Penn State football: Nittany Lions face early adversity in win over Buffalo
A slow start to the first half had the Penn State football program nearly stunned. Fortunately, their second-half effort made up for the early struggles versus Buffalo.
For the first time this season, the Penn State football program had the opportunity to turn on the lights at Beaver Stadium and play on prime time television.
The energy throughout Happy Valley made it hard to believe the Buffalo Bulls even had a chance — but to our surprise, they came to play… and came to play very well.
The Bulls’ gameplan was simple, but Penn State failed to find an answer throughout the first two quarters. As we expected the Lions’ defensive line to feast like they did last week, Buffalo did a solid job keeping the lanes open for their run game, and keeping their young quarterback protected.
On the other side of the ball, Penn State failed to impress. After putting up a 79-point performance just a week ago, nobody expected such a slow start for the Lions.
The play calling was suspect, and Penn State failed to make big plays outside of the early touchdown pass from Sean Clifford to Jahan Dotson.
Not to mention, their run game wasn’t nearly as effective in the first half this time around as well. And Penn State’s key running back, Ricky Slade was struggling to hold onto the ball. By the end of the first half, the Nittany Lions headed to their locker room trailing 10-7 as the crowd voiced their displeasure with roaring boos.
Catching fire in the second half
Were the Penn State fans booing the players or the coaches? Regardless of who the displeasure was with, the team knew they had to come out firing in the second half.
At first, it seemed like the offense was still stuck in a slump as Slade lost a fumble early on in the second half on the opening drive.
Fortunately, Penn State’s defense was ready to light a fire under their team. A pick-six by Nittany Lions’ cornerback John Reid had the crowd erupting, and Penn State wasn’t about to look back.
Another strong defensive stand led Buffalo to punt the ball away early, giving Penn State’s offense another opportunity to get hot.
At that point, Sean Clifford and company knew they had to make a statement. Therefore, the sophomore quarterback began heating up. Whether it was in the air or in the ground game, Clifford was able to make plays that he didn’t precisely make last week in his debut.
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Despite getting an early reality check from the Buffalo Bulls, Penn State eventually turned into the team they were expected to be. They came away with a 45-13 victory over the Bulls.
The slow start is undoubtedly something to be concerned about on both sides of the ball. As the Lions begin to wrap up their cakewalk matchups, they need to ensure they are ready to respond to adversity better early on as the schedule eventually gets a lot tougher.