The Good, Bad and Ugly of Penn State's Week 3 Win Over Buffalo

The Nittany Lions made strides, and also frustrated their head coach, in the non-conference victory.

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Koby Howard (6) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter against the Buffalo Bulls at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

STATE COLLEGE | No. 14 Penn State took care of business to close its non-conference schedule. Facing an under-powered Buffalo squad, the Nittany Lions cruised to a 55-13 victory at Beaver Stadium on Saturday.

On one hand, Penn State provided answers to a key part of its offense during the win, and the first-team defense has still yet to allow a touchdown this season. On the other hand, there are still some fair criticisms though the score might suggest otherwise.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Nittany Lions’ Week 3 performance.

Good: Run game gets explosive

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Quinton Martin Jr. (25) turns the corner for a big gain against the Buffalo Bulls at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Heading into the game, Penn State was averaging 3.9 yards per rush this season. The Nittany Lions completely flipped that number against Buffalo, rushing for 304 yards while averaging 7.4 yards per attempt. 

They also generated explosive plays. Before Saturday, Penn State was the only Big Ten team without a run play of 20+ yards. The team generated three against Buffalo, two for touchdowns.

Notably, running back Quinton Martin Jr. led the team with 10 carries for 100 yards, including a 61-yard rush in the first quarter. In addition to Martin, running backs James Peoples, Carson Hansen and Cam Wallace each had rushes of at least 15 yards.

“They all had a couple great moments,” head coach Matt Campbell said. "It was great to see Quinton really had a great moment. I think if you ask Q, [he] would tell you [he had] maybe one of his best weeks of practice, and I think he took that into the ability to execute at a really high rate on the football field.”

Peoples powered the run game early with four carries for 35 yards and a touchdown on Penn State’s second drive of the game. Hansen found the end zone as well after going untouched on a 12-yard rush in the third quarter.

Good: Pass defense contains standout receiver 

Penn State Nittany Lions cornerback Audavion Collins (2) attempts to intercept the ball intended for Buffalo Bulls tight end Clint Walker (5) during the second quarter of the game at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Buffalo receiver Chance Morrow caught attention last weekend against FIU with 11 receptions for 173 yards and two touchdowns. But Penn State’s defense essentially shut down his impact. Morrow logged just two catches for 31 yards on seven targets. He had one reception until Buffalo’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive. 

Campbell said a “great” pass defense starts with having a “great” run defense, which he felt his team played Saturday. Buffalo converted just one of 15 third downs and faced an average distance of 6.4 yards.

“That's probably one of the strengths,” Campbell said. “I thought we were better today on first down and second down. I didn't think we were great last week against Temple, and I thought we made great improvement there and got ourselves into some great passing situations.”

Good: Koby Howard is WR1

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Koby Howard (6) scores a touchdown in the second quarter against the Buffalo Bulls at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Receiver Koby Howard continues to make game-changing plays consistently. He broke free on a post route in the second quarter, when quarterback Rocco Becht found him for a 70-yard touchdown.

“The linebacker kind of dropped, so I knew I had to go over him, and I knew Rocco was going to put it there, and that was a great touchdown,” Howard said. “It was a great connection with me and Rocco, seeing the same thing and being able to connect on it.”

Howard finished with three catches for 115 yards, making this his second time he has topped the century mark this season. He also had a 20-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Through three games, Howard leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally in average yards per catch (28.7). And he ranks seventh nationally in yards per game (114.7). Howard has been a reliable option to pick up chunk yardage at any time.

Bad: Early offensive drives stall

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Rocco Becht (3) throws a pass against the Buffalo Bulls at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Punt returner Zay Robinson set up Penn State’s offense in prime position to score on the team’s first possession. Robinson returned a punt 38 yards to Buffalo’s 37-yard line, but the Nittany Lions went three-and-out and settled for a field goal.

That was one example of the first-team offense’s four first-half drives that gained fewer than 20 yards. In the second quarter, Penn State started at its own 45-yard line and gained 15 yards on a roughing-the-passer penalty but couldn’t do much more after that and punted. 

It might be nitpicking because the offense scored seven touchdowns and 55 points, but the unit squandered some advantageous opportunities nonetheless. Big Ten play might not be as forgiving for letting those chances go to waste. 

Bad: Penn State's third-down offense

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell walks on the sideline during the first quarter against the Buffalo Bulls at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Part of the reason the first-team offense stalled was third down, where Penn State went 2-for-10. And one of those conversions wasn’t even made by the first team. The second one happened in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Connor Barry found tight end Bobby Mears for a 12-yard gain.

Penn State ranks 13th in the Big Ten in third-down conversions (42.1 percent), just ahead of Week 4 opponent Wisconsin. It’s concerning for Penn State’s Big Ten chances if its starting offense converts only one third down on seven attempts against Buffalo.

 The average third-down distance was 7.9 yards, and the one first-team conversion was Becht’s 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Andrew Rappleyea.

Ugly: Penn State's defensive penalties

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell looks at the scoreboard during the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bulls at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State’s defense kept Buffalo on the field longer than it should’ve. The Nittany Lions committed seven defensive penalties, giving the Bulls essentially 87 free yards. Buffalo threw for only 60 yards.

When Buffalo made its first field goal in the first quarter, Penn State had two penalties for 30 yards: Defensive tackle Siale Taupaki was called for illegal use of the hands, and Jahmir Joseph was called for pass interference. That accounted for 30 of the drive’s 53 yards.  

In the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions’ second-team defense stopped Buffalo on third-and-goal, but a facemask penalty by Ibn McDaniels gave the Bulls a first down. The Bulls scored a touchdown two plays later. On the ensuing kickoff, linebacker John Klosterman was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“The penalties are really disappointing,” Campbell said. “Those are things where it's a fundamental technique at the point of attack, and really all of those were. Other than one selfish penalty at the end of the football game, which can't happen.”

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