Penn State football: Sean Clifford embraced first-half struggles vs. Buffalo

Penn State football’s win over Buffalo might’ve been big, but it wasn’t flawless.

Saturday night lights were in full effect at Beaver Stadium this past weekend as Penn State football took on the Buffalo Bulls for week two. After destroying their week one opponent by 72 points, the Nittany Lions knew they were in for a tougher battle for the second week.

Still, Penn State had the upper hand as they were expected to take care of Buffalo with ease. As the heavy favorites heading into the primetime matchup, everything was in the Lions favor. However, it seemed as though Penn State wasn’t ready for what was coming.

Buffalo might not be the most talented team to walk into Beaver Stadium this week, but they had a chip on their shoulders. With an excellent gameplan, the Bulls were running everything almost to perfection in the first half. Their offense dominated in time of possession and kept the Nittany Lions offense off the field.

And when Sean Clifford and company would return to try and pack on points, they came out rusty. Many blame the play calling for the offense’s struggles, which is warranted. But the lack of rhythm, which Penn State failed to establish early on, was really getting to them.

Going into the locker room at halftime, the Lions trailed, and everybody within Happy Valley had a bad taste in their mouth. Looking back at the final score of 45-13 now, the early struggles weren’t so bad. Sure, the execution for the first two quarters of play needs to be improved, but Penn State’s quarterback, Sean Clifford is using it as a learning experience.

Clifford embraces the struggle

“The main thing is, I think our guys did a great job of responding,” Clifford said after the game in regards to getting beat in the first half. “We came in at halftime, and it was the first adversity that we faced this season, and you know I’m really proud of [how] our leadership took over.”

Penn State didn’t flinch for a second against Buffalo. The moment that Penn State’s John Reid took an interception to the house, the Lions would never look back. Clifford used that turnover as energy to fuel himself and the offense as well. After that, they packed on multiple scores with some big plays that they couldn’t execute earlier in the night.

“Everybody responded really well, and that’s the name of the game. Things aren’t always going to go your way, and it’s how you respond to it.” For the fans, getting punched in the mouth in the first quarter is a devastating feeling.

And even when the game is over, it’s still talked about as it is somewhat of a major concern. For the players, though, it’s a sign of strength. It wasn’t ideal for Penn State to trail to Buffalo at the half, but it’s good they are getting the struggles out of their system now. It will help in the long run as they will need to be battle-tested for tougher matchups in the future.