Buffalo RB Bulls way to 8 touchdowns, 409 yards

BUFFALO — Jaret Patterson tied an FBS single-game record with eight rushing touchdowns and had the second-biggest rushing total with 409 yards to help Buffalo beat Kent State 70-41 on Saturday.

Patterson reached the TD mark set by Illinois running back Howard Griffith on Sept. 22, 1990, against Southern Illinois. Patterson came within 18 yards of Samaje Perine’s single-game rushing record of 427 yards for Oklahoma against Kansas on Nov. 22, 2014. Patterson carried it 36 times for an 11.8 yards-percarry average against the Golden Flashes.

Patterson is the first Division I player to rush for more than 300 yards in consecutive games since Texas star Ricky Williams did it in 1996. Patterson ran for four touchdowns and 301 yards — a school record until Saturday — in a 42-17 win last week against

Bowling Green.

Patterson scored on runs of 3, 31, 42, 49, 1, 7, 11 and 58 yards against Kent State.

“Congratulations, big fella. Incredible performance by you today. Welcome to the eight touchdown club,” Griffith said in a video posted on Twitter.

A 5-foot-9, 200-pound junior, Patterson set the previous MidAmerican Conference record of six rushing touchdowns in a win last year against Bowling Green.

Patterson set up Buffalo (4-0, 4-0) with a 62-yard run on his first carry of the game to the Kent State 3 and scored on the next play. The Bulls never trailed.

With a school-record 70 points, the Bulls are averaging 50.8 points a game. Twice they’ve scored 42 points, their lowest-scoring efforts this season.

Kent State (3-1, 3-1) was led by Dustin Crum with 343 yards passing and three scores.