The 24th-ranked University at Buffalo football team put a bow on its 2020 regular season Saturday afternoon, defeating Akron 56-7 at UB Stadium.
Since the Bulls clinched the Mid-American Conference East Division and a spot in the conference championship game following an announcement from the MAC earlier this week, Saturday’s game wasn’t a must-win. However, the Bulls celebrated the 2020 senior class Saturday, which of course is customary for teams do for their final home games each season, and it only made sense to send them out of UB Stadium for the last time as the victors.
Surprisingly, Jaret Patterson was not the Bulls’ leading rusher. Fellow junior Kevin Marks led the way in the run game, finishing the afternoon with 182 yards on 15 carries along with two touchdowns. Patterson still had a fine day, carrying the ball 16 times for 105 yards and pair of scores. The potential Heisman Trophy candidate did surpass 1,000 rushing yards on the season during the contest, becoming just the 12th player in FBS history to rush for over 1,000 yards in five games.
Patterson’s first touchdown of the night was the 50th rushing score of his career, making him just the seventh player in MAC history to rush for 50 touchdowns. In just five games, Patterson has now scored 18 touchdowns this season, just one shy of his total from last year; however, those 19 touchdowns were scored over the span of 13 games. The junior has also now ran for multiple touchdowns in every game this season and in eight-straight contests dating back to 2019.
A one-yard rushing touchdown from Patterson got the scoring started midway through the opening quarter. On the next Akron drive, UB held the Zips to a field goal attempt, which ended up being blocked and returned 63-yards by Buffalo’s Tyrone Hill for a touchdown, putting the Bulls up two scores before the end of the period. Hill’s score was first blocked kick returned for a touchdown by a UB player in the program’s FBS history (since 1999).
Things really began to unravel for Akron in the second quarter. Marks took his first carry of the game 24-yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0 in the Bulls’ favor. A few plays after Buffalo’s defense stopped the Zips on 4th-and-1 around midfield, Patterson extended the lead to 28-0 with a five-yard dash into the end zone. Marks would make it 35-0 before halftime with his second touchdown run of the afternoon, this one a 23-yarder with 5:05 to play in the quarter. After not getting a touch in the first quarter, Marks had 112 rushing yards in the second quarter alone to go with his two scores.
The Bulls came out of the locker room for the second half and picked up right where they left off in the scoring department. Quarterback Kyle Vantrease, who completed just three passes in the first half and didn’t attempt a throw at all in the second quarter, connected with Trevor Wilson on a 52-yard bomb to push the lead to 42-0 early in the third. Vantrease completed four passes on seven attempts for 68 yards and a touchdown in a little over two quarters of play.
Matt Myers replaced Vantrease under center later in the third quarter. The sophomore from West Seneca, NY ran for a four-yard touchdown late in the frame to make it 49-0.
The Bulls got a great opportunity to empty the bench in the second half and give a lot of younger players and back-ups some in-game experience, while also getting the starters some rest before heading into the short week of preparation for the MAC Championship game. Akron didn’t show any quit either, finally breaking the shutout with a rushing touchdown 6:05 to go. UB would tack on a late score as well to make the final tally 56-7.
The Bulls are now 5-0 in MAC play for the third time in program history (2013 and 2018) and will set their sights on the conference championship game on Friday, Dec. 18 at Ford Field in Detroit. Buffalo will take on the MAC West champions, the Ball State Cardinals, who defeated Western Michigan 30-27 on Saturday to clinch their division title.
UB and Ball State met for the MAC title back in 2008, Buffalo’s first appearance in the game. The Bulls won that matchup 42-24 to win the program’s only conference championship to date. UB will make its third appearance in the MAC title game since joining the conference in 1999. Buffalo’s last trip to Detroit was back in 2018, but the Bulls fell to Northern Illinois 30-29.
Kickoff on Friday night between the Bulls and Cardinals is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on ESPN. You can also listen to the action with pregame and postgame coverage on the radio home of the UB Bulls – ESPN 1520.