshall (4-1) opened up a 24-0 halftime lead over the Bulls (1-4). Buffalo had three turnovers in the game, including a key fumble near the end of the first half.

Trailing 24-0, the Bulls went on a time-consuming 11-play, 72-yard drive that looked destined to get Buffalo back in the game before halftime. Quarterback Joe Freedy (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) hit tight end Chad Bartoszek (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca) with a 22-yard pass on third-and-eight and Buffalo eventually moved to the Marshall 15. On second down tailback

Derrick Gordon

Derrick Gordon (Brooklyn, NY/August Martin), who would have a career day running the ball, rambled to the Thundering Herd one-yard line before losing the ball while stretching for the end zone. After initially marking Gordon down at the one-yard line, the officials than ruled the play a fumble and a touchback as the ball rolled through the back of the end zone.

What made the play more costly was the Bulls impressive touchdown drive that opened the second half. The Bulls got on the board with a seven-play, 71-yard drive that featured Gordon, who matched a career-high with 30 carries and set a career best with 137 yards rushing. After Freedy hit

Andre Forde

Andre Forde (Penfield, NY/Penfield) with back-to-back passes of 16 and 31 yards, Gordon blasted for five and 15 yards. Eventually, senior Albert Grundy (Springfield, PA/Springfield) would leap for a two-yard touchdown to make it 24-7.

Buffalo kept the momentum when junior cornerback Mike Lambert (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) intercepted Leftwich at the Buffalo 30-yard line. After a pair of completions by Freedy took the ball to the Marshall 46, the drive eventually stalled at the Herd 23. However, placekicker Dallas Pelz (Holland, NY/St. Francis) missed a 41-yard field goal that would have pulled Buffalo to within two touchdowns.

Leftwich went back to work after that, completing six straight passes including a four-yard strike to Curtis Jones to make it 31-7. The Bulls hopes faded after another promising drive to the Marshall 17-yard line ended when a Freedy pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Orlando Washington.

Buffalo's final score came on a 10-play, 66-yard drive that saw Gordon cap a productive day with a two-yard touchdown burst. Freedy had converted a third-and-11 with a 22-yard hookup to Zeke McKine (Hollywood, FL/MacArthur) earlier on the drive.

Freedy finished the day 16-of-33 for 207 yards with a pair of interceptions. His favorite target was Forde who had five catches for 81 yards while freshman Matt Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle) had three catches for 40 yards and Bartoszek added three grabs for 37 yards.

The Buffalo defense was led by senior

Craig Rohlfs

Craig Rohlfs (Cincinnati, OH/Moeller) who matched his career-high with 15 tackles (10 solos), while freshman J.J. Gibson (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) added nine stops. Leading tackler Bobby Johnson (Santa Ana, CA/Trabuco Hills) made eight stops and recovered a fumble in the first half before leaving the game with a neck injury. Sophomore cornerback Mark Graham (Monroe, MI/Monroe) played another strong game with seven tackles, a forced fumble, his second interception of the season and a pass breakup.

BULL-etins: With his 10 solo tackles on Saturday, free safety Craig Rohlfs moved into fourth place all-time in solo stops with 141. Rohlfs leapfrogged both Cosmo Nestola (1979-82) and Mike Laipple (1983-86) and now needs seven solo tackles to catch Shane Currey (1978-81) who had 148. Craig Guest (236) and Pete Conley (191) are one-two all-time on the UB charts...defensive end Chris Shelly (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) tied former teammate Dan Poulsen for tenth place all-time in tackles for loss with 23...junior Andre Forde moved into third place all-time in kickoff return yardage with 107 yards on six returns. That upped his career total to 854 yards for and also moved him into third place all-time in kickoff returns (44) as well. Forde accounted for a career-high 228 all-purpose yards in the game...punter Scott McMahan (Huntington Beach, CA/Oceanview) had a strong game, averaging 42.2 yards per kick with a long of 52...Gordon's 137 yards was the third time he has been over the century mark in his career and the second time a UB back has cracked that barrier this season. Marquis Dwarte (Baltimore, MD/Perry Hall), who missed Saturday's game with a neck injury, had 150 yards rushing in the win at Connecticut...long snapper Kevin McCarthy (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford) had a perfect game on snaps and was also named Homecoming King during halftime festivities.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Marshall head coach Bob Pruett

"You've got to give Buffalo credit. They are a much better football team than they were five weeks ago. Coach Hofher has done a good job with them. Byron really threw some darts today. He's one of the top, if not the top, quarterback in the country. If we have good pass protection it's hard to stop us."

Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich

"It felt like I had all day back there. I knew my guys were going to do a great job. They were trying to put on some pressure, but we picked it up. It's never easy. Buffalo did a great job and I threw two interceptions. It seems like every time I play them I throw two (interceptions)."

Buffalo head coach Jim Hofher

"Our kids effort is magnificent. That's what we ask for and that's what they deliver. I thought they fought as hard as they could fight. Those things can never change if we're going to have success this football season, and I absolutely believe we can and will.

"Marshall was a really a championship outfit today. They have a marvelous quarterback, not only one marvelous receiver, but several. They gave their quarterback great protection. Defensively they are a very strong football team. Unless you are a flat out dominant defense, you have to develop a plan that picks your poison with them. You can take away anything you want, but you have give something else up in return."