Criss passes for TD, runs for 2 more, Louisiana-Lafayette defeats Buffalo

LAFAYETTE, La. -- — Zeon Chriss passed for 249 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more TDs, Patrick Mensah returned an interception for a score, and Louisiana held off Buffalo for a 45-38 win Saturday night.

Buffalo, which lost its first three games of last season, is 0-4 for the first time since the 2005 team lost its first nine games.

Chriss threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Neal Johnson late in the first quarter and Kenneth Almendares kicked a 22-yard field goal in the second before Chriss ripped off a 54-yard TD run to make it 17-0 about 3 minutes into the second half.

Buffalo responded with a six-play, 70-yard drive that culminated when CJ Ogbonna scored on a 4-yard run with 9:25 left in the third but Jacob Kibodi added a 69-yard touchdown run for Louisiana (3-1) before Mensah's pick-6 made it 31-7 less than 3 minutes later.

Cole Snyder threw a 12-yard touchdown pass Marlyn Johnson and the Bulls recovered their own onside kick to set up a short TD run by Jacqez Barksdale that trimmed Buffalo's deficit to 45-38 with 2 minutes remaining. The Ragin' Cajuns went three-and-out before Tyree Skipper intercepted a pass by Snyder with 17 seconds left to seal it.

Chriss ran for a 1-yard TD and Kibodi added a 20-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter for Louisiana.