AMHERST, N.Y. – Buffalo forced four turnovers, including a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns, and blew out Ohio, 41-17, on Saturday at UB Stadium.

Ryan Williamson and Okezie Alozie both had touchdowns off interceptions in the first half, and another Alozie interception of Vick led to a field goal just before halftime as Buffalo built a 31-10 lead.

Ohio (5-3, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) seemed poised to put behind it a 49-14 blowout loss at home against Western Michigan a week before. After a 24-yard third-down pass from Vick to Robbie Walker, Daz’mond Patterson gave the Bobcats a 7-0 lead with a 6-yard touchdown run.

After the defense forced a quick Buffalo punt, Ohio had a chance to add to its lead, but instead, Vick’s first pass after the punt was tipped and intercepted by Williamson, who returned it 15 yards to knot the score at 7.

The Bobcats turned the ball over on downs on its next possession, with Vick throwing incomplete on a fourth-and-3 play from the Buffalo 40, and Jordan Johnson put the Bulls up 14-7 with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Ohio had a successful drive stall at the Buffalo 11-yard line and settled for a 24-yard Josiah Yazdani field goal, but at 14-10, that was as close as the Bobcats were the rest of the game. Joe Licata scored a 1-yard touchdown run, and after punts by both teams, Alozie had his first interception, returning it 22 yards to make it 28-10.

The Bobcats drove again, only to have Alozie get another interception that he returned 43 yards, helping set up an Adam Mitcheson 24-yard field goal as the first-half clock expired. He initially missed from 29 yards but got a second chance on a running into the kicker penalty against Ian Wells.

Mitcheson had a 31-yard attempt blocked by Wells in the third quarter, and momentum seemed to shift back to the Bobcats, who used completions of 19 yards to Sebastian Smith, 28 yards to Jordan Reid and 20 yards to Keith Heitzman to set up a 1-yard Maleek Irons touchdown run that made it a two-score game.

But the Bulls extended the lead with a Mitcheson 35-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, and Ohio had consecutive offensive drives stopped in Buffalo territory and a third one shy of midfield with less than three minutes left. Johnson broke free two plays later for a 39-yard touchdown run for the final margin.

"We’re floundering here a little bit,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “We’re not operating with precision on either side of the ball and that is a huge problem in terms of putting points on the board, outscoring people, keeping people from scoring. So it’s certainly something that we need get to fixed and straightened out. They’re down right now and obviously we have to fight our way back."

Backup quarterback Greg Windham also was intercepted in the closing minutes by Houston Glass.

Prior to the game, the Bobcats had thrived in forcing more turnovers (plus 9) than they committed.

Ohio wound up with more yards, 422-373, but its recent trend of being unable to run the ball continued. The Bobcats managed just 54 yards, averaging 1.6 yards per attempt.

Most of Ohio’s offense came through the air, with Vick completing 32-of-51 passes for 321 yards, but in addition to the interceptions, he was sacked four times. Another interception was negated by a pass interference penalty.

Smith had nine catches for 79 yards, Heitzman had six for 83 yards, and Brendan Cope finished with seven grabs for 52 yards.

Johnson had 28 carries for 149 yards, and Licata was 21-of-32 passing for 212 yards and was not sacked. Marcus McGill made eight catches for 81 yards.

Linebackers Blair Brown, Chad Moore and Jovon Johnson, all thought to be questionable for the game, had eight, six and four tackles, respectively. Only Quentin Poling missed with an injury from the position group. Running back A.J. Ouellette received some reps at linebacker and made two tackles.

Ohio plays at 8 pm. Nov. 4 at Bowling Green.