Bulls Best BG, 42-17, Tuesday Night

Tuesday, November 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

0-3 , 0-3

Buffalo

3-0 , 3-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Isaiah Vazquez/BGSU Athletics

November 17, 2020 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

Stewart scores two TDs for second-straight game

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Athletics

Led by Jaret Patterson, the University at Buffalo rolled up nearly 400 yards on the ground, and the Bulls scored six rushing touchdowns en route to a 42-17 win over the Bowling Green State University football team Tuesday night (Nov. 17). The Mid-American Conference contest was held at Doyt Perry Stadium.

PHOTO GALLERY

Patterson gained 301 yards in 31 carries, scoring four times, while Kevin Marks, Jr., added 90 yards on the ground for the visitors.

UB had just one more first down than the Falcons in the game, and BGSU ran 11 more offensive plays than the Bulls. But, the visitors scored touchdowns on three of four first-half drives to take a 21-3 lead into the intermission.

BGSU moved the ball into UB territory on seven of 10 drives on the night, but came up scoreless after reaching the red zone on two of those drives. The Falcons put together seven drives of 44 yards or more, including five drives of at least 50 yards, and scored touchdowns on a pair of fourth-quarter drives.

Redshirt junior Andrew Clair ran for 85 yards to lead the Falcons, while freshman Terion Stewart had 42 yards on the ground. Stewart scored two touchdowns for the second consecutive game.

Redshirt junior Matt McDonald was 17-of-27 for 219 yards through the air, with redshirt sophomore Julian Ortega-Jones catching six passes for 67 yards.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
• The Bulls took an early lead on a 17-yard touchdown run by Jaret Patterson on the opening drive. Patterson carried the ball on five of the drive's seven plays, with quarterback Kyle Vantrease finding Antonio Nunn on the other two plays of the 74-yard drive.
• The Falcons responded with a nine-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 40-yard field goal by redshirt senior Nate Needham. After missing last week's game vs. Kent State, redshirt junior Andrew Clair carried the ball three times for 29 yards on the drive, including a 21-yard run on BG's first play of the night.
• That drive also saw redshirt junior quarterback Matt McDonald complete passes to redshirt freshman Tyrone Broden and redshirt sophomore Noah Massey for 13 and 12 yards, respectively. McDonald was 2-for-3 through the air on the drive.
• The Falcons forced the UB offense into a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, and BGSU picked up three first downs on the next drive as the home team reached the red zone.
• That drive saw Clair carry the ball four more times for a total of 16 yards, while McDonald found redshirt sophomore Julian Ortega-Jones three times, including a 26-yard completion.
• The Falcons picked up a fourth-down conversion on the drive, as McDonald hooked up with Ortega-Jones for a five-yard gain on a fourth-and-4 play.

SECOND QUARTER
• On the opening play of the second quarter, however, a field-goal attempt was no good.
• The Bulls took a 14-3 lead on a three-yard TD run by Kevin Marks, Jr., with 10:37 left before the half. UB gained 66 yards on the ground on the 80-yard drive, with Patterson and Marks carrying the ball five times each on that 13-play scoring drive.
• Back-to-back short completions to freshman Terion Stewart and senior Quintin Morris, along with a Stewart carry, left the Falcons with a fourth-and-1 at their own 32, and redshirt senior Matt Naranjo's 43-yard kick was downed at the UB 25.
• UB responded with another 13-play drive, this time ending with a 4-yard TD run by Patterson. The Bulls' drive took exactly half of the quarter (7:30) and gave the visitors a 21-3 lead with 1:18 left before halftime.
• BG got into UB territory in the final minute, largely on the strength of a 34-yard McDonald-to-Massey completion, but the Falcons could not cut into the UB lead before the half came to an end.

