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BUFFALO, NY - For the University at Buffalo football team it was as close to perfection as it gets.

The Bulls held the third-ranked rushing offense in the nation to a season-low 159 yards on the ground, set a school record by giving up just two yards of passing and posted their first shutout since 1998 with a convincing 44-0 win over Ohio University before 7,419 fans at UB Stadium.

The victory was the first Mid-American Conference win for first-year head coach Jim Hofher, the largest margin of victory since Buffalo returned to Division I-A in 1999 and the first shutout since a 47-0 whitewashing of Canisius on October 17, 1998. The two yards total passing by the Bobcats were the fewest in school history, topping the nine yards that Buffalo State had on September 19, 1987.

Offensively, the Bulls hammered out a season-high 538 yards with a perfect blend of rushing and passing. Three Buffalo running backs had over 60 yards rushing and quarterback

Joe Freedy

Joe Freedy (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) hit on a season-high 25-of-38 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Albert Grundy (Springfield, PA/Springfield) led the way with 13 carries for 90 yards and two touchdowns off the bench while Marquis Dwarte (Baltimore, MD/Perry Hall) added 74 yards on 18 carries and a score and senior Derrick Gordon (Brooklyn, NY/August Martin) had 12 carries for 63 yards and two touchdowns.

The Buffalo defense, meanwhile, was nothing short of dominating. The Bobcats came in ranked third in the nation in rushing offense behind only Nebraska and Rice at 275.1 yards per game. The Bulls not only held Ohio to a season-low 159 yards rushing but held two Ohio quarterbacks to 4-of-13 passing for a net two yards. Buffalo also posted two sacks and created three turnovers, one in the fourth quarter which preserved the shutout.

One play after senior Craig Rohlfs (Cincinnati, OH/Moeller) committed UB's only turnover by fumbling on a punt return, the Bulls got it right back. Redshirt freshman

J.J. Gibson

J.J. Gibson (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home), who led Buffalo with 11 tackles on the day, separated Ohio fullback Joe Sherrill from the football with cornerback Mike Lambert (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) recovering in the end zone with 13:08 remaining in the game.

Buffalo took control of the game with a huge second quarter after striking first on a one-yard touchdown run by Dwarte with 2:49 left in the first quarter to cap a 10-play, 54-yard drive after Rohlfs' second interception of the season.

The scoring barrage started for the Bulls after Ohio kicker Kevin Kerr had missed his second attempt of the first half. The Bulls drove 64 yards to take a 14-0 lead on a seven-yard burst by Gordon and then took control of the game on a huge play by freshman Matt Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/LaSalle). Knueven took a short crossing pattern from Freedy and broke three tackles to complete a 43-yard scoring play that put Buffalo on top, 21-0 with 3:45 left in the first half.

On the ensuing drive, sophomore Marcus Clarett (Youngstown, OH/Warren G. Harding) forced a fumble by Ohio quarterback Dontrell Jackson that senior Chris Shelly (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) fell on at the Buffalo 49-yard line. After a 38-yard completion from Freedy to junior Maurice Bradford (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton), Buffalo struck again as Gordon scored from one yard out and the rout was one.

Kicker Dallas Pelz (Holland, NY/St. Francis) capped the first half scoring by drilling his fifth straight field goal - from 24 yards - to extend the lead to 31-0 at halftime. The second half was merely icing on the cake for the Buffalo defense as they became the first team to shut out Ohio since Wisconsin posted a 45-0 home win in the second game of the 1998 season - a span of 39 games.

The Bulls had many stars on all sides of the game. Freedy had one of the finest games of his career - falling one completion shy of his career best - and completed passes to seven different Bulls.

Leading the way was Knueven who had seven grabs for 105 yards - the first time he has been over the century mark - and the second straight week a Buffalo receiver has eclipsed that mark. Junior tight end Chad Bartoszek (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca) added five catches for 41 yards while Bradford had three catches for 65 yards.

Defensively, it was a total team effort for the Bulls. Gibson led the way with 11 tackles while senior Bobby Johnson (Santa Ana, CA/Trabuco Hills) added nine tackles and a sack. Rohlfs had eight tackles, a pass breakup and an interception while Duane Williams (Detroit, MI/Denby) had six stops. Redshirt freshman linebacker

Rodney Morris

Rodney Morris (Pahokee, FL/Pahokee) had three bone-jarring tackles on special teams.

BULL-etins: Senior quarterback Joe Freedy moved into fourth place by himself for touchdowns rushing and passing combined with his 32nd on his touchdown pass to Matt Knueven. Knueven caught his second touchdown pass of the season on the play...senior safety Craig Rohlfs had the eighth interception of his career in the second quarter, marking the 16th turnover he has been involved in during his UB career. Rohlfs' four solo stops moved him into third place all-time in solo stops with 150...strong safety J.J. Gibson forced his second fumble of the season, and the second inside of UB's 20-yard line, to stop Ohio's deepest penetration of the game...Buffalo's 242 yards rushing were the most since the Bulls piled up 290 in a 17-16 loss to close the 2000 season...the 538 yards of total offense are the most since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1999...senior running back Derrick Gordon moved into ninth place in career rushing yards with his 63-yard performance. Gordon passed Joe Zelmanski and Todd Pace, running his total to 1,355 yards...tailback Marquis Dwarte scored his team-leading sixth touchdown of the season...kicker Dallas Pelz has made five straight field goals and is 8-of-13 on the season, but saw his streak of PAT conversions end at 17 straight with a fourth quarter miss...game balls went to defensive coordinator Thurmond Moore and quarterback Joe Freedy.

Post-Game Comments

Buffalo head coach Jim Hofher...

On the win

"This is a very exciting day for our kids because it was a very complete victory. We had a tremendous performance in all three areas of our team. Our defense did a magnificent job. Thurmond Moore - our defensive coordinator - the preparation that he and the coaches provided to the players and the execution of those plays against the nation's No. 3 rushing offense was really inspiring to me.

On special teams, we got all the points except for one and I thought Rodney Morris just did a fabulous job on kickoff coverage, and we had ample opportunities on kickoff coverage so it was great to see that. From an offensive standpoint we had the best balance that we've had and we certainly had the most production that we've had. Joe Freedy was outstanding, it was two weeks in a row that he was secure with the football as our quarterback. We had lanes to run, we had good protection so when you add all that stuff up it was really an inspiring performance by our football team against a team that many people in the MAC thought had a chance to contend for the MAC East title (prior to the season)

I give our kids all the credit in the world for staying the course, because we've had disappointment, too. They have stayed focused as best they know how and as best as we could hope for. I think the fruits of their labor were evident today."

Tailback Marquis Dwarte on the difference in UB's offense today

"The difference was execution on our part. The coaches design it and draw it up on the board but it's not how well you can draw something up it's how well you can do it. In this case, when you have a system that has this potential and when you run it well, then the sky's the limit with this kind of offense. I think today you have to give a lot of credit to the staff and the players and the offensive line. They moved people, they created running lanes and Joe wasn't sacked today. Coach Hofher always talks about how it starts upfront and those guys really got it done today."

Quarterback Joe Freedy

"It was very evident to see how the passing game sets up the running game and how the running game compliments the passing game. The offensive line did a great job as well as the backs, which makes it a lot easier to throw the football. Ball security is something that is so stressed by Coach Hofher and the last two weeks show how you can stay in the game and win the game when you have ball security."