Oliver carries Buffalo over Morgan State, 56-34
Travis "Juice" Davidson rushed for a career-high 136 yards and scored two TDs.

Oliver carries Buffalo over Morgan State, 56-34

Boxscore

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Branden Oliver is one Buffalo's top playmakers in addition to being one of the top running backs in the country. Tonight he put his talents on display for the Bulls' home-opener in front of a crowd of over 15,000 at UB Stadium.
 
Oliver ran for a career-high 238 yards and two touchdowns and the Bulls bounced back from a loss at Georgia to beat Morgan State 56-34 Saturday.
 
The Bears led early on when Earvin Gonzalez connected on a 35-yard field goal, but Oliver sparked Buffalo's offense on their ensuing possession.  He ripped off runs of 25 and 19 yards to help setup his 1-yard touchdown run. He finished the first quarter with 92 yards on 10 carries.
 
Oliver wasn't the only bright spot.
 
Alex Zordich completed 16-of-21 passes for a career-high 237 yards and four touchdowns. Alex Neutz had eight receptions for 154 yards and had a career-high four TDs.  The Bulls offense rolled for 571 yards, including 306 on the ground.
 
Despite the outcome, there were many bright moments for the Bears tonight.

Robert Council checked into the ballgame toward the end of the first quarter and provided a spark for the Bears. Council completed 12-of-16 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 23 yards.
 
MSU coach Donald Hill-Eley talked about his team's ability to move the ball and put point up points against the Bulls defense.

"It's not like we came in and they had a bad day," said Hill. "We showed that we have talent as well. They weren't just letting us run; they were dialing up blitzes and pinning their ears back. We just played good offensive ball today."

"There was good offense by both sides today. It's not like they had a bad day, we just had a pretty good scheme." 
 
The Bears kept it close throughout most of the first half.  A 3 yard run by Oliver helped push the Bulls lead to 21-6 with 6:30 left in the first half. The Bears responded by gashing Buffalo with the run, highlighted by a 38-yard TD dash by Travis Davidson to cut the lead to 21-13.
 
It was as close as the Bears would get for the remainder of the night. 
 
Zordich connected with Neutz for a pair of scores within a 2 minute stretch and entered halftime with a 35-13 lead.
 
Morgan State would like to have a few plays back when they were threatening in the red-zone and only came away with field goals.
 
The Bears finished with 366 yards and posted the most points ever against a BCS member school.
 
Davidson finished with a career-high 136 yards on 26 carries and accounted for two touchdowns. He had 108 yards at halftime.

Bear Bits
RB Brian Mann posted a career-high 74 yards on 17 carries and posted a 5 yard TD run in the 3rd quarter

LB Allen Stephens paced the Bears defense with 10 tackles and a tackle for loss

LB Elandon Roberts recorded his first career interception and added 7 tackles and a tackle for loss

WR Andrew King had 52 yards on two catches, including a 44-yard TD reception in the 3rd quarter

KR Chris Flowers recorded a 66-yard kickoff return 






 
Print Friendly Version