Patterson’s Record-Breaking Night Leads Bulls to 42-17 Win at Bowling Green

Tuesday, November 17

Bowling Green, OH

7 pm

3-0 , 3-0

Bowling Green

0-3 , 0-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Jaret Patterson vs. BGSU - Nov. 17, 2020

Photo by: Isaiah Vazquez/BGSU Marketing and Communications

Patterson’s Record-Breaking Night Leads Bulls to 42-17 Win at Bowling Green

11/18/2020 12:19:00 AM | Football

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, OH – Jaret Patterson rushed for a school-record 301 yards and scored four touchdowns to help lead the University at Buffalo football team to a 42-17 win at Bowling Green on Tuesday night. Patterson broke his own record of 298 yards on the ground set against the Falcons last season.

A week after airing it out for a win over Miami (OH), the Bulls went back to their lethal run game to get the job done tonight. The Bulls rushed for a season-high 396 yards which was 12 yards more than their first two games combined. Kevin Marks also had a strong performance on the ground, rushing for 90 yards and a scored on 15 carries.

It didn't take long for the Bulls to get on the board as they took their opening possession and marched 74 yards on seven plays and took a 7-0 lead on Patterson's first touchdown of the game, a 17-yard run up the middle.

Bowling Green responded with a 40-yard field goal on their first possession to cut the lead to 7-3. But four straight rushing touchdowns by the Bulls extended their lead to 35-3 late in the third quarter.

Marks scored on a three-yard run, early in the second quarter, to make the score 14-3. Patterson punched it in from four yards out, late in the second quarter, to extend the UB advantage to 21-3 at the half.

Patterson's third touchdown came on a 15-yard run with six minutes to go in the third quarter to put the Bulls ahead, 28-3. On the Bulls next possession, quarterback Kyle Vantrease called his own number and scored on a six-yard run to up the advantage to 35-3.

Patterson but an explanation point on the win and broke the single-game school rushing record with a 57-yard run with just over two minutes left in the game.

The Bulls didn't need to pass the ball much as Vantrease finished 7-of-12 for 74 yards. Once again Antonio Nunn was his favorite target as the senior wide out finished with six catches for 70 yards.

Defensively the Bulls were led by James Patterson who finished with a career-high 13 tackles and added a pass breakup. Cory Gross also had a career high in tackles with 10. Malcolm Koonce had two of the Bulls' four sacks in the game. Marcus Fuqua recorded his first career interception in the third quarter.

"It's always good to get a road win," head coach Lance Leipold said. "I was really pleased with our offensive performance, especially running the football. Jaret and Kevin played well as did the guys up front. It's good to be 3-0. But, our guys have a standard that they expect to play at and I don't they reached that tonight. But when you can win when you didn't play your best, that's a good sign."

Patterson's 301 rushing yards tied for 12th in Mid-American Conference history for a single game. He also moved into second place in school history in career rushing, passing James Starks with 3,323 yards.

Tonight's win sets up a big matchup on Nov. 28 as the 3-0 Bulls will host the 3-0 Kent State Golden Flashes at UB Stadium. Kickoff is slated for noon and the game will air on the CBS Sports Network.