UB Gets bounced by the Cats

The long, painful march towards yet another losing season rolled on through Athens this week. UB officially has it's '*' in the standings implying that this years edition is ineligible for a bowl game. It was not a surprising result but some aspects of the game were. The offense started to look somewhat functional and the defense was awful which is the opposite of what UB fans have had to deal with the whole season.

The one way in which this game followed the usual script was the awful start. Outscored 14-0 in the first quarter and 21-0 before the Bulls managed to score. Alex Zordich threw his first touchdown pass to cap a ten play 63 yard drive and came close to his second near the end of the Quarter but the pass was dropped in the end zone by Marcus Rivers.

Ohio marched right down the field on their first possession of the third quarter putting the game pretty much out of reach. Zordich would score using his feet and AJ would add a field goal.

17 points is nearly double to total points that Buffalo had scored coming into the game is nearly double what UB has managed over the past two games.

Grades:

Quarterback: B-

Zordich played way better than his numbers indicated:

Eight for 26 is awful but a lot of that is owned by poor pass protection and some serious stone hands by the receivers. One of the picks was at the end of the half when Zordich just heaved it towards the endzone.

Once again he most impressive running the ball, at one point carrying five or more Bobcat defenders. He was taken from over 100 down to 60 by a ton of lost yardage on sacks but thus far he still has about the best individual performance on the ground for UB this season.

The biggest thing was that he looked more comfortable in the pocket than he did against Miami.

Half Backs: C+

Still not where we need them to be if we want to win out but much, much closer. Nduka was solid early and having two backs average more than four and a half yards per carry is a pleasant change from what we have seen all season.

There is still no standout back for the Bulls and its pretty safe to say that there will not be one for the remainder of the season.

Receivers: F

Two dropped touchdown passes makes what would have been an average game terrible.

Offensive Line: C

Other than a few occasions Zordich had time to throw he just took too long to go through his reads (but what do you expect from a guy in his third start). The Line was also pretty solid for the running backs helping to create one of our best rushing games of the season.

Where they failed was in stupid penalties, too may drive killers.

Defensive Line: C

One sack and only two tackles for loss is way below par for these guys. What held up as a good defense through some pretty ugly beatings early this year is quickly starting to look, at best, average. Jackson had time and Harden had holes big enough to average seven yards per carry through.

This might be the most disappointing showing by the unit this season.

Linebackers: B-

They generated the only thing close to a consistent rush and Winters was absolutely everywhere. Mack was once again running up highlight plays left and right. Most impressively the unit did ok in a game when two key players were bounced with Injuries.

Defensive Backs: F

You let Boo Jackson catch a touchdown pass that alone gets you in the C- range throw in the numerous times that an Ohio wideout found himself wide open and it gets dropped to an F.

Special Teams: B+ <--- Scary right

great coverage decent returns and they made the FG's that a special teams unit should make.