STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Rocco Becht threw for 212 yards with two touchdowns, Koby Howard scored twice and No. 14 Penn State cruised past Buffalo 55-13 on Saturday.
Becht secured his Bowl Subdivision-leading 29th win and the Nittany Lions (3-0) capped their nonconference schedule in relatively easy fashion against an outmatched Mid-American Conference opponent that was outgained 305-80 in the first half.
Despite the lopsided stats and score, Penn State coach Matt Campbell was hoping for a cleaner performance.
“Not where we need to be,” Campbell said. “But I think a team that has certainly grown in different entities each week and still a team that in my opinion's got so much ability and growth to go.”
The Nittany Lions’ miscues were minuscule.
Penn State’s defense forced three punts and a turnover in the first quarter while its offense scored on its first three drives to put the game out of reach before halftime.
Overall, D’Anton Lynn’s defense forced 10 punts and two turnovers and only allowed Buffalo’s Oliver Hautanen to kick a pair of field goals. The Bulls (1-2) crossed midfield just three times.
“Our standard is we’re going to run to the ball, we’re going to be physical,” Penn State linebacker Kooper Ebel said.
Howard, who was one of three Nittany Lions players to eclipse 100 all-purpose yards, ran for a 20-yard touchdown on a reverse and caught a 70-yard pass from Becht in the second quarter.
“It’s definitely awesome to have a guy like that out wide,” Becht said. “We have a lot of guys like that in the room, but Koby’s a little different. He’s able to go out there and make plays when they’re not probably supposed to be made, so I have all the trust in him.”
Ryan Barker opened the scoring for Penn State with a 48-yard field goal before James Peoples capped the team’s next drive with a 16-yard scamper around the right edge of Buffalo’s out-of-order defense to put Penn State up for good.
The Bulls helped the Nittany Lions pile on immediately, however.
Caleb Bacon’s edge pressure forced a Buffalo fumble after three Bulls players collided on a handoff try in their backfield. Ikenna Ezeogu recovered at the Buffalo 20 and Becht needed just four plays and a quick slant to Andrew Rappleyea to make it 17-0.
Hautanen kicked a 38-yard field goal to cut Penn State’s lead to 34-6 at halftime.
Peoples ran for another score in the third and Carson Hansen and Cam Wallace added rushing touchdowns late for Penn State.
James McNeil Jr. scored on a 1-yard rush for Buffalo with 5:01 left to play.
Special teams speed
Zay Robinson and Quinton Martin Jr. added 133 and 100 all-purpose yards, respectively.
Martin ripped off a 61-yard run while Robinson did most of his damage on punt return, where he’s been hard to tackle.
Through three games he has returned 13 punts for 172 yards. On Saturday he set up a pair of short fields for his offense, with both possessions ending in scores.
Out of action
Rappleyea, one of the Nittany Lions’ most versatile players, suffered what appeared to be a shoulder injury in the second quarter and did not return.
The 6-foot-4, 242-pounder hauled in a short pass over the middle and was crunched by a pair of Buffalo defenders. He jogged off the field favoring his right arm, was checked out on the sideline and taken to the locker room for further evaluation.
The Nittany Lions are deep at tight end with 6-foot-7 Benjamin Brahmer and 6-foot-6 Gabe Burkle featuring heavily in the offense but would miss Rappleyea’s blocking ability should he miss any time.
Penn State center Brock Riker also didn’t finish the game. Afterward, Campbell said both players were “dinged up” and that Rappleyea likely could’ve returned had the game been close.
The takeaway
Buffalo: The Bulls couldn’t get anything going. Quarterback Jason Wright completed just 10 of 25 passes for 60 yards. He was sacked once, hit five other times and hurried all afternoon. Buffalo fell to 1-14 against the Big Ten Conference and 2-19 against AP Top 25 teams.
Penn State: Save for the five first-half penalties, the Nittany Lions played another relatively clean nonconference game. Lynn’s defense has been smothering and the Becht-led offense has no shortage of talented playmakers that have all factored into the offense over the first three weeks.
Up next
Buffalo: Hosts Robert Morris on Saturday.
Penn State: Hosts Wisconsin on Saturday.
___
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here
Travis Johnson, The Associated Press
