The Buffalo football team entered Wednesday’s game with one of the most versatile offenses in the Mid-American Conference. The team was averaging 30.6 points per game and 166.8 rushing yards per game.
But with 11:51 left in the third quarter, the football team had yet to put up a point and amassed only one rushing yard in the game.
The Bulls (3-6, 1-4 MAC) lost to Ohio (5-5, 3-3 MAC) 37-14 at Peden Stadium in Athens, Ohio. Buffalo will not reach the necessary win total to become bowl eligible and haven’t won since Sept. 27.
“It’s a shock to us,” said junior wide receiver Ron Willoughby. “That’s not how we play football and we didn’t show that the first couple weeks. We really don’t know what’s going on but we got to watch film and figure out what the problem is.”
After Ohio kicked a 28-yard field goal to take a 20-0 lead, freshman wide receiver Jacob Martinez fumbled the ensuing kickoff. He was able to recover the ball, but the Bulls quickly put it back on the ground. Junior running back Anthone Taylor fumbled on the next play and the Bobcats took over on their 9-yard line.
Three plays later, Ohio quarterback Derrius Vick ran a 9-yard touchdown to take a 27-0 lead.
Freshman running back A.J. Ouellette led the Bobcats’ offensive outburst, running for a career-best 155 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.
Buffalo’s running attack, however, was manhandled by the Bobcats front seven throughout the game. The Bulls rushed for 28 yards on 25 carries – their lowest rushing output all season. The longest rush of the night was a 13-yard skirmish by junior quarterback Tony Daniel in the fourth quarter.
Junior quarterback Joe Licata eclipsed 6,000 passing yards and threw his 52nd career touchdown in the loss. He is now tied with Drew Willy for the most touchdowns in program history.
Daniel replaced Licata after he threw an interception with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Licata completed 9 of 20 passes for 74 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
It was a rare off game for Licata, who averaged 256 passing yards heading into the game.
“We just came out flat. And we weren’t able to pick it up,” Licata said. “We weren’t able to pick it up in any phase of the game.”
The secondary has been one of Buffalo’s weaknesses all season, and it showed early in the game. Vick threw a 47-yard completion on third down that set up the Bobcats’ first score and a lead they would not relinquish. Vick and quarterback JD Sprague combined 8 of 19 for 156 passing yards.
Senior defensive back Witney Sherry was called for a crucial pass interference penalty in the end zone with 9:57 remaining in the second quarter. Ohio scored two plays later on a 1-yard rush up the middle to take a 17-point lead.
One of the lone highlights for Buffalo came late in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. Sophomore cornerback Boise Ross picked up an Ohio fumble and ran it for 75 yards for the Bulls’ second touchdown.
Senior kicker Patrick Clarke missed a 36-yard field goal at the beginning of the second quarter that would have pulled the game to 10-3. He is now 6 of 13 on the season.
Senior linebacker Lee Skinner passed former linebacker Khalil Mack for seventh in all-time tackles. He finished with team-high 13 tackles.
The team is currently on its longest losing streak since 2012 and has lost all four road games this season. In the last two weeks, the Bulls have been outscored 57-28 With only three games remaining in the season, it is impossible for the Bulls to make back-to-back bowl games. Although team’s need six wins to be ‘bowl eligible,’ Buffalo needs seven this season because two wins came against FCS schools.
With this loss, Buffalo can’t finish better than 6-6.
“Everyone’s upset,” Willoughby said. “This is not how we saw the game going. We thought we had a good chance against [Ohio]. We thought we had a great game plan and it’s very disappointing and the guys are obviously upset but all we can do is look forward to Akron.”
The Bulls return home next week to face MAC opponent Akron (2-3, 4-5 MAC) Tuesday at UB Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.
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Photo: Courtesy of Tal Hamel, Endvisionprod
Photo: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
