UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University competed in its final non-conference game on Saturday against Buffalo. The Nittany Lions improved to 3-0 after a 55-13 victory.
Prior to the game, the 1986 National Championship team was honored. It was also the team’s THON Game at Beaver Stadium. THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world and has raised in excess of $273 million in its history to benefit Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Children’ Hospital in the fight against childhood cancer.
THE GAME: Unliked last week’s game at Temple, in which Penn State missed two chances to score from the red zone early in the game, the Nittany Lions scored early and often. They led 17-3 after the first quarter and took a 34-6 lead into the locker room at halftime. Penn State scored 14 points in the third quarter and led 55-6 before the Bulls scored with 7:30 remaining in the game.
Ryan Barker kicked field goals of 47 and 25 yards and added six extra points to contribute 12 points in the win.
Following a Buffalo punt, Penn State went to work behind quarterback Rocco Becht, who surpassed 10,000 passing yards in his career. He currently has 10,025. James Peoples capped a five-play, 81-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown run highlighted by a key downfield block by wide receiver Chase Sowell.
The Nittany Lions’ defense forced a fumble that was recovered by Ikenna Ezeogu at the Buffalo 20-yard line. Becht completed a 14-yard pass to wide receiver Koby Howard, and, two plays later, Becht tossed a three-yard TD pass to tight end Andrew Rappleyea.
Buffalo got on the board with a field goal with 2:18 left in the first period, and Penn State responded with a 25-yard field goal by Barker to make it 20-3.
Howard scored on a 20-yard run on a reverse play and caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Becht to give the Nittany Lions an overwhelming 34-6 lead at the intermission.
Penn State crashed the end zone twicein the third quarter. Running back Carson Hanson scored on a 12-yard run and Peoples took it to the house with an 11-yard run.
Running back Cam Wallace closed the scoring when he dashed 59 yards around left end for the touchdown to make it 55-6.
THE NUMBERS: Becht, who was replaced in the third quarter by Alex Manske, completed 10 of 19 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked just once.
Running back Quinton Martin didn’t score, but he led the Nittany Lions with 100 yards on 10 carriers, including a long gain of 61 yards. Wallace rushed for 79 yards on eight carriers, and Peoples had 59 yards on eight rushes. Penn State accumulated 304 net yards on the ground on 41 carries.
Howard was tops in the receiving category with three receptions for 115 yards. The Nittany Lions added 269 yards receiving to their total, giving them 573 total yards. The offense averaged 8.6 yards per play.
Nathan Tiyce punted four times for an average of 45 yards.
Penn State finished the game with 25 first downs.
Linebacker Kooper Ebel had a team-high five tackles, all solo and included a sack for 10 yards. Defensive end Caleb Bacon had four tackles, including a tackle for a six-yard loss. He also forced a fumble. Linebacker Alex Tatsch also had four tackles and a forced fumble.
Penn State’s defense limited Buffalo (1-2) to 173 total yards.
THE NEXT GAME: Penn State will host Wisconsin next Saturday for its 106th homecoming game. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. The game will be telecast live on Peacock.
