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HUNTINGTON, WV - In its final meeting with Marshall as a member of the Mid-American Conference, the University at Buffalo football team fell to the host Thundering Herd, 48-14, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Saturday night. Marshall, known more for its defensive prowess this year, racked up 466 yards of total offense in the game. The Bulls' defense forced three Marshall turnovers, but were unable to capitalize on any of them.

Marshall quarterback Stan Hill completed 19-of-26 passes for 269 yards and four touchdowns to lead a Thundering Herd offense that was awoken in the first half and that Buffalo never truly stopped.

"I think Marshall has a terrific football team and it certainly showed tonight," said Buffalo head coach Jim Hofher. " It's as good a performance I've seen from a quarterback in a long time. Stan Hill was almost flawless. He got great protection around him, the receivers are very skilled and he really put the ball on the money.

"This game was all about the passing game, theirs and ours," said Hofher, "because both teams ran the ball decently. But I think their passing game was tremendous and our passing game was underwhelming. They're very fast and very sound in what they do defensively, but they're really getting great play out of their defense."

On its opening drive, Marshall marched 61 yards on seven plays and scored on a 1-yard

Dave Dawson

touchdown plunge by Earl Charles. After trading punts, the Bulls tied the game with 8:32 left in the first quarter when Dave Dawson (Camp Hill, PA/Bishop McDevitt) darted 83 yards, nearly untouched, for a touchdown. It was the longest run of the junior tailback's career and the fifth run of his career of over 50 yards. It was also the Bulls' longest rushing play in the Division I-A era.

The Thundering Herd responded by scoring touchdowns on their next two possessions. They first struck on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Stan Hill to Tremel Guillory with 5:17 left in the first quarter. Then on the first play of the second quarter, Donte' Newsome scored from 1-yard out to cap a seven-play, 44-yard drive and give the Thundering Herd a 21-7 lead.

Freshman cornerback James Evans (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) made his team-leading fourth interception of the year with 9:47 left in the second quarter - giving the Bulls the ball near midfield. However, UB was unable to capitalize and was forced to punt. On the very next Marshall possession,

J.J. Gibson

J.J. Gibson (Buffalo, NY/Sweet Home) stepped in front of a Hill pass for his second interception of the season. The Bulls took over on the Marshall 31-yard line. However, once again, they were unable to take advantage as Michael Baker (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown) missed a 44-yard field goal attempt.

Marshall went ahead, 28-7, on a 21-yard Hill to Josh Davis touchdown strike with 2:27 left in the second quarter. Davis had a career-best 12 catches for 132 yards in the game. The Herd held the 21-point advantage at halftime.

The Herd struck again on their first possession of the third quarter. Following a 40-yard punt return by Ahmad Bradshaw to give Marshall the ball on the UB 16-yard line, Hill found Brad Bates in the corner of the endzone for a 5-yard touchdown pass to give Marshall a 35-7 advantage.

With the Herd driving inside the UB 20-yard line, Rob Schroeder (East Rochester, NY/East Rochester) hit Bradshaw and jarred the ball loose. Gibson quickly pounced on the ball for the Bulls' third forced turnover of the game. The Bulls' offense was unable to move the ball on three plays and the subsequent Ben Woods' (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) punt was blocked by Uranius Johnson and covered in the endzone by Dennis Thornton for a Marshall touchdown.

Matt Knueven

P.J. Piskorik (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) found a streaking Matt Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle) for a 61-yard touchdown to close out the season. It was a career-long play for both players. The two hooked up for a 58-yard touchdown pass in the Bulls' win over Ohio last season. Piskorik finished the game 10-for-22 for 101 yards a touchdown and an interception. The junior quarterback also ran for a season-best 55 yards.

Buffalo racked up 202 yards on the ground, marking the third time this season that the Bulls ran for over 200 yards in a game. Dawson finished the game with 102 yards on five carries. It was his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and the fifth time this year that a UB running back has eclipsed the century mark.

Defensively, Buffalo was led by Gibson who had a career-best 14 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception. Jeff Bublavi (Norwood, PA/Interboro) had nine tackles, including one tackle for a 4-yard loss.

BULL-etins: With his performance on Saturday, junior tailback Dave Dawson moved into several career top tens. The 101 yards rushing was the sixth time in his career the Camp Hill, PA native has been over the century mark, tieing him for fourth all-time. Dawson also moved into 10th place on the career yards rushing list with 1,379 and into 10th place in career all-purpose yardage with 2,282...junior defensive tackle Bill Meholif (Parma, OH/St. Ignatius) matched his career-high with seven tackles...J.J. Gibson with his nine solo tackles, became just the second Bull to go over the 200 figure in solo stops.

Chad Upshaw

Career leader Craig Guest (1993-96) had 236, while Gibson now has 204. Gibson also recovered a fumble, the fourth of his career...sophomore tight end Chad Upshaw (Southport, CT/St. Joseph's) had a career-best four receptions for 29 yards to lead all UB receivers...senior Matt Knueven's career-best 61-yard touchdown catch marked the first time he has reached the end zone this year and the eighth time in his career. It also ran his consecutive gams with a catch streak to 20 games...true freshman safety Jamal Chisam (Glendale, MD/DeMatha Catholic) saw his first collegiate experience and racked up five tackles (three solos) at safety. Chisam was forced into the lineup due to a back injury to second-leading tackler Ryan Sherwood-Ericsson (Erie, PA/McDowell). Sherwood-Ericsson is likely finished playing for the season with the injury...junior offensive tackle Zack Love (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven) and defensive end Phil Jacques (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Brother Rice) each made the 32nd straight starts.