UB Falls to Bowling Green, 27-7

UB defense twarts the Falcons' passing attack, but can't pull off a victory

Philip Warren

BUFFALO, NY - For the second straight week, the University at Buffalo put up a good fight against a high-powered offense. Unfortunately for the Bulls, they came up short – dropping a 27-7 decision to Bowling Green at UB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Heading into today’s game, Bowling Green led the Mid-American Conference and ranked third in the nation in pass offense averaging 362.6 yards per game. The UB defense held All-American quarterback Omar Jacobs to 187 yards – the lowest passing total of his career as a starter. Jesse Imes (Cincinnati, OH/Kings Mills) and Gemara Williams (Oak Park, MI/Brother Rice) each had an interception – the first time Jacobs has thrown two interceptions in a game in his career.

“I think the UB Bulls did a very credible job today competing against one of the elite offenses in the country and certainly one of the most elite teams in the Mid-American Conference over the last five years,” head coach Jim Hofher said. “I’m really proud of how our kids battled and fought.”

Bowling Green (4-2, 3-0 MAC) got on the board first late in the first quarter on a 32-yard touchdown run by B.J. Lane with 1:29 remaining in the first quarter. It was the first of three touchdowns for Lane who rushed for a career-high 141 yards on the afternoon.

On their ensuing possession, the Bulls (0-6, 0-3 MAC) answered with a nine-play, 76-yard drive that resulted in a 6-yard touchdown run by Philip Warren (Brunswick, ME/Brunswick). The drive was kept alive by a 3rd-down completion of 34 yards from Drew Willy (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) to Evan Wallace (Santa Clara, CA/Wilcox) to give the Bulls the ball at the Bowling Green 42-yard line. A 15-yard completion to Derrick Dyer (Rochester, NY/Marshall) moved the ball to the 6-yard line. Warren waltzed into the endzone on the next play for his first career touchdown.

The 6-1, 270-lb. Warren led the UB rushing attack with 92 yards on 17 carries – both career highs. Jared Patterson (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere) totaled 55 yards rushing and Steven King (Hempstead, NY/Uniondale) chipped in with 39 yards on the ground to help lead the Bulls’ to 198 yards of rushing offense – their highest output of the season.

Jacobs recorded his only touchdown pass of the game with 8:45 left in the half when he connected with Steve Sanders on a 5-yard strike to give the Falcons a 14-7 lead. The score remained 14-7 at halftime.

The Bulls took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 72 yards down to the Bowling Green 3-yard line. However, Patterson was stuffed on a 4th-and-1 run and UB was unable to come away with any points.

The score remained 14-7 until early in the fourth quarter when the Falcons drove 84 yards on 12 plays, capped by a 20-yard touchdown run by Lane.

Following a three-and-out by the Bulls, Bowling Green struck again. This time the Falcons drove 52 yards on 10 plays. Lane punched the ball in from two yards out for his third touchdown of the game.

Willy finished the day 10-of-22 for 113 yards and two interceptions. The freshman signal caller was under a lot of pressure for much of the game and was sacked four times. Wallace and Chad Upshaw (Southport, CT/St. Joseph’s) each caught three balls on the afternoon. Brett Hamlin (Jupiter, FL/William T. Dwyer) had a pair of catches for 29 yards.

Bryan Cummings

Defensively, the Bulls were led by Bryan Cummings (Cincinnati, OH/Madeira). The senior linebacker led all players with 10 tackles and added a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Williams had seven tackles and a pass breakup to along with his interception. Rob Schroeder (East Rochester, NY/East Rochester) had two more tackles for loss to bring his season total to 6.5.

“We got some meaningful takeaways for the first time in a game this year defensively,” Hofher said. “We did some decent things that were an improvement offensively like running the football. In the end we did not make as many good plays as what Bowling Green did.”

Bulletins – Philip Warren’s 17 carries were the most by a UB running back in a game this season…With 311 yards of total offense, the Bulls have amassed at least 300 yards of total offense in three of the last four games…Jesse Imes’ interception was his second of the season to lead the team.

10/15/2005