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Ohio Runs Past Buffalo, 34-20

Chad Upshaw

“OU made more plays, all around, over the course of the game than UB did, but a pretty valiant half to get it to a 27-20 game,” head coach Jim Hofher said. “I think we lost quite a bit of momentum on a turnover deep in our territory after a defensive stop. They were able to take advantage of it.”

Buffalo (0-8, 0-5 MAC) rolled up a season-high 432 yards of total offense in the game. Willy was 24-of-36 for 293 yards and a touchdown. Willy’s favorite target was Chad Upshaw (Southport, CT/St. Joseph’s) who finished with eight catches for 116 yards – both career highs. It was the first time a UB receiver went over the century mark in receiving yardage since Terrance Breaux (Randallstown, MD/Randallstown) racked up 123 yards against UCF on Oct. 2, 2004.

Jared Patterson (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere) led the UB rushing attack with a career-high 93 yards on only five careers. His highlight of the day was a 64-yard scamper in the second quarter. King finished the afternoon with 70 yards on 18 carries and found the endzone twice.

Ohio (4-4, 3-2 MAC), however, amassed 474 yards of its own, including 322 yards on the ground. The Bulls had trouble stopping running back Kalvin McRae who ran for 224 yards on 31 carries and scored twice.

Austen Everson and Brandon Jones split time at quarterback and combined to go 12-of-19 for 167 yards and three touchdowns.

The Bobcats pounced on the Bulls early, scoring touchdowns on each of their first two possessions. The first score was a 39-yard touchdown strike from Everson to Scott Mayle. Ohio followed that touchdown with a 3-yard McRae run to take a 13-0 lead seven minutes into the game.

Jones found Justin Fitzgerald in the back of the endzone from 19 yards out to put the Bobcats ahead, 20-0, with 6:33 left in the first half.

Following the 64-yard run by Patterson, the Bulls had a chance to put some points on the board late in the first half. However, a 34-yard field goal attempt by Gerry McGroarty (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Bishop Hoban) sailed wide right and the score remained 20-0 at the half.

The Bulls took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 80 yards down the field on eight plays. King scored on a 9-yard run to cut the Ohio advantage to 20-7. However, the Bobcats answered right back as they needed only 53 seconds to score a touchdown and regain a 20-point edge. McRae was the culprit again as he scored on a 34-yard run.

After the teams traded punts, Willy found a wide-open Evan Wallace (Santa Clara, CA/Wilcox) on a beautiful pump-and-go pattern for a 36-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 27-13. It was Wallace’s first career touchdown.

Steven King

After forcing the Bobcats to punt, Willy and the Bulls orchestrated an 80-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by King – his second of the game. During the drive, Willy found Upshaw four times for 47 yards. The Bulls had cut the lead to 27-20 with 12:01 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Buffalo defense forced the Bobcats into a three-and-out and got the ball right back at its own 28-yard line with 11:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, on the Bulls’ first play King fumbled the ball and possession went back to Ohio. Everson found Dion Byrum on a 14-yard touchdown pass four plays later to give the Bobcats a two-touchdown cushion.

Defensively, the Bulls were led by Kareem Byrom (New Brunswick, NJ/New Brunswick) who had a team-high 11 tackles. Jeff Bublavi (Norwood, PA/Interboro), Gerald Jackson (Alexandria, VA/DeMatha Catholic) and Bryan Cummings (Cincinnati, OH/Madeira) each chipped in with six tackles.

BULL-ETINS: Gemara Williams (Oak Park, MI/Brother Rice) had two pass breakups in the game. He now is only two shy of the school record for passes defended in a career (37). Steven King scored two touchdowns in a game for the third time in his career. Jared Patterson’s 64-yard run and 93 yards rushing on the day were both season highs by a UB running back. Drew Willy went 9-of-10 for 160 yards and a touchdown in the third quarter.