Penn State squandered two early trips inside the Temple 10-yard line and generally sleepwalked through a 27-9 win in Philadelphia last week. After that performance, the Nittany Lions needed to look dominant in Week 3 against Buffalo, their final non-conference matchup before Wisconsin comes to Beaver Stadium next Saturday.
Dominance is exactly what Matt Campbell got against the Buffalo Bulls, with his team rolling to a 55-13 win. The Nittany Lions entered as 40.5-point favorites and managed to cover that massive spread. It wasn’t always the cleanest, but the final tune-up has Penn State firing on all cylinders.
In a game with so many positive performances from Penn State, these 4 winners stood out, and even in the lopsided victory, a few losers emerged.
Winners
4. WR Koby Howard
At this point, it’s not a surprise that Koby Howard is dominating an opponent like Buffalo. Still, a second 100-yard game through the first three weeks is notable for a player in his second season who hardly cracked 100 total yards in Year 1. Howard is explosive, dynamic, and is clearly the No. 1 target in the Penn State passing game.
He’s also the player that offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser is drawing up deep shots and trick plays, such as his 20-yard touchdown run on a double reserve, for rather than Chase Sowell.
3. TE Finn Furmanek
Penn State has incredible depth at tight end, but it has been tested with Gabe Burkle not being available in Week 1 as he returned from an injury he suffered in 2025, and Andrew Rappleyea leaving in the first half on Saturday. Underratedly, redshirt junior Finn Furmanek has been a key part of that tight end rotation, though primarily as a blocker.
This week, however, Furmanek caught the first pass of his career for a 31-yard gain. If Rappleyea’s absence is extended, it appears Furmanek will be the clear TE3 behind Burkle and Benjamin Brahmer.
2. C Vaea Ikakoula
Starting center Brock Riker left the game in the first quarter. It was unclear whether his absence was due to injury or performance, though the latter would be surprising considering Campbell told reporters Riker was their highest-graded offensive player in Week 1. Regardless, Ikakoula took over at center, rather than Dom Rulli, who was the presumed backup center, and with Ikakoula, the rushing attack was at its most efficient and explosive.
It’s hard to take much from a matchup against Buffalo, but if nothing else, Ikakoula has established himself as Riker’s backup. He may also start pushing Riker for more snaps.
1. RB Quinton Martin Jr.
Martin’s 61-yard run on his second carry of the game was almost inarguably the most positive development of the game for Penn State. The Nittany Lions, which came in with 1 run of 15+ yards all season, had 5 such runs against Buffalo, the second of which came courtesy of Martin.
Martin didn’t play a single snap in Week 2 against Temple, which became a hot-button issue amongst the fanbase as RB1 Carson Hansen struggled. Hansen had a better day with 37 yards and his first touchdown on five carries, but Martin led the way with 100 yards on his 10 carries, including the 61-yard scamper with multiple broken tackles.
It’s not as though he entirely separated himself from the rest of the backfield; James Peoples also had a great game, and Cam Wallace broke off a 59-yard touchdown run in the second half. This performance, however, will make it impossible to keep him off the field when Big Ten play arrives next week.
Losers
2. Discipline
No, this isn’t one specific player or coach but rather the entire team, which committed eight penalties for 96 yards. That’s not a terrible amount, but it’s far too many for what is ostensibly a preseason game against Buffalo, and might be too many to overcome against a team like Wisconsin next week.
Campbell mentioned the lack of discipline in his on-field postgame interview with Carolina Hendershot, and he clearly wasn’t happy with that aspect of his team’s dominant win.
1. The pass rush
With backup quarterback Jason Wright making his first career start, Buffalo leaned on its run game and the quick-passing attack, even when it was trailing big in the second half. However, Buffalo faced plenty of third-and-longs and passed 75% of the time on late downs. Yet, Penn State had just one sack, which came courtesy of MIKE linebacker Kooper Ebel.
With Max Granville out for the season, Penn State needs to find an answer off the edge, or else opposing QBs in Big Ten play will be far too comfortable.
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