THIRD QUARTER
• On the opening drive of the second half, a first-down sack put the BG offense into a second-and-long situation, and a long punt return by Ron Cook, Jr., put the Bulls in prime position, with UB's first second-half drive beginning at the Falcons' 19-yard line.
• From there, though, the BGSU defense held. Three plays gained a total of eight yards, and a fourth-down pass was incomplete. The Falcons took over on downs at the 11.
• McDonald hooked up with Morris on a 25-yard completion, then a 12-yard gain into UB territory. But, the drive stalled at the Bulls' 45.
• Patterson got the call on all but one play of the next drive, scoring from 15 yards out with six minutes left in the third quarter.
• The Falcons responded with a drive that took BG inside the 20, but UB's Marcus Fuqua came up with an interception in the end zone.
• That drive had seen BG pick up big chunks of yards on several plays, including a 27-yard completion from McDonald to Ortega-Jones.
• Two plays later, Patterson rambled for 67 yards to the Falcons' 9-yard line. The drive ended on a Vantrease QB keeper for a score with 1:10 left in the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
• The Falcons put together a 13-play, 76-yard drive, with Stewart carrying the ball the final five yards for a touchdown. Stewart actually carried the ball on the final four plays of the drive, picking up the final 19 yards.
• Clair also had four rushes on that drive, gaining 23 yards, while redshirt senior Bryson Denley had a pair of rushes. A McDonald pass to freshman Javonte Kinsey was incomplete during that drive, but only the interference of a UB defender kept Kinsey from making the catch, and the penalty put BG at the 24 and set the stage for Stewart's scoring run.
• Three Marks runs picked up only two total yards on the next drive. The key play was a loss of three on second down, as redshirt junior Jerry Roberts and sophomore Darren Anders brought down the UB RB behind the line of scrimmage. The Bulls' punt went out of bounds at the BGSU 42-yard line.
• The Falcons found the end zone for the second-straight drive, going 55 yards in 10 plays. Stewart took the ball the final yard for his second TD of the night and his fourth in two games.
• Freshman Jhaylin Embry began the drive with a 10-yard run, and after a sack left the Falcons in a fourth-and-11 situation, McDonald hit redshirt senior Presley Motes for a 12-yard gain.
• McDonald rolled right and found Morris near the right sideline. As he attempted to elude a defender, Morris made a diving effort for the pylon, but his other hand landed out of bounds before the ball hit the pylon. Stewart scored on the next play.
• Patterson accounted for all 75 UB yards on the next drive, capping the four-play drive with a 57-yard scoring run with 2:08 to go.

STATS / NOTES
• The Bulls had a narrow 23-22 lead in first downs on the night, and UB had only 18 more yards of total offense than the Falcons (395-377) prior to UB's final scoring drive. The Falcons ran 71 offensive plays to 60 for UB on the night.
• For the game, the Bulls had 470 total yards, including 396 on the ground. UB had 48 running plays and just 12 passing plays.
• BGSU had a total of 399 yards of offense, with 180 of those coming on the ground. The Falcons had 219 passing yards to the Bulls' 74.
• Julian Ortega Jones had a career-high six receptions in Tuesday's game.
• Sophomore Darren Anders led the Falcons with 14 tackles, while three of his teammates – Kholbe Coleman, Caleb Biggers and Jerry Roberts – had six apiece.
• Anders set a career high in tackles for the second time in three games. He had a then career-best 11 stops in the 2020 season opener at Toledo, and added nine tackles vs. Kent State last Tuesday night.
• Anders had 1.5 tackles for loss vs. the Bulls, tying his career standard which was set in the UT game.
• True freshman Billie Roberts was credited with the first two tackles of his Falcon career, combining with Anders on a tackle for loss.
• Redshirt junior Cedric Mitchell had a career-high five tackles, including four solo stops, vs. the Bulls. His previous best was four total tackles, amassed in last week's KSU game.
• Freshman Anthony Hawkins had a career-best three tackles.

FROM COACH LOEFFLER
"We are going to continue to grind away and improve. I really respect and like what Buffalo is all about. They are big, strong and fast in all three phases. That's the way we want to build this. There were some improvements from us in all three phases, but not good enough to win."

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will hit the road for the next two games, beginning with a trip to Athens for a game against Ohio University on Saturday, Nov. 28. That game will begin at 12:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will play at Akron on the following Saturday (Dec. 5), before ending the regular-season schedule by hosting Miami on Saturday, Dec. 12.