The Bulls escape the Rubber City after a furious comeback attempt by the Zips.
Down 31-7 to start the fourth quarter, the Akron Zips (2-7, 1-4 MAC) had quite the hole to dig themselves out of— a hole mostly of their own making after two fumbles, an interception and a turnover-on-downs in the first half alone and a second turnover-on-downs in the third quarter.
The home team would put the rubber to the road in the game’s last 15 minutes, however, posting 23 unanswered points before a special teams gaffe took the game out of their control in what would turn out to be a 41-30 victory for the Buffalo Bulls (5-4, 3-2 MAC) on Saturday afternoon.
Akron, to their credit, went out to a fast start, taking the game’s first possession 71 yards to paydirt in just five plays, as Ben Finley would find former Old Dominion receiver Ahmarion Granger for a 29-yard passing touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead.
The Akron defense forced a quick three-and-out to give the offense an opportunity to build on their lead, but that hope was lost right away, as the first play from scrimmage would be a Marcus Fuqua interception of a Ben Finley prayer from over 50 yards out.
The Zips defense once again stood on their head, forcing their second three-and-out of the day to cull the scoring chance— but the Zips offense coughed it up once again, as Buffalo linebacker Red Murdock stripped Akorn running back Charles Kellom of the football and Buffalo defensive tackle Daishon Folsom fell atop it.
Buffalo found paydirt two plays later on a highlight-reel one-handed toe-tapping catch by JJ Jenkins on a CJ Ogbonna pass from 18 yards out to tie the game at 7-7 with 7:45 to go in the first quarter. The score was set up by a 45-yard play-action pass from Ogbonna to Victor Snow.
Akron’s first play from offense in response would be the same as their last one, with Ben Finley being stripped of the ball by Marcus Fuqua on a scramble attempt and Buffalo recovering. Jacque Barksdale would score to double up UB’s lead to 14-7 with 4:35 remaining in the first quarter.
A turnover-on-downs by Akron inside their own 42-yard line would be cashed in at the start of the second quarter by Buffalo on the foot of Upton Bellenfant from 33 yards out, putting the score at 17-7.
The Bulls would simply dominate from that point onwards, posting 21 more unanswered points in the middle quarters on a two-yard pass from CJ Ogbonna to tight end Jake Orlando, a 45-yard touchdown rush by Al-Jay Henderson to open up the second half and an eight-yard rush by CJ Ogbonna to put the tally at 38-7.
Akron went into turbo mode, with Ben Finley and Adrian Norton connecting for two scoring plays from 28 and 25 yards out on their first two possessions of the quarter, taking up a combined 5:39 of game clock. Crucially, Tahj Bullock would find Norton for a two-point conversion on the first scoring play, allowing the Zips to make it a three-score game instead of a four-score game.
A third-consecutive three-and-out defensively gave Akron the ball once again, and once again, the Zips would score on a quick drive, as Kyan Mason would dive for a 28-yard touchdown on third down to pull Akron within 10 points.
Tahj Bullock would evade incoming pressure and walk into the endzone untouched to score two more points and put the gap at 38-30 with just under five minutes remaining.
Buffalo, now suddenly backed into a corner, would have CJ Ogbonna run on first down for a yard and Al-Jay Henderson collect an additional seven yards on second down to set up third-and-two from their own 33-yard line.
The Bulls opted to try and pass the ball after depending too much on the run in prior drives, hoping a conversion would allow them to run clock and burn Akron’s timeouts. Instead, the ball floated well past the intended target Victor Snow, forcing a punt from Ethan Duane.
Duane’s punt would sky forward for 41 yards, with Akron’s Jordan Castleberry set to return. Castleberry would wave for the fair catch, but the ball bounced out of his hands, creating a live ball situation. Castleberry’s attempt to re-possess in the air was for naught, and John Keough, a local product from nearby Walsh Jesuit HS, would recover to give Buffalo the ball at the Zips 22-yard line.
Upton Bellenfant would turn the muff into points, and Akron’s last-gasp effort would go kaput to allow UB to escape with the two-score win.
Akron QB Ben Finley was the player of intrigue in the game, finishing 22-of-41 for 354 yards and four touchdowns through the air— but was also directly responsible for two turnovers (interception, fumble.) Tahj Bullock was also key to the proceedings, finishing with 24 yards passing and four points scored on both a passing and rushing two-point conversion— while also drawing a pass interference penalty on a go route to the endzone which put Akron in position to score.
CJ Ogbonna, Finley’s counterpart, finished 17-of-29 for 210 yards, two touchdowns passing and an additional rushing score. Ogbonna also had 63 rushing yards on the day, good for second on the team.
Akron’s starting receivers Adrian Norton (six receptions, 98 yards, two touchdowns) and Ahmarian Granger (five receptions, 95 yards, one touchdown) led all passcatchers, JJ Jenkins (five catches, 59 yards, one touchdown) was the leading receiver for Buffalo, with Victor Snow (three catches, 54 yards) held largely in check outside of his 44-yard gain.
Buffalo’s running game was leaned upon to try and make the game unattainable, with three touchdowns on the ground, Al-Jay Henderson led the charge with 112 yards on 18 carries, scoring once. Jacquez Barksdale and CJ Ogbonna also found paydirt rushing, with a touchdown each. Akron was not as successful, with 74 net yards as a unit on 27 carries. Jordon Simmons led the way with 14 carries for 68 yards.
Linebacker Red Murdock eclipsed the 100-tackle mark for the season with 11 total stops and a forced fumble— his fourth of the 2024 campaign. Shaun Dolac led UB with 12 tackles and a pass break-up on the day. Marcus Fuqua hauled in the game’s lone interception and also had a forced fumble, while Jalen McNair and John Keough each had a fumble recovery. Kobe Stewart had 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks to lead the Bulls.
Bryan McCoy led Akron once again in total tackles (11), while defensive backs Darrian Lewis and Paul Lewis III each had eight tackles and a tackle-for-loss. Bennett Adler led the team with two tackles-for-loss, while New Hampshire transfer Nate Kapongo notched 1.5 TFLs. As a unit, the Zips got four QB hurries, but no sacks.
Both teams will rest this upcoming week as they transition into the weeknight schedule. Akron can only play for pride at this point, set to play Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 13, while Buffalo will take on Ball State on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Network and TV times are to be determined for both contests.