DALLAS (FWAA) – Jaret Patterson ran for 409
yards and an NCAA-record-tying eight touchdowns to lead the
Buffalo Bulls in a 70-41 win against Kent State
to take control of the Mid-American Conference's East Division race.
For the record-setting day and winning the clash between previously-undefeated
teams, Buffalo earned the Reveal Suits National Team of
the Week honor for games of the weekend of Nov. 28, as
selected by the Football Writers Association of America.
This is the first time for Buffalo (4-0) to earn the Team of
the Week honor and it is the first MAC school to win it since Sept.
16, 2017, when NIU won at Nebraska. All Division I FBS and FCS schools
are eligible to be selected. This is the 19th season for the FWAA
to award a Team of the Week.
Patterson, a junior from Glendale, Md., consumed almost every
highlight from the game's first play when he bolted for 62 yards
and scored his first touchdown moments later. The eight rushing touchdowns
tied an NCAA record for a single game, and the 409 yards were a
MAC and school record and are just short of the all-time NCAA single-game
record by Oklahoma's Samaje Perine with 427 yards against Kansas in 2014. It
was just the fourth 400-yard rushing game in major college football
history and shattered the conference single-game record set by Central
Michigan's Robbie Mixon (377) in 2002.
The remarkable day comes one week after Patterson ran for 301
yards and four touchdowns at Bowling Green. Only 1998 Heisman Trophy
winner Ricky Williams of Texas has recorded back-to-back 300-yard
rushing games, but Patterson's 710 yards outpaces Williams' 668,
who ran for 318 vs. Rice and 350 vs. Iowa State that season. Through
four games, Patterson has now rushed for 920 yards and 16 touchdowns
and now leads the nation in rushing at 230.0 yards per game.
In just the four games, the 920 yards are the fourth-highest total
nationally.
Patterson scored on a 31-yard run on UB's second possession and
added a 42-yard TD scamper with 21 seconds left in the first quarter.
He added two more touchdowns in the second quarter and rushed for
267 yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone.
Buffalo led only 35-31 after Kent State scored on its first possession
of the second half, but Patterson's 58-yard touchdown run early
in the fourth quarter, his eighth scoring run, pushed the lead back
out while tying Illinois' Howard Griffith's for the NCAA single-game
rushing touchdown record set in 1990. For the day, Buffalo rushed
for a program-record 515 yards – fellow running back Kevin Marks
had 97 yards and two touchdowns – and the 10 total rushing touchdowns
were also a school record. The 70 points were the most scored by
a UB team in its FBS era (since 1999).
The Bulls play at Ohio at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday at CBS Sports
Network.
The other National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend
of Nov. 28 are:
• Michigan State (2-3): The Spartans beat
No. 8 Northwestern, 29-20, holding the Wildcats to 63 yards
rushing and forcing a season-high four turnovers to become only
the third team this season to beat two AP Top-15 teams (also
beat No. 13 Michigan), joining Alabama and Georgia. Quarterback
Rocky Lombardi was 11-of-27 passing for 167 yards and two touchdowns
and ran for a career-high 65 yards with five plays netting first
downs. It was MSU's first win over a top-10 team in the CFP
rankings since beating No. 7 Penn State in 2017.
• Oregon State (2-2): The Beavers scored
with 33 seconds left when reserve quarterback Chance Nolan scored
on a fourth-down run to beat rival and No. 9 Oregon, 41-38.
The win was OSU's first over a top-10 team and top-25 opponent
since 2014 and snapped a three-game losing streak in the series.
Jermar Jefferson ran for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns,
one of them an 82-yarder in the first quarter. Tristan Gebbia
threw for 263 yards.
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Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,300 men and women who cover college football.
The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key
executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas
that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team.
For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson
at tiger@fwaa.com.
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