Game 591: Penn State second half surge turns back Buffalo Bulls, 45-13
State College, PA – A tough Buffalo defensive effort and a ball-control, ground game earned the Bulls a 10-7 halftime lead over the Nittany Lions, but a 36-yard interception return by CB John Reid early in the third jump-started a Lion rally in the second half to come back for a 45-13 PSU victory. PSU QB Sean Clifford (16 for 22, 279 yards, four TDs) added three TD passes after that to add to his early scoring pass to WR Jahan Dotson (four catches, 109 yards, two TDs) midway through the first period. Throughout the first half, UB showed no signs of intimidation in front of 104,136 in attendance in Happy Valley. HC Lance Leipold has his team that plays in front of lesser crowds in their 30,000-seat stadium well prepared.
Bull rush
PSU scored a TD before they ever recorded a first down nine minutes into the game. In the end, the Bulls out-rushed the Lions, 184-78. Their time of possession overwhelmed PSU, 42:32 to 17:28. The home team overcame the visitors’ short yardage, ball-control running game with six quick touchdown-scoring drives consisting of five plays or less. After State led 7-0 at the end of one, PK Alex McNulty converted a 32-yard FG to put the Bulls on the board. With 14 seconds left in the second, QB Matt Myers tossed a six-yard scoring pass to TE Julien Bourassa to give the Bulls an unexpected lead at the half.
Fan Friendliness!
We noted a couple of positive changes for the fans after having attended over 90 games in the Happy Valley over these last 40 years (Penn State’s record with collegefootballfan.com in attendance is 84-25, both home and away). Parking spaces are no longer arranged to park front end to back end. Now, parking attendants guide every vehicle to park head to head giving everyone plenty of space to party from their tailgates or trunks. Secondly, we like the new game program policy. Fans can now buy a laminated tri-fold for only $2. It includes rosters, depth charts, stats, and game schedules of the Big Ten teams that particular week. Very easy to reference when watching a game. The traditional 100+ page programs are now sold as yearbooks. Buy one and you’re set with all the stories, team history, biographies, and features of that year’s team in one tidy, prefect-bound periodical. Perfect! Somebody’s been thinking about ways to make the game experience even more happy for the Blue and White faithful of the valley.
Needed spark
Things didn’t start well offensively for the Lions in Q3 as RB Ricky Slade fumbled to set UB up on their 33. Reid then stepped between a Myers pass and his intended receiver to race down the right sidelined unimpeded 36 yards for a TD to lead, 14-10. Buffalo punted after a three and out. A 22-yard return by KJ Hamler and a 15-yard personal foul put the Lions at the Bulls’ 23. The PSU O went right to work getting TE Pat Freiermuth (8 snags for 99 yards, two TDs) into the end zone on one play. The Bulls responded with McNulty’s FG from 25 to whittle the Lions lead, 28-13. The Lion O roared back once again. In three plays, Clifford raced 58 yards to the Bulls’ two where Frosh RB Noah Cain took it in for the score.
Tragic moment
Following another UB three and out, a horrific injury occurred on UB’s punt. The ball got tipped and misdirected, but the blocker fan into P Evan Finegan whose leg whiplashed through the air and came down on it at a bad angle. We heard that FOX Network decided correctly not to show the replay. Our sight was blocked by the emergency cart. All we could see was a medical technician quickly pumping air into what we figured was an air cast. The loaded Finegan gently on to the cart and whisked him out of the south end zone portal to an awaiting ambulance to take him to Geisinger Medical Center conveniently not far from our designated parking area. On Monday, reports indicated he was still there following surgery with a full leg cast on. Members of the PSU special teams and HC James Franklin went by to visit. We hope and pray for his full recovery to what surely is a very serious and unfortunate injury.
After the punt on the fifth play, Clifford connected again with Freiermuth for 28-yard score. With the Lions now leading, 35-13, heading into the final period, Jake Pinegar split the uprights from 32 yards out. The two teams exchanged puts before UB turned the ball back over on downs at the Lions 26. Franklin decided he needed to extend the score for rankings. On first and ten from the Nittany 44, Clifford led Dotson wit a deep pass for a56-yard score. With 3:03 remaining the game wound down with the blue-chip Lions overcoming a young but game Buffalo Bulls team.
Observations from us in the “peanut gallery”
Penn State has some kinks to work out after having seen them in early season action. This week Surprise Guest Game Analyst, “Steve from Hershey” sitting alongside, noted how until Clifford’s final TD pass, many of his passes fell short of his intended receivers (don’t tell me about that back- shoulder pass crap they talk about on TV). Receivers had to slow down their routes or come back on their patterns to make catches. He’s going to have to lead his receivers more often. The defense allowed 245 yards passing and Leipold’s offense did not show much of a threat with a long passing with their RS frosh signal-caller in Myers (16 of 31 averaging 7.9 yards, longest for 29 yards). Buffalo is young a well-coached team. They will do well in MAC competition this year.
We believe Leipold, six-time HC of D-3 national champ Wisconsin -Whitewater and proving his worth at UB with stellar improvements over five years, will be coaching at a Power Conference next year. Illinois? Rutgers? I might actually root for the latter if Leipold stepped into that fire pit.
Next!
No. 13 Penn State (2-0) hosts Pitt (1-1) for the 100th meeting, but probably the final game of this natural, intra-stare rivalry. This concludes a four-year deal with no future plans to continue in sight. It sounds like an effort should be made by both teams to enhance their non-conference schedules (Idaho? Yeah, we know why, James) and to get their blood boiling before diving into conference play. The Bulls (1-1) travel to Lynchburg, VA to play Liberty (0-2).
For Collegefootballfan.com, we hit a local D-3 contest Friday under the lights to see the Pioneers of William Paterson U. of the NJAC (0-1) visit the Red Devils of FDU-Florham (1-0) after a log awaited winning season at 6-4 a year ago. Last week, FDU defeated Kings Point, 56-48. What’s going on here? We really look forward to Saturday though. For the first time, we’ll see FCS No. 1 North Dakota State, FCS champs five of the last six years charge into Delaware to meet the No. 18 Fightin’ Blue Hens in their newly renovated stadium. We’re rooting for the upset. Should be fun and memorable, we hope!