No. 14 Penn State football (3-0) stomped Buffalo (1-2) 55-13 on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium.

The Nittany Lions grabbed the Bulls by the horns right out of the gate, scoring 17 points in the first nine minutes of action. The blue and white defense allowed just four yards across Buffalo’s first four drives, letting Rocco Becht and the offense climb out to a 34-6 halftime lead, while giving younger players valuable in-game reps.

How It Happened

Cristiano Rosa booted the opening kick for Penn State, which Buffalo’s Phillip Folmar fair-caught, bringing the Bulls out to the 25-yard line. After stuffing two carries for a minimal gain, the Nittany Lions forced a three-and-out with a pass breakup from Tony Rojas.

Zay Robinson continued his flashy special teams contributions with a crowd-surging 38-yard punt return. Quarterback Rocco Becht found Gabe Burkle for a quick 4-yard completion, but Buffalo plugged the next two Penn State carries, forcing a 48-yard field goal attempt by Ryan Barker, who drilled it to give the blue and white an early 3-0 lead.

Penn State’s defense returned to the field to force another quick three-and-out, sporting a third-down blitz package that sent four defensive ends and a cornerback rushing toward Buffalo’s quarterback Jason Wright.

James Peoples checked in for his first carry of the game, gaining four yards. Becht then uncorked a deep ball to Chase Sowell, who drew a 15-yard pass interference penalty.

Another Peoples carry paired with a leaping grab by Koby Howard moved Penn State just outside the red zone. Peoples kept his engine hot, bouncing a run to the outside to beat the defense at the pylon for a 16-yard touchdown. Barker tapped in the extra-point attempt to extend the Nittany Lions lead to 10-0.

Penn State's Bull-fighting is off to a good start. pic.twitter.com/DnSHrpLelh

— Onward State (@OnwardState) September 19, 2026

Buffalo began its third drive of the day with a bootleg to the running back in the flat, but Zion Tracy came flying out of the secondary to knock the ball carrier on his rear. On the next play, Caleb Bacon crashed down on a read option and punched the ball out for Ike Ezeogu to recover it on Buffalo’s 20-yard line.

Becht found Howard, who beat his man for inside leverage on a slant for a 14-yard gain. Becht went back to Howard on the next play, but couldn’t connect, setting up a Carson Hansen carry for three yards. On 3rd-and-3, Rappleyea shook his man and found space in the end zone where Becht tossed him an easy touchdown. Penn State went up 17-0 after the Barker extra point.

We love that human too, Matt Campbell.
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— Onward State (@OnwardState) September 19, 2026

The pouncing Penn State defense forced another three-and-out, which featured three straight incompletions from Wright and his receivers.

A gorgeous anticipatory throw from Becht to Robinson to move the chains was wiped away by a holding penalty on Anthony Donkoh, pulling them back into a 3rd-and-19 situation. Rappleyea got loose to gain 13 yards, but he was tackled short, forcing a Nathan Tiyce punt that went just 32 yards.

The Bulls began to stampede after officials called an illegal contact penalty on Siale Taupaki and, two plays later, a pass interference penalty on Jahmir Joseph. Then, Wright found his No. 1 target, Chance Morrow, on a 16-yard in-breaking route to set up shop deep in the red zone. However, the Nittany Lions dug their paws in, holding the Bulls to just one yard on the next three plays to force a field goal attempt from the 11-yard line. Oliver Hautanen knocked it through the uprights to put Buffalo on the board.

Quinton Martin Jr. saw his first work on the ground since Week 1 against Marshall, and ran with it, literally. The redshirt sophomore broke off gains of seven and 61 yards to move Penn State to the Buffalo 7-yard line. However, the blue and white offense sputtered, sending Barker out to extend the lead to 20-3.

Yet another defensive drive came and went for Penn State in the form of a forced three-and-out, allowing Robinson to make his second splash return of the day, this time for 30 yards up to the Buffalo 47-yard line.

