When a team fumbles twice in their own red-zone in the opening quarter, the odds are not so great that they'll be winning for any portion of the game, let alone for the entire game.
On Saturday at Ohio, the Bulls (0-4, 0-2 Mid-American Conference) fell behind early and never caught up with the Bobcats (2-2, 1-1 MAC), losing Saturday night's game by a score of 34-0.
"With the number of turnovers, and how ill-timed they were, we started bad and never really got better," said Bulls' head coach Jim Hofher.
The game didn't have many bright spots for either squad, with each team recording two turnovers in the first half. The Bulls recovered two fumbles, one by Ohio running back Kalvin McRae, and the other a fumbled snap by quarterback Ryan Hawk.
The Bulls, however, were unable to capitalize on either of the recovered fumbles, and proceeded to throw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Tyler Russ on UB quarterback Randall Secky's first pass of the game.
Following the picked-off pass, Secky didn't return to the field and was subsequently replaced by P.J. Piskorik for the remainder of the game.
"We were prepared for both Secky and Piskorik to play, and Piskorik hasn't gotten much playing-time this year," said coach Hofher.
The momentum shifted even further in favor of the Bobcats in the second quarter, with seven minutes left. After an interception, Ryan Hawk found Scott Mayle on the sideline for an 80-yard pass, giving the Bobcats a 13-0 lead after the missed extra point by Brooks Rossman.
With the exception of the blown coverage that resulted in the second Ohio touchdown, the Bulls' defense only allowed four completed passes for 58 yards in the first half. The Bulls, however, allowed the Bobcats to execute a sound running game, with McRae leading the charge, gaining 63 yards on just nine carries.
While Buffalo's passing offense didn't show up in the first half, two members of UB's running back committee were able to carry the offense up and down the field. Jared Patterson had 11 carries for 58 yards, and Chris McDuffie had five carries for 22 yards. Both of UB running backs went on to average over 4.4 yards per carry at the end of the first half.
In a quarter that can only be referred to as "the Matt Muncy quarter," the Bobcats pulled their lead to 19-0. Muncy led Ohio with 10 solo tackles, five assisted tackles, a fumble recovery for a first down, an interception and a sack for a loss of seven yards.
In one quarter (15 minutes of play), Muncy took any semblance of momentum out from under the feet of the anemic Bulls' offense, and ended the game for Buffalo in just fifteen short minutes.
UB's defense wasn't too shabby in the third quarter, either. The Bulls didn't give up a single first down to Ohio's offense for the entire period.
"We had some terrific goal-line stands and opportunities," said Hofher. "We need to be proud of that; we need to be able to use that somehow, some way."
But in the end, Ohio just proved to be too much for the Bulls.
"It was a very thorough performance by OU, I would say they dominated the ball game in just about everything," said Hofher.
The Bulls' offense was unable to muster any momentum, even after the defense got them the ball on big turnovers and goal-line stands. Patterson ended the game with 62 yards on the ground, Steven King was only able to add 31, and the Bulls were not even able to attempt a field goal over the course of the contest.
"We had a dismal offensive performance," said Hofher.
Buffalo will hope to get their offense back on track next week, as this was the second week this year that UB didn't have a 100-yard rusher.
Next week the Bulls will face off against Central Florida at UB Stadium. Kickoff is set for Sat., Oct. 2 at 6 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
