University at Buffalo Bulls running back Jaret Patterson earned some high honors on Tuesday as the Mid-American Conference announced its postseason awards for the 2020 football season.
Patterson ended up coming out of Tuesday as the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, while also earning the Vern Smith Leadership Award, given annually to the top player in the conference.
Patterson becomes the second player in school history to be named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year. He joins former quarterback and teammate Tyree Jackson as the only other player to earn the honor in 2018.
Meanwhile, the 20-year-old becomes the first Bulls player in school history to earn the Vern Smith Leadership Award, which is considered to be the most prestigious honor given out by the MAC.
The 2020 season was truly a historic one for Patterson, despite the regular season being trimmed down to five games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He currently leads the nation with an average of 205 yards per-game, while ranking third in college football with 18 rushing touchdowns. Patterson also became the 12th player in FBS history this year to rush for 1,000 yards in the first five games of the year.
In UB's Week 4 win over Kent State at UB Stadium, Patterson put up a performance for the record books with 409 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. His eight scores tied a FBS single-game record for the most rushing touchdowns, while his 409 rushing yards was just 18 yards short of the FBS single-game record.
In addition to Patterson earning MAC honors on Tuesday, Bulls head coach Lance Leipold was also named the MAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
Leipold's Bulls finished the 2020 campaign with a perfect 5-0 record, en route to a MAC East division title. The Bulls currently lead the nation with 51.8 points per-game, while also leading with an average of 344.6 rushing yards per-game).
The fifth-year head coach is the first coach in school history to win MAC Coach of the Year honors multiple times. He also earned the honor after the 2018 season. Leipold is also the second coach in program history to win the award, joining Turner Gill, who won the award in 2007.
A number of other Bulls players earned All-MAC honors on Tuesday:
The Bulls will play in the MAC Championship Game this Friday night against Ball State at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. EST and can be heard over on our sister station, ESPN 1520.