Hansen advanced Penn State 16 yards further with a stiff arm that bought him space on the outside, followed by a checkdown to Rappleyea for another eight. Then, offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser reached deep into his bag for a reverse motion play to Howard, who followed his blockers into the end zone for a 20-yard score. Barker nailed the extra point to make it 27-3 with 10:47 remaining in the first half.

The Bulls and Nittany Lions traded empty possessions. Buffalo went three-and-out after Yvan Kemajou pressured the quarterback, resulting in an errant throw that Audavion Collins dropped on third down. Still, Penn State got the ball back and immediately advanced 15 yards after a roughing-the-passer penalty was called on SaVeon Brown. The drive fizzled out, resulting in another Tiyce punt.

Just as the game finally slowed after Buffalo punted the ball back to the Nittany Lions for the fourth time in the quarter, Becht found Howard streaking over the middle for an electric 70-yard house call just before the two-minute warning.

Koby Howard making the Bulls see red pic.twitter.com/AB15L1UC7e

— Onward State (@OnwardState) September 19, 2026

On the final possession of the half, Buffalo drove down to the Penn State 39-yard line after Wright scrambled for 21 yards. Then, officials called pass interference on Tracy, moving the Bulls up another 15.

Wright found Dwayne Early Jr. for a 10-yard gain, but was called for intentional grounding on the next play, yanking the offense back 15 yards. With three seconds left, Hautanen booted a field goal through the uprights to make it 34-6 at the half.

Penn State got the ball to open the third quarter and immediately took a shot to Sowell, who went up and over his defender for a highlight-reel 35-yard grab. Brett Eskildsen, who hadn’t logged a catch yet, secured two in a row for 24 total yards, moving the blue and white into the red zone. Hansen punched in his first touchdown of the season on a 12-yard rush to put the Nittany Lions up 41-6.

You asked about Penn State's run game?
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— Onward State (@OnwardState) September 19, 2026

Penn State stayed on the prowl as safety Marcus Neal Jr. came crashing downhill to force a fumble and recover it.

After the turnover, backup quarterback Alex Manske entered the game to relieve Becht with 10:07 left in the third quarter. Peoples trotted his second rushing touchdown of the game from 11 yards out to add to the 48-6 beatdown.

Penn State’s backup offense drove all the way down to Buffalo’s 1-yard line, but got stuffed on 4th-and-goal for a turnover-on-downs. The Bulls charged for eight yards, but punted once again.

Cam Wallace entered the ring and sparked a 59-yard touchdown run, featuring a jaw-dropping cut toward the middle of the field to seal the score.

Clearly trying to drain the clock, Buffalo handed it off on 10 of its last 12 plays. Finally, James McNeil Jr. punched it in for the Bulls to make it 55-13 with 5:01 remaining.

Connor Barry checked in, handing it off to Amar’e Glover for a short gain as the game wound down.

Takeaways

• Coming into the game, Buffalo’s Chance Morrow generated buzz with his 218 total yards and five touchdowns in his first two games, but Penn State’s defensive backs didn’t blink at the threat. Morrow ended with just two catches for 31 yards on seven targets.
• The conversations surrounding the running back room proved true against Buffalo. Runners other than Hansen saw an increased workload, producing explosive plays the ground game had been lacking. James Peoples, Quinton Martin Jr., and Cam Wallace combined for 236 yards and three touchdowns on just 26 rushes. Hansen carried the ball just five times for 37 yards and a touchdown. The equalized carry distribution appeared to help the Nittany Lions this time around.
• Zay Robinson seems to be in a special teams flow state. The redshirt freshman had 126 yards on his nine returns.
• The Penn State defense gridlocked the Bulls offense on Saturday. They allowed just 173 total yards and surrendered just one third-down conversion on Buffalo’s 15 tries. Before the garbage-time score, none of their offensive possessions lasted more than two and a half minutes.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions kick off Big Ten play against Wisconsin at 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 26, at Beaver Stadium. Folks can tune in on Peacock.