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It’s going to be another year without a bowl, but some positives are finally showing some light this week for Buffalo Bulls Football. The Bulls were routed yet again, this time by Ohio over a 34-10 margin. Despite the blowout loss, the Bulls saw a strong rush defense, a renaissance through their receiving corps, and an ability to get to the red zone. Unfortunately, this wasn’t good enough to get points.
The Good
UB’s receiving corps-
As mentioned above, UB finally figured something out in the air. Eight receivers brought in a catch with Mason Schreck becoming the first to reach 100 yards in a single game. Malcolm Robinson had a huge day pulling in four catches for 73 yards. Marcus McGill also got involved at a decent amount, bringing in 4 catches for 40 yards.
Rush defense-
For a team that has struggled greatly against the rush, the Bulls did a phenomenal job defending it this time around. Coming into this game, it was expected that Ohio was going to pound the rock time and time again. They tried but the Bulls’ defensive line came more prepared than usual and held the Bobcats to only 156 yards. Compared to the 300+ yards allowed of rushing in the past, this is a huge win.
The Bad
More yards than Ohio...but only 10 points-
Buffalo had 413 yards of total offense to Ohio’s 392. It’s crazy that UB had this much success but was still miles away from Ohio on the scoreboard. It’s a good sign to see that we had more yards because all that’s left is execution and putting together a full drive.
Stalling out before getting points-
This is an extension to the last point, but it seemed almost impossible for Buffalo to get points on the board despite having offensive production. In fact, the only touchdown on the day needed Mason Schreck to fight for his life. Add in the fact that the ball was turned over twice and that the OL gave up 5 sacks and you can’t expect the offense to get points in that situation.
The Ugly
An awful start-
To give up a touchdown pass on the opening play is rough. It wasn’t even close either, UB was burned, plain and simple.
Adam Mitcheson-
He was showing improvements midway through last season, but Adam Mitcheson has slowly degraded with each game. Mitcheson missed two reasonable field goals. Had he made them, it would’ve been 17-16 in the second quarter.