Playing with a defense decimated by injuries, Ohio could not slow down an explosive Buffalo attack and fell to the Bulls, 38-37.
Buffalo running back Branden Oliver ran for a career-high 179 yards and three touchdowns in the winning effort.
“This one is pretty tough,” Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton said. “We feel like we’re a better football team than this. We had our chances. We just didn’t come through.”
While Neal Huynh and Omar Leftwich were lost in last week’s win against Kent State, three more Ohio defensive starters went down before or during Saturday night’s loss.
Defensive lineman Curtis Meyers was ruled out because of sickness, and fellow lineman Carl Jones left the game in the first quarter due to injury.
With all but one of Ohio's starting defensive linemen out of the game, Buffalo coach Jeff Quinn said the Bulls wanted to capitalize.
"I did feel we had a matchup there that we needed to take advantage of," he said.
Minutes after Jones’ departure, safety Xavier Hughes also left the game and did not return.
The Bulls (2-4) used big gains, including plays of 90, 58 and 36 yards to scorch the Ohio defense for 510 yards and five touchdowns.
“They’re a big-play football team, and we weren’t able to contain them on that end,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said.
Safety Gerald Moore said the secondary's struggles stemmed from a combination of injuries and missed assignments.
“It was a little bit of both. Injuries are one of those things you’ve got to play with throughout the season,” Moore said. “Somebody has to make a play.“
Down by a point and facing fourth and six from inside their own 40-yard line, Tettleton was sacked and fumbled away the Bobcats’ chances at a comeback.
After falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter, Ohio answered with a 13-yard touchdown run by Donte Harden set up by Harden’s 67-yard return on the kickoff.
The Bobcats (4-2) trailed 21-7 in the second quarter but rallied to make it 24-17 at the half.
Minutes after Oliver went in for the go-ahead score with just more than three minutes remaining in the game, the Bobcats faced fourth and goal from the 16-yard line while trailing by four points.
A Matt Weller field goal would bring the Bobcats within one, but that is as close as they would get.
“Defensively, we did not control the football game,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “But we had several opportunities on offense where we did not put points on the board.”
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