Penn State Takes Step In Right Direction, Tops Buffalo 27-14

Story posted September 13, 2015 in CommRadio, Sports by Mike D'Avella

UNIVERSITY PARK- Penn State fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief after the Nittany Lions defeated the Buffalo Bulls 27-14 on Saturday afternoon in their home opener for their first win of the season.

Despite a rainy afternoon, 93,065 fans packed Beaver Stadium in the hopes of changing the dynamic of the season after an ugly loss at Temple last week.

“Very, very appreciative of our fans for supporting us in those types of conditions,” Penn State Head Coach James Franklin said.

Penn State won the coin toss and chose to receive right off the bat in an attempt to get the ball in their hands before the rain became an issue.

Nick Scott got the ball rolling with a 58-yard kickoff return to give the Lions prime field position.

Penn State was unable to come away with points and traded several three-and-outs with Buffalo to start off the first quarter.

Buffalo’s second drive was promising as wide receivers Colin Lisa and Ron Willoughby sparked the drive with big catches but the drive proved unsuccessful as kicker Adam Mitcheson missed a 47-yard field goal attempt.

Penn State responded with a missed field goal of its own as Joey Julius missed a 49-yard attempt after a 48-yard drive.

The Nittany Lions finally cracked open the scoring with a touchdown run by true freshman wide receiver Brandon Polk off of a jet sweep to the left side that went for 22 yards.

Penn State’s defense continued the momentum with an interception by defensive end Carl Nassib that pinned the Lions offense at the Buffalo 12 yard line. Failure to find the end zone resulted in a 22-yard Joey Julius field goal to put the Lions up 10-0.

The Lions were threatening in the red zone in the final seconds of the first half but a crucial injury to left tackle Andrew Nelson and a lack of time outs resulted in a 10-second runoff, ending the half without any additional points for Penn State.

Less than five minutes into the second half, Buffalo finally figured out the Penn State defense when quarterback Joe Licata found Willoughby in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown to cut the Penn State lead to three.

Penn State put together an impressive drive but several key drops from tight end Mike Gesicki resulted in a 21-yard Joey Julius field goal to give PSU the 13-7 edge.

The fourth quarter was the difference maker for Penn State. The offense finally emerged as true freshman running back Saquon Barkley showed off his talent. Barkley had two impressive runs to put the Lions in the red zone after a crazy hurdle over a Buffalo linebacker. Penn State scored on the following set of downs on a wide receiver screen to receiver DaeSean Hamilton.

“Saquon Barkley being able to make people miss, being able to break tackles is important for us,” Franklin said.

The Nittany Lions quickly followed up with a 38-yard bomb from Hackenberg to wide receiver Chris Godwin setting up a 9-yard run up the middle for a touchdown for Barkley.

The Bulls last minute efforts were not enough. They were able to score a late touchdown at the hands of wide receiver Marcus McGill but the Penn State defense held strong at the end of the game.

Chris Godwin recovered the lone onside kick in the final minutes to secure the Penn State victory.

Defensive tackle Austin Johnson had a career-high of nine tackles in addition to 1.5 sacks for Penn State

Buffalo’s offense had trouble with penalties all game and constantly chop blocked the Nittany Lion D-line.

“It definitely sucks getting chop blocked, but at the end of the day, you need to keep your composure and its negative yards for them,” Johnson said.

Nassib had plenty of key tackles of his own including five total with three sacks and the interception. He credits his teammates and interception for the intensity he brought to the field in the season opener.

“I was really hype, it was my first interception ever so it was pretty cool,” Nassib said.

Linebacker Troy Reeder played extremely well recording seven tackles of his own.

“There are still a lot of things we gotta get cleaned up, but we looked balanced today. We didn’t give up any turnovers in the pretty significant weather conditions,” coach Franklin said in an evaluation of the game.

Penn State will now need to begin preparing for its first B1G matchup of the season this coming weekend against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday night at 8 p.m. for its inaugural stripe out.

Be sure to tune into ComRadio’s coverage for the game.

Mike D’Avella is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email mfd156@psu.edu.