Bulls Look Sharp Against Akron in MAC Championship Game Tune-Up

Saturday, December 12

Buffalo, NY

2:30 pm

University at Buffalo

5-0 , 5-0

Akron

1-5 , 1-5

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Akron	0	0	0	7	7
Buffalo	14	21	14	7	56

Bulls Look Sharp Against Akron in MAC Championship Game Tune-Up

12/12/2020 7:35:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, NY – Playing in their first game as a nationally-ranked program, the University at Buffalo football team cruised past Akron, 56-7, on a rainy afternoon at UB Stadium. The Bulls finished the regular season a perfect 5-0 and will next play Ball State in the Rocket Mortgage Mid-American Conference game on Friday night at Detroit's Ford Field.

The Bulls used a steady dose of their dominant run game to set the tone. Kevin Marks, Jr. and Jaret Patterson both rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone. Marks finished with a career-high 182 yards on only 15 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 24 and 23 yards.

Patterson rushed for 105 yards on 16 carries, all in the first half. With the game well in hand, his play was limited. The junior running back did go over 1,000 yards on the season, tying the FBS record for earliest game to eclipsed 1,000 yards, doing so in five games. He also scored his 50^th and 51^st career rushing touchdown, becoming just the seventh player in MAC history to scored 50 rushing touchdowns.

Patterson scored the game's first touchdown on a 1-yard run on the Bulls' first possession. Akron took the ensuing possession into field goal range and lined up for a 35-yard attempt. However, Tyrone Hill broke through the line, blocked the kick, scooped it up and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown. It marked the first time in UB's FBS era (since 1999) a player returned a blocked kick for a touchdown.

Hill's play seemed to open the floodgates. The Bulls scored touchdowns on five of their next seven possessions and led 35-0 at the half.

On UB's first possession of the second half, Kyle Vantrease connected with Trevor Wilson on a 52-yard touchdown strike to extend the lead to 42-0. Quarterback Matt Myers, who spelled Vantrease, scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, late in the third quarter, to extend the lead to 49-0.

UB's big lead afforded head coach Lance Leipold the opportunity to play some of his reserves. Walk-on Tajay Ahmed made the most of his opportunity by ripping off a 44-yard touchdown run on his first career carry. Fellow walk-on cornerback Shemar Hayes sealed the win with his first career interception.

The Bulls rolled up 507 yards of total offense, including 428 on the ground. It was the third straight game Buffalo rushed for over 300 yards.

Defensively, the Bulls held Akron to 204 yards of total offense. UB got contributions up and down the roster. The Bulls tied their season high with four sacks in the game, coming from four different players (George Wolo, Eddie Wilson, Max Michel and Kyler Laing).

For the third straight game, James Patterson led the Bulls in tackles with six. Fellow linebacker Tyree Thompson added five stops.

The Bulls finished the regular season as MAC East Division champions and will head to Detroit for the third time program history. UB will take on Ball State on Friday night at 7:30 pm on ESPN in a rematch of the 2008 title game.