BUFFALO, New York — The Buffalo Bulls running back Jaret Patterson tied the FBS record for rushing touchdowns in a game, as his team raced away with a 70-41 victory over Kent State on Saturday afternoon.
Patterson, who was competitive inactive for a few months as Buffalo (4-0) didn’t opened its season in November of the COVID-19 pandemic, ran for eight touchdowns to tie the record and blasted for a stunning 409 yards, the second highest single-game rushing total.
The junior from Glendale, Maryland, equaled former Illinois star Howard Griffith’s FBS record of eight rushing touchdowns, set against Southern Illinois in 1990.
Patterson carried the ball 36 times for his 409 yards, which is the second most behind the record of Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine’s 427 rushing total against Kansas in 2014.
“When they took me out, they told me [about the records],” Patterson said. “My mindset was to run out the clock, so we could get in the locker room and celebrate this win. I wasn’t really thinking, ‘Hey, I need nine.'”
Buffalo coach Lance Leipold acknowledged that his star running is indeed has a special talent and is no doubt one of “the best in the country.”
After running for 301 yards in his previous game in a 42-17 victory at Bowling Green on Nov. 17 and adding today’s total to those numbers, Patterson now has a two-game rushing total of 710 yards.
This mark is now the most in FBS history, and the tally breaks Texas star Ricky Williams’ previous mark of 668 set at Texas in 1998.
“Obviously, he’s very special,” Leipold said. “Some of those big plays, it’s the patience. It’s the vision once he sees it. “Today, even more so, I think there were some broken tackles for either first downs or ones that ended up being huge gains or even touchdowns.
“Now you start adding his speed, quickness and balance, that’s what makes him one of the best in the country.”
With his four scores in the previous game against Bowling Green, Patterson also set an FBS record with 12 rushing touchdowns in two games.
He is now just 80 yards short of his third consecutive 1,000-yard season after setting a school record with 1,799 yards last season and became the first Buffalo Bulls freshman to tally more than 1,000 rushing yards when he finished with 1,013 yards in 2018.
Patterson has only played four games so far.
All eyes will again be on him when he travels to face Ohio next week.
