Patterson led a rushing attack that . . .
Patterson wasted little time beginning his assault on the record book. On the first play from scrimmage, he ripped off an 81-yard touchdown run to quickly give the Bulls a 7-0 lead. The sophomore running back scored on a 35-yard run on the Bulls' third possession and added a 30-yard touchdown run the following possession to give Buffalo a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Patterson registered a nine-yard and a one-yard TD run in the second quarter and by halftime, he had rushed for 272 yards and five touchdowns. The Bulls led the Falcons, 35-7, at the break.
Patterson, who scored his MAC-record sixth touchdown on a one-yard run early in the fourth quarter, finished the game with 298 yards on 26 carries to break the single-game school record of 282 yards previously held by Jordan Johnson.
Kevin Marks tallied UB's final rushing touchdown on a three-yard run midway through the fourth quarter. He broke off a 70-yard run a play earlier to set up the score. Marks finished with 107 yards in the game to go over 1,000 on the season, joining Patterson as the first duo in school history to each rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
"Getting those type of yards is awesome, but it's even more impressive to me when everyone knows that's what you're going to do," head coach Lance Leipold said. "We're not fooling anyone that we're running the football and that it's coming. For us to start off the game the way we did and to play at that level says a lot."
Quarterback Kyle Vantrease had a solid afternoon, finishing 10-of-14 for 131 yards in the game. Antonio Nunn had four catches for 67 yards and Daniel Lee and Zac Lefebvre each added two grabs.
The defense, led by Joey Banks' eight tackles, limited the Falcons to 187 yards of total offense. Matt Otwinowski added seven tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass breakup.