UB football holds on for 41-30 win over Akron

The Bulls trailed by a touchdown in a 41-30 win Saturday at InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio, but quickly changed course by capitalizing on turnovers, starting with Marcus Fuqua’s interception, and then a pair of fumbles attempts by the Zips that set up UB’s first two touchdowns. UB’s second, third, fourth and fifth drives of the games resulted in turnovers, and the Bulls took advantage of three of them to collect 17 of their 24 first-half points. UB finished with three fumbles — including John Keough’s fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter that helped the Bulls preserve the win — an interception and three possessions on the Zips’ fourth-down stop.

UB’s pass defense looked porous to start, as 62 of Akron’s 71 yards on the opening drive came on the pass, including Ben Finley’s 29-yard touchdown pass after a scramble against Ahmarian Granger that gave the Zips an early 7-0 lead. Fuqua’s interception of Finley just over three minutes into the game became the beginning of the turning tide for UB’s pass defense, which threw off the Zips, who had 68 passing yards the remainder of the first half but finished with 378 passing yards. including 354 from Finley, who led a 23-point outburst by the Zips, cutting UB’s lead from 38-7 to 38-30 with less than five minutes left in the fourth.

UB finally beat the November goose egg after nearly four years, but it didn’t come without some struggle, as the Zips nearly wiped out UB’s 38-7 lead with a 23-point fourth quarter before Keough’s fumble recovery set the stage for Upton Bellenfant. field goal with under three minutes remaining, opening UB’s lead to 41-30. UB won its first November game since Nov. 28, 2020, a 70-41 loss to Kent State, punctuated by Jaret Patterson’s eight touchdowns and 409 rushing yards. There was no standout offensive showing, but quarterback CJ Ogbonna passed for 210 yards and running back Al Jay Henderson ran for 107 yards on 18 carries, his second 100-yard rushing game this season.