Gridiron Report Card: The Spectrum grades the Bulls' 36-35 loss to Bowling Green

Quarterbacks: C-

The Good: Junior quarterback Joe Licata looked in total command of the offense in the first half, completing 10 of his 11 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown in unfavorable conditions.

The Bad: Licata’s lone incompletion in the first half was an interception when Buffalo had the ball on the Falcons’ 6-yard line. Licata was 6 of 13 passing for just 15 yards in the second half. Licata has yet to perform well in both halves of a game this season. On third down of the Bulls’ final drive of the game, Licata overthrew junior wide receiver Ron Willoughby when the receiver was open for a first down on the right sideline.

Running backs: A

The Good: Junior running back Anthone Taylor had his second consecutive game with more than 200 rushing yards. He is the first player in program history to do so. Taylor also had three rushing touchdowns for the second straight week and has nine scores in just six games – which is tied for the third most rushing touchdowns in the country. Taylor was the sole reason Buffalo moved the ball in the second half, as he ran for 125 of Buffalo’s 160 total yards of offense after halftime.

The Bad: Junior running back Devin Campbell ran for just 10 yards on six carries.

Wide receivers and tight ends: C+

The Good: Willoughby and Licata connected for a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Licata put the ball in the perfect spot over the top of Willoughby, and the receiver made a great catch and got his feet in bounds for the score. Sophomore tight end Mason Schreck and junior wide receiver Marcus McGill caught passes for more than 20 yards on consecutive plays in the second quarter that set up Taylor’s first rushing touchdown.

The Bad: A Buffalo player failed to record more than 72 receiving yards for the first time this season. Licata did not really give his receivers an opportunity to make plays in the second half, as he threw short completions that gained just 15 yards.

Offensive line: A-

The Good: The line led the way for Taylor to run for 219 yards. The unit often gave him holes that he was able to take advantage of and later cut up field for long runs.

The Bad: Licata was sacked only once, but he was under pressure from on some crucial plays, including on the Bulls’ failed fourth down conversion at the end of the game.

Run defense: C-

The Good: The run defense held Bowling Green to only 45 rushing yards in the first half.

The Bad: The Falcons only handed the ball off to their backs 10 times in the first half, but totaled 142 rushing yards in the second half. Bowling Green was effective using shovel passes with junior running back Travis Greene, and although these plays count toward pass yards, it’s up to the linebackers to contain these plays. The Falcons used a shovel pass to convert a third and 10 on their first drive of the game. They did the same thing with Greene two plays later and it went for 20 yards.

Pass defense: C+

The Good: The Bulls got their first interception of the season in the sixth game courtesy of sophomore cornerback Boise Ross – who was a wide receiver four weeks ago. The defense held the opposing quarterback to less than a 52 percent completion rate for the third straight game. The Bulls sacked sophomore quarterback James Knapke twice, including a strip-sack by sophomore defensive lineman Brandon Crawford. Buffalo held Bowling Green’s leading freshman receiver Roger Lewis to one catch for 13 yards – by far the worse game of his young career.

The Bad: While Buffalo devoted extra attention to Lewis, sophomore wide receiver Ronnie Morris caught nine passes for 178 yards a touchdown – 76 of those yards came on Bowling Green’s 40-second, 4-play, 80-yard game winning drive in the fourth quarter. Knapke averaged 19.5 yards a completion.

Special teams: D

The Good: Senior safety Adam Redden forced a fumble on Morris on a kickoff in the second quarter that the Bulls recovered. The Bulls converted all of their extra point attempts for the first time in three games.

The Bad: Senior kicker Patrick Clarke missed a 33-yard field goal wide right that would have given Buffalo an 8-point lead with three minutes remaining. Bowling Green scored the game-winning touchdown four plays later.

Coaching: D+

The Good: The Bulls executed a great game plan on their first drive of the game: Keep Bowling Green’s high scoring offense and Buffalo’s suspect defense off the field for as long as possible. Buffalo started the game with a 15-play touchdown drive that took up more than half the first quarter. Head coach Jeff Quinn elected to go for it on a fourth and goal from the 1-yard line on that drive. Licata converted for a touchdown on a QB sneak.

The Bad: After attempting to pass the ball while deep in their own territory against Army and Miami Ohio, Quinn elected to kneel down to end the first half with Buffalo on its own 44-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. The Bulls could have easily moved into field goal range and possibly went into halftime with a 31-20 lead.

Taylor was not on the field on Buffalo’s final drive. Campbell was instead and the Bulls were off the field in four plays. Quinn said Taylor wasn’t injured, but the team “felt there was some opportunities to get a matchup with [Campbell] … both competitors get involved in our game plan.”

But one competitor ran for 111 yards on his last 11 carries and could have still have been used to run the ball with on a drive that started with 2:11 remaining. Buffalo’s passing attack was awful in the second half and never adjusted – or if it did, made very poor adjustments.

email: sports@ubspectrum.com