Oct. 29, 2005
Final Stats
BUFFALO, N.Y. - For the second straight game, Ohio sophomore tailback Kalvin McRae (Decatur, Ga.) surpassed the 200-yard plateau as the Bobcats earned their first road win of the season, 34-20, at Buffalo on Saturday.
With 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns on a career-high 31 carries, McRae became the first Ohio back to record consecutive 200-yard games since Steve Hoofkin in 1998 and the first Bobcat since Arnold Welcher in 1975 to have three 200-yard games in a season.
"He seems to be a guy who, as the game goes on, continues to be productive for you," said Ohio head coach Frank Solich about McRae, who rushed for 264 yards last Saturday against Ball State and for 200 yards against Kent State on Sept. 24. "We'll continue to use him and try to keep the ground game as a strong unit for us. Hopefully, Kalvin will hold up because he's getting an awful lot of snaps and he's wearing down a little bit."
The Bobcats (4-4, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard Saturday as they took the opening drive 71 yards on six plays, capped by a 39-yard toss from junior quarterback Austen Everson (Brentwood, Tenn.) to junior receiver Scott Mayle (Philippi, W.Va.) just 3:16 into the game. A swirling wind pushed Matt Miller's (Westerville, Ohio) point-after attempt wide right, however, and the Ohio lead stood at 6-0.
On their next possession, the Bobcats went 61 yards in just three plays for a three-yard touchdown run by McRae. The highlight of the drive was an end-around by Mayle that went for 50 yards and set up McRae's first touchdown on the day. This time, Miller converted the PAT and Ohio led 13-0 with 7:59 left in the first quarter.
With true freshman Brandon Jones (Marietta, Ga.) under center in the second quarter, the Bobcats marched 54 yards in eight plays for their third touchdown of the afternoon. Jones hit sophomore wideout Justin Fitzgerald (Richmond, Va.) on a 19-yard touchdown strike for his first career touchdown pass. It also marked Fitzgerald's first career receiving touchdown and his second score in as many weeks following an 80-yard end-around in the previous contest.
After Buffalo's Gerr McGroarty missed a 34-yard field goal attempt wide right, Ohio took a 20-0 advantage into halftime. It was the first time since facing Buffalo last season that the Bobcats posted a first-half shutout and the first such feat on the road since a 50-0 victory at Kent State in 2002.
The shutout ended with the first possession of the second half when the Bulls (0-8, 0-5 MAC) drove 80 yards in eight plays. Steven King finished the drive with a nine-yard rushing touchdown just 3:15 into the third quarter.
Ohio answered right back, though, with a five-play, 58-yard drive to make it 27-7. McRae had a 26-yard gain during the drive and capped it with a 34-yard score with 10:52 remaining in the third quarter.
Later in the period, Buffalo again pulled to within two touchdowns with a 36-yard scoring strike from Drew Willy to Evan Wallace. Then, with 12:01 left in the fourth quarter, a four-yard scoring run by King pulled the Bulls within seven at 27-20.
The Bobcats secured the victory - their first at Buffalo since a 41-6 win in 1962 - after a King fumble was recovered by junior linebacker Michael Graham (Cincinnati, Ohio) at the UB 24-yard line. Ohio took just four plays to capitalize, this time a 14-yard pump-and-go toss from Everson to senior cornerback/receiver Dion Byrum (Matthews, N.C.) with 9:12 to play.
The Bobcats' fifth touchdown of the game was Byrum's first career receiving score and his fourth touchdown overall this year. The defensive standout also scored on a fumble recovery in the season-opener at Northwestern and on a pair of interceptions in the home-opening win against Pittsburgh.
"We got out to a fast start and it looked like we had some things going offensively," said Solich, "but then all of a sudden we started leaving them off the hook. It ended up being a very different football game but I am proud of our team for battling back after letting Buffalo get back into this ballgame. We took it over and won it down the stretch."
For the game, Ohio held a 474-432 edge in total yards, including a 307-139 advantage on the ground. Everson completed eight of 14 passing attempts for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns, leaving him just 17 yards shy of reaching 2,000 career passing yards. Jones, meanwhile, went 4-for-5 for 62 yards and a score.
"He's gaining confidence with each game," Solich said about his freshman signal-caller. "I think his ability is starting to show now so we expect that he'll just continue to improve and have a great career as a player here.
"I think Austen threw the ball very well in this game also so we're hoping that we can be a better passing team down the stretch than what we were earlier in the year. We do have the ability to make some plays in the passing game and we need to do that with some consistency to help us in having a balanced offense."
In addition to McRae's 224 yards on the ground, which ranks as the seventh-best single-game performance in Bobcat history, Mayle gained 56 yards on two carries. With a team-high 66 yards on three receptions, he moved into fourth place on the Ohio career receiving yardage list with 1,403 yards and his touchdown catch tied him for third place on the career list with Lou Sawchick (1951-53) at 11.
The Bulls were led by Willy's 24-of-36 performance for 293 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Chad Upshaw was his main target, grabbing eight receptions for 116 yards. On the ground, King rushed for 70 yards and a pair of scores on 18 carries.
Defensively, junior linebacker Tyler Russ (Stetsonville, Wisc.) led the Bobcats with a career-high 11 tackles. He had one of the Bobcats' season-best five sacks in the game. Shane Yates (Martinez, Ga.), Landon Cohen (Spartanburg, S.C.), Mark Parson (Richmond, Va.) and Jameson Hartke (Centerville, Ohio) each recorded a sack. Byrum picked up his fifth interception of the season, moving him into a tie for eighth on Ohio's single-season list.
The Bobcats will now begin preparations for Friday night's showdown against Toledo at Peden Stadium. The 8 p.m. contest will be televised live on ESPN2, marking the second nationally televised home game for Ohio this season. The Bobcats are undefeated at home under Solich.
"It's going to be a great challenge for us because Toledo is an exceptional football team," said Solich. "If you look at what Toledo has accomplished with their program and you just look at the fact that they're leading the conference in almost every category, it speaks highly of what they're all about. It'll be a great undertaking for us but we're anxious to get practicing and move on to the next one and see what happens."
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