Penn State Erases Halftime Deficit to Defeat Buffalo

Saturday, September 7

University Park, PA

7:30 pm

1-1

Penn State

2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Buffalo

Penn State

Penn State Erases Halftime Deficit to Defeat Buffalo

9/8/2019 1:28:00 AM | Football

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – The University at Buffalo football team led 15^th-ranked Penn State at the half, but couldn't hold on as the Nittany Lions rallied for a 45-13 win at Beaver Stadium on Saturday night.

Matt Myers connected with Julien Bourassa on a six-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter to give the Bulls a 10-7 lead at halftime, silencing the 104,136 in attendance. The touchdown capped a dominant first-half performance by the Bulls. UB outgained the Nittany Lions, 270-82 in total offense in the first half.

A week after only attempting 10 passes in the opener against Robert Morris, the coaching staff took the training wheels off the Bulls' redshirt-freshman quarterback, letting him throw the ball. Myers responded by completing 11-of-17 passes for 184 yards and a score in the first half, looking poised beyond his years.

Penn State came out of the locker room in the second half with a sense of urgency. However, on its opening drive, a big hit by Joey Banks forced a fumble that was recovered by Aapri Washington and the Bulls were back in business. But on the ensuing possession, Penn State's defense came up with a play that turned the tide and the momentum of the entire game. John Reid stepped in front of a Myers' pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to give the Nittany Lions a 14-10 lead.

After a three-and-out for the Bulls, Penn State's first play from scrimmage was a 23-yard touchdown pass to extend its lead to 21-10.

Alex McNulty connected on a 25-yard field goal, midway through the third quarter, to cut the Penn State lead to 21-13. It was McNulty's second field goal of the night. The redshirt-freshman also made good on a 32-yard attempt earlier in the game.

Penn State was able to capitalize on big plays down the stretch to pull away late.

"I'm really proud of our football team," head coach Lance Leipold said. "They competed really hard and played extremely well for 30 minutes. We came out in the second half and obviously a big switch in momentum, but give credit to Coach Franklin and his staff for their adjustments at halftime and you can see why they are a Top 25 team. They are explosive, but at the same time this group of young men battled and we took a huge step as a football team tonight."

The Bulls rushed for 184 yards in the game, led by Jaret Patterson who finished with 71. Kevin Marks added 64 yards and Dylan McDuffie had 43 yards on only six carries.
Myers finished 16-for-31 for 245 yards. His favorite target was wide receiver Antonio Nunn who had five catches for 113 yards, both career highs. Dominic Johnson, who recently moved from quarterback to wide receiver, had three grabs for 27 yards.

The Bulls ran 90 offensive plays, compared to just 46 for Penn State. Third down was also a big discrepancy as UB converted on third down 10 times while Penn State was just 2-of-9 on third down.
Banks had the best game of his career to lead the defense. The senior safety had a career-high 11 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Chibueze Onwuka added a sack and two tackles for loss to lead a stout defensive line.

"In the first half, the offense was moving the ball well and competing well, throwing the ball and running the ball," Jaret Patterson said. "At halftime we had the momentum and we felt like we could stick with them, but after halftime we put ourselves in some bad situations like third and long, but I am extremely proud of how this team fought and I think this is going to be a special year. It's not how you start, but how you finish."

Buffalo (1-1) will play at Liberty next Saturday.