Jaret Patterson describes teammate Kevin Marks as a home-run hitter, a runner with a punch who finds a crease and kicks on the speed when he sees an opening on the field.
Marks, in turn, describes Patterson as an explosive, electric and shifty back who is tough to tackle, creates extra yardage and has a low center of gravity.
“He’ll make somebody miss and score touchdowns, like he did tonight,” Marks said of Patterson.
Together, they continue to assert themselves as one of college football’s unstoppable offensive tandems, and the University at Buffalo running backs continued their momentum on the ground in a 42-17 win against Bowling Green on Tuesday at Doyt Perry Stadium.
“We play to inspire our team, and that’s what we do,” Patterson said. “We really encourage that, and we want to keep them rolling.”
Patterson had another record-setting night, running for a single-game program record 301 yards and four touchdowns on 31 carries against the Falcons, while Marks ran for 90 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, including 85 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries in the first half.
Patterson is the first FBS back to run for 300 yards in a game this season, and he’s the 13th Mid-American Conference player to rush for at least 300 yards in a game.
“We can’t be stopped and we won’t be stopped,” Marks said. “I just tell him, 'Just run hard, run physical and chin the ball, and everything else is going to fall into place.' When we’ve got that mentality, you see what happens.”
While their differences – their stature and running style – are obvious, UB coach Lance Leipold sees what the two backs have in common, including their willingness to block for the other and their roles in pass protection, in addition to their rushing production.
“They have really embraced the role of being complete running backs,” Leipold said. “They are truly excited for each other's success. That’s great for our team, that’s great for one another, it shows their unselfishness. They showed it last year, and they really embraced it. They can be more successful individually when the other guy has success. It may wear down the defense. It’s the different running style, it’s different things. And we’re using them on the same set of plays 99 percent of the time.”
It played out on the field Tuesday in northeast Ohio. By halftime, Marks and Patterson had combined for 181 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries.
Patterson, now in his third season with the Bulls, has 3,323 career rushing yards.
By halftime, Patterson had passed Anthony Swan to move into third all-time in career rushing yards for the Bulls (3-0 Mid-American Conference); Swan had 3,103 rushing yards from 1994-97 at UB. Early in the third quarter, Patterson moved into second all-time, past James Starks, who ran for 3,140 yards from 2006 to 2008.
Branden Oliver holds the UB record for career rushing yards (4,049 from 2010-13).
“Sometimes, I really don’t have time to reflect, but it really is a blessing,” Patterson said of eclipsing two more records on Tuesday. “Where I came from, greyshirting (in 2017-18) to now, I just think of the journey and I just want to keep working hard and prepare for Kent State.”
Leipold said it wasn’t until Patterson and his teammates walked into the locker room that the Bulls learned Patterson set a single-game school record for yards in a game. Patterson’s performance even elicited praise from CBS Sports Network commentator Malik Zaire, a former quarterback at Notre Dame and Florida.
“We’re going to be seeing him on Sundays,” Zaire said during the broadcast.
Patterson has rushed for 687 yards and 12 touchdowns in three games in three seasons against Bowling Green. Last year, Patterson ran for 298 rushing yards on 26 carries against the Falcons (0-3), and set a Mid-American Conference single-game record by scoring six touchdowns in a game.
“I don’t really have a thing against Bowling Green,” Patterson said, laughing. “That’s what it looks like, but it really starts up front (with the offensive line).”
Patterson scored his first touchdown Tuesday on a 17-yard run, 3:24 into the game, and after Bowling Green kicker Nate Needham cut UB’s lead to 7-3 on a 40-yard field goal midway through the first quarter, Needham missed a 33-yard attempt five seconds into the second quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Marks completed a 13-play drive by carrying the ball 47 yards on the final five plays, including a 3-yard touchdown run to give the Bulls a 14-3 lead less than five minutes into the second quarter. Patterson’s second touchdown, a 4-yard run, gave the Bulls a 21-3 lead going into halftime, and he added touchdown runs of 15 yards and 57 yards in the second half.
Quarterback Kyle Vantrease (7 for 12 passing, 74 yards) also scored for the Bulls.
Bowling Green scored its only touchdowns in the fourth quarter on runs of 5 yards and 1 yard by Terion Stewart.
“As the game goes on, I feel like all the good running backs get stronger and get more rhythm,” Patterson said. “Kevin, he can get hot at the right time and he did last week, at the right time, and that’s how we just feed off each other."
