Ohio's playmakers emerged early and provided many explosive plays as the Bobcats held off a comeback from the Buffalo Bulls for a 34-20 win.
Ohio (4-4, 3-2) set the tone early at Buffalo (0-8, 0-5), scoring on its first two drives.
After breaking his streak of 28 consecutive games with a catch last weekend, receiver Scott Mayle caught his first pass of the day from quarterback Austen Everson for a 39-yard touchdown. Kicker Matt Miller's point-after-attempt was unsuccessful and Ohio led 6-0 after its first drive.
Following Ohio's first score, the Bobcat defense held and forced a punt from Buffalo, setting up another scoring drive.
The Bobcats needed only three plays to score the next touchdown. Everson began the drive with an 8-yard rush. Everson's rush was followed by a 50-yard end around by Mayle to the Buffalo 3-yard line. On the following play, running back Kalvin McRae rushed into the endzone for a 13-0 Bobcat lead.
Cornerback Dion Byrum continued to lead the defense, picking off a Drew Willy pass for his fifth interception of the season. Byrum's 27-yard return to midfield put the Bobcats in good position for another score, but Ohio's offense could not muster a successful drive.
Ohio's lead remained at 13-0 until quarterback Brandon Jones entered the game in the second quarter to lead his first drive of the game. Jones, who began the season 4-for-21 for 34 yards passing, led Ohio's offense and completed 3-of-3 passes for 54 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown reception to receiver Justin Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald's touchdown extended Ohio's lead to 20-0. The score would remain the same until the third quarter.
Buffalo mounted an offensive rally in the second half as Ohio's defense slowed down. Buffalo began its comeback on the first drive of the second half, which was capped by a nine-yard touchdown rush by running back Steven King.
On the following drive, Ohio quickly answered Buffalo's score with a 34-yard touchdown run from McRae to retain a 20-point lead. McRae finished with 224 rushing yards.
Despite McRae's touchdown run, the Bulls continued to chip away at the Ohio lead. Buffalo added two more scores on a 36-yard pass by Willy on a fake-punt play and a 4-yard run from King to make the score 27-20 Ohio.
However, on Buffalo's next possession, the comeback faded as quickly as it started. On the first play of the drive, Ohio recovered a fumbled pitch on the Buffalo 24-yard line. Four plays later, Byrum made his first career reception - a 14-yard touchdown catch - to push the Ohio lead to 34-20.
The touchdown would be the last score of the day for either team. After Byrum's touchdown, Buffalo could not muster a successful scoring drive.
- Nick Brockman
17 Archives
