 ORCHARD PARK, NY – Due to inclement weather, the University at Buffalo football team held its annual Blue-White scrimmage at the Buffalo Bills Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon, and the offense (White) scored a 49-34 win over the defense (Blue) in a modified scoring system.
Senior wide receiver Marcus Rivers was the star of the game, leading the White with nine receptions for 198 yards and three touchdowns, including long scores of 65 and 68 yards. UB’s two quarterbacks – junior Jerry Davis and sophomore Alex Zordich – combined to throw for 322 yards and three touchdowns in the contest, including four completions of more than 40 yards.
Davis was 9-for-16 for 153 yards and a pair of scores – 2 and 68 yards – to Rivers.
Zordich, meanwhile, completed 6-of-13 passes for 169 yards with a 65-yard touchdown to Rivers. The sophomore had a 40-yard toss to Ed Young and a 50-yard throw to classmate Alex Neutz as Zordich averaged over 28 yards per completion, but was intercepted twice. He also rushed for 26 yards on four carries.
Buffalo’s running game was led by Jeffvon Gill who had 35 yards on 10 carries and redshirt frosh James Potts, who had 27 yards on just five carries (5.4 per carry), while Branden Oliver added a three-yard touchdown run in the second half.
The White accumulated 16 total first downs in the game and also got on the board in a traditional way with a 30-yard field goal by senior Peter Fardon.
The Blue had plenty of highlights of their own, led by the play of seniors Josh Copeland and Richie Smith. Copeland and Smith each had six tackles in the game to pace the Blue, while the defense also recorded seven pass breakups, three sacks (Dalonte Wallace, Wyatt Cahill and Colby Way) and four other tackles for loss.
The Blue (defense) had a pair of interceptions. Linebacker Jaleel Verser returned his pick17 yards. Sophomore safety Okoye Houston came up with a beautiful diving interception near the sideline.
Leading returning tackler Khalil Mack was also active with a team-high four solo tackles, while Joe Petit added five tackles, as did linebacker Scott Pettigrew (with a pass breakup), returning from a season-ending knee injury last year. Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Kristjan Sokoli added a tackle for loss and a pass breakup.
"It was a great day," said head coach Jeff Quinn. "It was great because every single player got to see action in today's scrimmage. From the offensive side we had some very explosive plays. We had two interceptions, but we had no fumbles and we put a big emphasis on taking great care of the football, and we saw that today."
"Defensively, we were very opportunistic at times,” said Quinn. “We saw some great effort from them. We took Josh Copeland who played outside linebacker and moved him to safety and he was very productive today, so we were pleased with that."
The Bulls are now off until the first week of August when pre-season drills begin. Buffalo opens the season at Pittsburgh on Saturday, Sept. 3.
Courtesy of Buffalo Athletics
|
