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Morgan State
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Offense Shines in Home-Opening Win over Morgan State
9/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Football
BUFFALO, NY – The postgame fireworks at UB Stadium were no comparison to the ones set off by the University at Buffalo offense in a 56-34 win over Morgan State on Saturday night. The Bulls rolled up 571 yards of total offense while possessing the ball for less than 20 minutes. The 56 points were the most ever scored by the Bulls in their Division I-A history.
"I was really proud of the way our kids came out tonight," Quinn said. "We played four quarters of football. It was a great win. I told these guys we really want to head out there tonight and feel good about all three phases of our team. There were some things offensively that were tremendous accomplishments."
The offense was led by the trio of Alex Zordich, Alex Neutz and Branden Oliver. Zordich had the finest game of his career by going 16-for-21 for 237 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. The four touchdown passes tied a Division I-A record. Zordich was red hot out of the gate, completing all 10 of his passes in the first half.
The Youngstown, OH native's favorite target was Neutz who finished with eight catches for a career-high 154 yards and tied a school-record with four touchdown catches. Neutz had touchdown catches of 16, 22, 34 and 28 yards.
And then there was Oliver. The junior running back had 25 carries for a UB Division I-A-record 238 yards and two touchdowns. It was a career high rushing effort for the Miami native. He broke his own Division I-A record of 235 yards set last season against Akron.
On its first possession, Morgan State drove down the field and had first and goal at the UB 5-yard line. The UB defensive responded with a Lee Skinner sack, a Khalil Mack tackle for loss and a Colby Way sack to force a Morgan State field goal.
The Bears' lead was short lived as Buffalo took the ensuing kickoff and drove 75 yards for a touchdown. Oliver plunged into the end zone from one yard out for his first touchdown of the night. The scoring continued on UB's next possession as Zordich connected with Jimmy Gordon from 18 yards out to put the Bulls up 14-3. It was the first career touchdown for the junior tight end.
After a Morgan State field goal, the UB offense struck quickly again – driving 62 yards on just five plays. Oliver scored from three yards out, for this second touchdown of the game, to put the Bulls ahead, 21-6.
Morgan State drove 90 yards on its next possession to cut the UB lead to 21-13 with 2:30 left in the half. However, with the way the Buffalo offense was humming, it was plenty of time to put more points on the board.
The Bulls drove 68 yards on just four plays and Zordich found a streaking Neutz for a 16-yard score. Not content, the UB defense got the ball back for the offense and the Bulls drove 46 yards on just three plays to close the half with another touchdown. Zordich hooked up with Neutz again, this time from 22 yards out, to give the Bulls a 35-13 lead at the half.
"I like what our kids did right before the half. That was a big boost." Quinn said. "We managed the clock well, we were able to get the ball back and put some points on the board, which is the aggressive style I want our team to have. Our kids really rose to the challenge."
Neutz came up with his prettiest catch of the night for his third touchdown. The Grand Island native made an acrobatic catch over a defender and tip-toed down the sideline for a 34-yard score.
After Morgan State scored to cut the lead to 42-20, Nuetz caught his fourth touchdown of the night. However, this one was a 28-yarder from redshirt freshman Joe Licata. It was the first career pass attempt from the highly-touted recruit from Williamsville South High School.
Buffalo used its quickest scoring drive of the night for its next touchdown, driving 83 yards on just two plays. Oliver scampered 34 yards to start the drive and sophomore James Potts finished the job by galloping 49 yards for his first career touchdown.
Morgan State scored a late touchdown to make the final score 56-34.
Lost in the all the impressive offensive numbers, were some standout performances on the defensive side of the ball. The defense had 10 tackles for loss and six sacks. Mack, playing in his first game of the season, had eight tackles, 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. Jake Stockman and Witney Sherry tied for the team high in tackles with 10 apiece – career highs for both players. Steven Means tied a career high with nine tackles and added 1.5 sacks.
Postgame Notes:
Individual Notes:
- Game Captains: Lee Skinner, Colby Way, Alex Zordich, Trevor Sales
- Branden Oliver broke his single-game rushing record with 238 yards.
- James Potts rushed for a 49-yard touchdown on just his second career carry.
- Alex Zordich went a perfect 10-for-10 in the first half, finishing with a career-high four touchdowns for the game. His four touchdowns tie a Division I-A record.
- Alex Neutz had four touchdown receptions, which tied the school record and are the most in UB's Division I-A history.
- Jake Stockman and Witney Sherry each finished with a career-high 10 tackles.
- Steven Means tied his career high with nine tackles.
- Cordero Dixon, Devin Campbell and Rudy Johnson all made their first collegiate reception.
- The 56 points scored by the Bulls are their most since scoring 60 points against Central Connecticut State on Oct. 31, 1992.
- The six sacks by the Bulls are the most since recording six at Miami (OH) on Nov. 18, 2009.
Team Stats
MSU 3, UB 0
MSU - GONZALEZ,Ervin 35 yd field goal 9 plays, 31 yards, TOP 4:37
MSU 3, UB 7
UB - OLIVER, Branden 1 yd run (CLARKE, Patrick kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:47
MSU 3, UB 14
UB - GORDON, Jimmy 18 yd pass from ZORDICH, Alex (CLARKE, Patrick kick) 4 plays, 56 yards, TOP 1:11
MSU 6, UB 14
MSU - GONZALEZ,Ervin 21 yd field goal 15 plays, 67 yards, TOP 7:44
MSU 6, UB 21
UB - OLIVER, Branden 3 yd run (CLARKE, Patrick kick), 5 plays, 62 yards, TOP 1:14
MSU 13, UB 21
MSU - DAVIDSON,Travis 38 yd run (GONZALEZ,Ervin kick), 9 plays, 90 yards, TOP 3:55
MSU 13, UB 28
UB - NEUTZ, Alex 16 yd pass from ZORDICH, Alex (CLARKE, Patrick kick) 4 plays, 68 yards, TOP 1:06
MSU 13, UB 35
UB - NEUTZ, Alex 22 yd pass from ZORDICH, Alex (CLARKE, Patrick kick) 3 plays, 46 yards, TOP 0:15
MSU 13, UB 42
UB - NEUTZ, Alex 34 yd pass from ZORDICH, Alex (CLARKE, Patrick kick) 10 plays, 72 yards, TOP 3:06
MSU 20, UB 42
MSU - KING,Andrew 44 yd pass from COUNCIL,Robert (GONZALEZ,Ervin kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:38
MSU 20, UB 49
UB - NEUTZ, Alex 28 yd pass from LICATA, Joe (CLARKE, Patrick kick) 4 plays, 60 yards, TOP 1:07
MSU 27, UB 49
MSU - MANN,Brian 5 yd run (GONZALEZ,Ervin kick), 6 plays, 34 yards, TOP 2:08
MSU 27, UB 56
UB - POTTS, James 49 yd run (CLARKE, Patrick kick), 2 plays, 83 yards, TOP 0:30
MSU 34, UB 56
MSU - DAVIDSON,Travis 21 yd pass from COUNCIL,Robert (GONZALEZ,Ervin kick) 9 plays, 52 yards, TOP 4:56
