DETROIT (AP) – Drew Plate threw three passes to touch the ground and ran for a score in the first half, and Paul State kept Buffalo star Jarrett Patterson under control with a 38-28 win over the 23-seeded Bulls on Friday midway. American Conference title game.
The Cardinals (6-1) won their first MAC Championship since 1996, a year before the title game began. They held Patterson at 47 yards in 18 loads after averaging over 200 games. Patterson left with an apparent right leg injury in the third quarter, but managed to return in the fourth quarter.
By then, Buffalo (5-1) was playing catch-up. The match turned around when Ball State scored three touchdown points in the 5:55 final of the first half to take a 35-21 lead.
The Bulls retreated 10 and the ball was in the red when Kevin Marx backed down and dropped a fourth pass down in the final quarter.
Buffalo, who has not played a game close to 19 points in this short season, has been trying to secure his first MAC title since 2008. That year, the Bulls were knocked out of the nationally ranked undefeated Ball State team for the championship. The Cardinals brought back the beautiful this time.
Patterson got into the game at 1025 yards in five matches, but was not very influential that night, and his team was down 38-21 when he left in the third game. Marx ran down 67 yards that quarter, bypassing Patterson’s applause on the sideline, but there was no more scoring after that.
Patterson only had one pregnancy after returning to the game.
Even with Patterson packing unexpectedly, Buffalo led 21-14 in the second quarter. Then the cardinals scored three consecutive falls.
Plett’s 9-yard pass tied to Justin Hall at 21. The Bulls then left Galen McGoy open at 3rd and 12th, and Plett found him in a 56-yard goal with 1:30 remaining.
Ball State is not implemented. Jimmy Dow struck the ball away from midfield back Kyle Vantres, and Christian Albright re-stumbled 34 yards for the touchdown within 48 seconds to play the half. It was the first sack Buffalo allowed all season, and it was expensive.
The start of the match seemed routine for Buffalo, who led 7-0 in 3 yards from Patterson just 3:01 in the first quarter. But Patterson did not have a load longer than 8 yards throughout the game. It averaged 8.3 per pregnancy during the first five games.
Pleat found Yo’Heinz Tyler to drop 10 yards to peg at 7. Vantrease then answered with a 24-yard scoring pass to Trevor Wilson.
Plett scored in a 1-yard back quarter-back offside in fourth place down, but Vantres connected with Wilson for a 57-yard pass that set up a 1-yard touchdown managed by Buffalo midfielder. At that point, the Vantrease was a 10 of 11 for 196 yards, but the Bulls didn’t do enough defense to build a comfortable advance.
Kirkwood Alum Antonio Phillips had a total of six interventions and interceptions at night.
Greg Palermo of FOX2 contributed information to this report.
