Miami (OH) · W 34-31
14 carries, 56 yards
The other 8 games average 106 yards. This one was 50 below.
Dashed line: 100 yards.
Burch against Buffalo’s best seasons, game by game
Backs who run like Burch, and how their seasons went
Burch against this year’s top backs, game by game
The road ahead: 901 yards, 100 a game, 3 regular-season games left.
Already their own best season; their previous best was 153, in 2024.
6 stories in the last 30 days, from 4 outlets.
No bar in a game where the team had under 100 rushing yards: a share of that little says nothing.
Share of the team's total this season.
Each line is one carry: taller means more yards, and a line pointing down lost yards. Black lines are touchdowns. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside each lane the carries are lined up shortest to longest, not placed. Of his carries with a spot in the play text: left 38, middle 82, right 35. His longest went for 87 yards.
Play style
Does a little of everything without one standout trait.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
The closer
46.9% of carries overall (164/350) → 46.7% of Q4-with-lead carries (21/45) — 100.0% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
7 of the team's 23 inside-the-5 carries (30.4%).
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
After W 34-31 at Miami (OH)
from 4 outlets
CBS SportsMessiah Burch's 87-yard TD seals Buffalo's 23-8 win over ToledoOct 10from 4 outlets
CBS SportsMessiah Burch's 87-yard TD seals Buffalo's 23-8 win over ToledoOct 10Each week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Nov 4.
BG Falcon MediaOct 24CBS SportsOct 24
Yahoo SportsOct 24Aura™ · Him Watch
Aura compares how much fans talk about this player with how well this player plays, each ranked among RBs.
−14aura tax
30th percentile our rushing-value metric (weighted expected points added) ranked among 104 RBs
— the play ranks higher than the talk.Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 10): 56 rushing yards.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 9 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 21-17vs UAlbany | 8 | 74 | 9.3 | 0 | 47 | |
| Wk 2 | L 20-33@ Florida International | 10 | 16 | 1.6 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 3 | L 13-55@ No. 14 Penn State | 6 | 10 | 1.7 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 4 | W 31-28vs Robert Morris | 26 | 146 | 5.6 | 0 | 43 | |
| Wk 5 | L 17-20vs Western Michigan | 23 | 106 | 4.6 | 1 | 16 | |
| Wk 6 | W 23-8@ Toledo | 17 | 137 | 8.1 | 1 | 87 | |
| Wk 7 | W 25-18vs Massachusetts | 28 | 172 | 6.1 | 0 | 46 | 172-yard day |
| Wk 8 | W 31-24vs Bowling Green | 33 | 184 | 5.6 | 3 | 73 | Season-high 184 yds |
| Wk 10 | W 34-31@ Miami (OH) | 14 | 56 | 4.0 | 0 | 27 | |
| Total | 165 | 901 | 5.5 | 5 | 87 |
Nov. 3 · W 34-31 at Miami (OH), play by play
14 carries for 56 yards, 4th-most in FBS that week.
No game thread archived for this game yet.
27-yard run. Second quarter, down 14-3.
33 carries for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns, 3rd-most in FBS that week. In the fourth quarter, with Buffalo ahead by one score, he carried 6 times for 85 yards.
1-yard run on 3rd and 2. First quarter, tied 0-0.
2-yard run on 3rd and 2. Second quarter, down 14-7. Converted.
4-yard run on 3rd and 3. Third quarter, tied 21-21. Converted.
73-yard touchdown run. Fourth quarter, made it 31-21.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
A big game: 28 carries for 172 yards, 6th-most in FBS that week.
The per-play feed is missing a 4-yard run in the third quarter (the play drew a penalty), which the play text shows; the chart draws the 27 carries it has.
46-yard run. Fourth quarter, tied 15-15.
2-yard run on 3rd and 10. Fourth quarter, down 18-15.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
17 carries for 137 yards and a touchdown.
6-yard run on 3rd and 6. First quarter, up 3-0. Converted.
Incomplete on 3rd and 10. First quarter, up 3-0. Broken up by Toledo’s I. Zay.
87-yard touchdown run. Fourth quarter, made it 23-8.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
23 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. He converted a 4th and 1 with the score tied 7-7.
16-yard run. First quarter, tied 7-7.
No gain on 3rd and 1. First quarter, tied 7-7.
1-yard touchdown run on 4th and 1. Second quarter, made it 14-7.
No gain on 3rd and 2. Fourth quarter, down 20-17.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
26 carries for 146 yards. In the fourth quarter, with Buffalo ahead by one score, he carried 8 times for 29 yards.
43-yard run. Third quarter, up 21-14.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
6 carries for 10 yards.
The per-play feed is missing a 4-yard run in the first quarter (the play drew a penalty), which the play text shows; the chart draws the 5 carries it has.
4-yard run. Second quarter, down 34-3.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
10 carries for 16 yards.
Not drawn: the play-by-play and the box score disagree.
Week 8 · 2026
W 31-24
The plays that mattered most
12th in rushing yards, among all 1,551 FBS players with a rushing row this season, any position
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -18 to +9 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
35%163 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds5.5 yds/carry on 165 carries · 10% explosive (10+ yds) · 35% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
3 seasons under Pete Lembo — 20-14 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 136 | 6.2 | 0.8 |
| Road4g | 54.8 | 3.9 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 94.4 | 5.3 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 120 | 4.8 | 1.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Pete Lembo
Pass share
44.4%
292 pass / 365 run
Plays / game
73.0
9 games
Team sack rate
6.0%
319 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
165 carries and 6 catches in 9 games, more touches a game than nearly every FBS running back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #42 at the position.
The No. 2,063 recruit in the country is carrying the ball in the Mid-American.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 28 games over three seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Maurice Linguist → Pete Lembo. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
