Buffalo Football loses big in Ohio

Athens is a house of horrors for Buffalo football, only in 2008 when they won the conference was UB able to shake whatever curse is on that place.

Last night they were stung as badly as ever.

Ohio racked up 600 yards of defense and scored on their first seven possessions. Really this game was nowhere near as close as the score makes it look. If the Bobcats have wanted they easily could have racked up another 20 points.

Not only where the Bulls schematically out done by Ohio but the execution was also terrible. When the lucked into being in the right place at the right time the defense was not wrapping up on contact and A.J. Ouellette, Mike Irons, or Nathan Rourke would bounce right off of a defender and keep going.

On the other side of the Ball it was a replay of the Army game. After on good series UB was moving again until a stupid formation penalty seemed to break momentum and the unit never recovered.

The game plan seemed to be “just keep throwing it far and hope for the best”. Tyree Jackson missed multiple opportunities to hit a more open short receiver and would instead sail it long to a covered deep man.

The real back breaker seemed to come late in the first half. The Bulls were down 24-7 and Tyree broke free, ran half way down the field to the five, and coughed up the Ball.

Ohio took possession and the four and marched down the field for a touchdown.

Jackson ended up with one of his worst games as a Bull. He was 9/21 for 116 yards and threw two interceptions.

The hope here is that this is the Athens curse, though Ohio’s reliance on the speed option bears some resemblance to what Army did to Buffalo.

For Ohio the win means they are still alive in the East. Buffalo still controls their own fate but they now have to go on the road to Bowling Green and win or hope for a Ohio loss at Akron.

Elsewhere in the MAC Miami downed Northern Illinois so the RedHawks are also still aloive in the MAC East race.