The Buffalo football team traveled to Waco, Texas, this weekend in hopes of playing spoiler against 23rd-ranked Baylor.
It wasn’t happening.
The Bulls (0-2) were torched by a red-hot Baylor offense, which put up a school-record 781 yards in a 70-13 route on Saturday.
Bears (2-0) running back Lache Seastrunk broke another school record after compiling his sixth consecutive 100-yard rushing game. Seastrunk ran for 150 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns, all of which came in the first half of the game.
Quarterback Bryce Petty also had a big day for the Bears, going 13-for-16 for 338 yards and two touchdowns. Nine different Baylor players recorded at least one reception, led by Tevin Reese (130 receiving yards) and Antwan Goodley (124).
All 13 of Buffalo’s points came in the first quarter. However, it was outscored 42-0 the rest of the game.
The Bulls’ offense struggled all game as they ran for just 83 yards and went 6-for-19 on third down.
Buffalo will try to turn things around this season as they host Football Championship Subdivision opponent Stony Brook in its home opener on Saturday.
Eastern Michigan falls to PSU
Eastern Michigan fell 45-7 to national powerhouse Penn State this weekend despite getting off to a hot start.
Eastern Michigan (1-1, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) had momentum early against the Nittany Lions after taking a 7-0 lead towards the end of the first quarter. Eagles linebacker Hunter Matt forced an early Penn State fumble, creating a turnover on a designed blitz play, which he took 11 yards for a touchdown to put Eastern Michigan on the board.
From there it was all Nittany Lions.
In just his second career start, Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg calmly guided a potent offense. In front of 92,000 fans at Beaver Stadium, the young quarterback threw for 311 yards and a touchdown.
Although the Nittany Lions got off to a slow start, they finished with 574 yards of total offense, including 25 first downs.
The road doesn’t get much brighter for Eastern Michigan, as it travels to Rutgers next week in its final non-conference game of the season.
BGSU tops Kent State
Bowling Green beat fellow conference opponent Kent State 41-22 this weekend in the only game featuring two MAC teams.
Falcons (2-0, 1-0 MAC) quarterback Matt Johnson threw for a career-high 357 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive display of offense.
Despite having only a 24-22 lead at the half, Bowling Green outscored the Golden Flashes (1-1, 0-1 MAC) 17-0 in the second half. The game was in hand midway through the third quarter when Johnson hit Ryan Burbrink in stride for a 92-yard touchdown completion.
Kent State clearly missed star running back Dri Archer, who ran for 1,429 yards last year, who missed the game after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the week. The Golden Flashes were forced to find other answers on the ground as quarterback Colin Reardon lead the team with 12 carries despite scampering for only 58 yards.
Both teams face tough oppnents next week as Bowling Green faces Indiana on the road while Kent State travels to Baton Rouge to take on No. 8 Louisiana State.
Andrew Cyr can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.