BUFFALO, NY - Heisman Trophy candidate Chad Pennington completed 20-of-25 passes for 339 yards and five touchdowns to lead No. 15 Marshall University to a 59-3 victory over the University at Buffalo in a Mid-American Conference game at UB Stadium.

Pennington threw touchdown passes to four different receivers and became only the sixth player in NCAA history to throw for both 11,000 yards and 100 touchdowns with his performance. In all 11 different Thundering Herd players caught passes as Marshall improved to 7-0 and 4-0 in the MAC.

Buffalo, which fell to 0-7 and 0-6 in the MAC, plays next weekend at Kent.

The Bulls were in the game in the early going. After a 57-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to Doug Chapman put the Herd on top, 7-0, Buffalo responded with a score of their own. A roughing the passer call on 3rd-and-5 gave the Bulls a first down and junior Scott Keller (Amherst, NY/Amherst Central) put Buffalo on the scoreboard with a 30-yard field goal with 6:12 remaining in the first quarter.

Then trailing, 7-3 linebacker Brandon Jordan (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison) had an interception in his hands but dropped it. Five plays later, Pennington hit David Foye for a 36-yard touchdown and the Herd wasn't threatened afterwards.

The Bulls were limited to 196 yards of total offense in the game. Sophomore tailback Derrick Gordon (Brooklyn, NY/August Martin) led the offense with 20 carries for 66 yards, while senior fullback Josh Roth (Conewango Valley, NY/Pine Valley) had 11 carries for 34 yards and two receptions for 22 yards.

Senior flanker Drew Haddad (Westlake, OH/St. Ignatius) was held to a season-low three catches for 32 yards as the Herd had constant pressure on UB quarterbacks Joe Freedy (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) and Erik Rusin (Amherst, NY/Amherst Central). Freedy completed 5-of-15 passes for 47 yards and a pair of interceptions before being lifted at halftime. Rusin, who suffered an MCL sprain in his throwing elbow, completed 5-of-10 passes for 40 yards in his first action of the season.

The Bulls' defense was again paced by free safety Craig Rohlfs (Cincinnati, OH/Moeller) who had eight solo tackles. Defensive tackle Josh Stello (Moon Township, PA/Moon) had three solo stops, including a sack for the Bulls, while Chris Gray (Frewsburg, NY/Alfred State College) had a career-best seven tackles.