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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

Bulls shatter Glass Bowl

UB holds Toledo scoreless in the second half

<p>Junior quarterback Tyree Jackson winds up for the pass at UB Stadium. Jackson had 326 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 31-14 win against Toledo.&nbsp;</p>

Junior quarterback Tyree Jackson winds up for the pass at UB Stadium. Jackson had 326 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 31-14 win against Toledo. 

“Don’t invite stones into a glass bowl,” said strength and conditioning coach Lewis Caralla to the Bulls locker room after their 31-17 victory.

The Bulls’ final first-half drive ended after three plays for a loss of seven yards. Buffalo headed to the locker room down 10 points to the number one offense in the Mid-American Conference.

Buffalo hasn’t defeated Toledo since 2007, and it looked like that streak would continue.

Junior quarterback Tyree Jackson looked off, the offensive line allowed more sacks than it had all season and the potent running attack was limited to 44 total yards in the first half.

But, the Bulls (7-1, 4-0 MAC) rallied to defeat the Toledo Rockets (3-4, 1-2) 31-17 after scoring 24 unanswered points. It was the best performance by the Bulls’ defense in a game this season. In the second half, the Bulls defense allowed just 65 total yards, forced two turnovers and did not give up a third down conversion. 

“There wasn’t any panic at half,” said head coach Lance Leipold. “I told them, ‘if you clean a few things up we’re close to where we want to be.’”

It’s a different year for the Bulls. They’re 7-1 for the first time since 1959 and the first time they have ever swept the MAC West. 

The game today wasn’t all cheers for Buffalo. Senior kicker Adam Mitcheson missed two kicks from 32 and 33-yards away that would have put the Bulls up an additional six points when the game was tied in the second half.

After Mitcheson missed his first kick of the game, Toledo completed an 80-yard touchdown on the very next play to go up 17-7 with 3:22 remaining in the second quarter.

Toledo’s defensive front seven played the best it had all season, pressuring Jackson more than any other team this year. They finished with 5 sacks and 9 solo tackles for a loss.

“As long as we win, I don’t care anything about statistics,” Jackson said. “It was a great team win. e=Everyone played well.”

Unfortunately, Toledo’s aggressiveness would get the best of it. Buffalo was gifted opportunities again and again. The Rockets defense finished with 12 penalties for 148 yards.

The Bulls stepped up without senior defensive end Chuck Harris. Leipold has preached the whole season that the Bulls need players to step up when others went down.

“They’re starting to play as a unit and understand what we’re trying to do,” Leipold said. “It’s a hell of a job because Chuck Harris isn’t there. Joey Banks isn’t there. We’re down and having guys step up. Right now this entire group is playing with a ton of confidence”

Sophomore defensive end Taylor Riggins made an immediate impact with a sack on Toledo’s first drive, but it was freshman linebacker James Patterson who had his best game. Patterson finished with nine tackles, one for a loss and a pass break up. 

The only player with more tackles was senior linebacker Khalil Hodge with 13.

“We’ve walked into a lot of sad locker rooms and a lot of down locker rooms,”  Leipold said. This group has kept working and it’s just great when you’re able to see some of those things and see them rewarded for that type of success.”

The defense as a whole allowed two first downs to Toledo the entire second half. It flipped the field and gave the Bulls’ offense multiple opportunities inside the 50 to drives.

Then Jackson and the running backs went to work. Jackson had 152 yards passing in the second half while the freshmen running back duo of Kevin Marks and Jaret Patterson did the bulk of their work in the fourth quarter.

Patterson finally found the edge in the fourth to seal the victory with a 25-yard touchdown.

Senior wide receiver Anthony Johnson is finally back to full health and scored twice on Saturday while junior tight end Tyler Mabry had a career-high 6 catches.

Saturday was a season-defining victory. Leipold discussed in past weeks how he wants to turn Buffalo into a Toledo-like program.

Buffalo has a chance to be the new champions of the MAC. The Bulls have won 10 of the past 11 games, currently boast the number one defense in the conference and have NFL-caliber talent at multiple positions.

Nathaniel Mendelson is the sports editor and can be reached at nathaniel.mendelson@ubspectrum.com and on Twitter @NateMendelson. 

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