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University at Buffalo
Penn State
Bulls Travel to Penn State for Big Ten Clash with Nittany Lions
9/15/2026 1:40:00 PM | Football
Buffalo (1-1, 0-0 MAC) at #14 Penn State (2-0, 0-0 BIG TEN)
September 19, 2026
Beaver Stadium - 12:00 pm
Bulls on the Air
Buffalo - ESPN 1520
Television
Big Ten Network
Storylines
• This will be Buffalo's fourth trip to Beaver Stadium in its history - the largest stadium in which the Bulls have ever played. UB also played at Penn State in 2007, 2015 and 2019.
• The Bulls are 1-13 all time against teams from the Big Ten Conference. UB won at
Rutgers in 2018 for its only Big Ten win. Buffalo did defeat Penn State in 1900 and
Rutgers in 2002 - before the teams joined the conference.
• The Bulls are 2-16 all time against ranked opponents. Buffalo defeated #12 Ball State in the 2008 MAC Championship Game and won at #23 Northern Illinois in 2024.
The 14th-ranked Nittany Lions will be the highest ranked team Buffalo will face since playing at #9 Missouri in 2024
• Wide receiver Chance Morrow has scored all five of Buffalo's touchdowns on the year and is tied for the FBS lead with five touchdown receptions on the season.
• Buffalo head coach Pete Lembo and Penn State head coach Matt Campbell met four times when they were head coaches at Ball State and Toledo, respectively. The teams split the four meetings between 2012 and 2015.
• Penn State special teams coordinator Justin Lustig was Pete Lembo's special teams coordinator when he was head coach at Ball State.
• Buffalo will play a game on grass for the first time since the 2024 Bahamas Bowl. It will be their first regular-season game on grass since their last visit to Penn State in 2019.
Bulls Travel to Penn State for Big Ten Clash with Nittany Lions
The University at Buffalo football team will travel to Penn State to face the 14th-ranked Nittany Lions on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
Buffalo is 1-1 on the season and is coming off a 33-20 loss at FIU last Saturday. The Bulls were led by wide receiver Chance Morrow who had a career-best 11 catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
Penn State is 2-0 and is coming off a 27-9 win at Temple last Saturday. The Nittany Lions are led by quarterback Rocco Becht who has thrown for 539 yards and seven touchdowns on the season.
Penn State leads the all-time series, 3-1. The Nittany Lions won the last meeting, 45-13, at Beaver Stadium in 2019.
Take a Chance
Wide receiver Chance Morrow is off to a tremendous start to the season. The fifth-year transfer from Louisville, now in his fourth season with the Bulls, has 18 receptions for 221 yards and five touchdowns so far on the season.
He ranks second in the nation in receptions and is tied for the FBS lead in touchdown receptions.
It's truly a breakout season for Morrow who had 16 receptions for 258 yards and two touchdowns over his first three seasons at Buffalo combined.
Morrow became the first Buffalo player to total three touchdown catches in a game since All-MAC receiver Anthony Johnson had three touchdown receptions against Miami (OH) in 2018.
His 11 receptions at FIU were the most by a UB player since Justin Marshall had 11 against Georgia Southern in the 2022 Camellia Bowl. His 173 receiving yards were the eighth most for a single game in Buffalo's FBS era (since 1999).
Wright on Target
When starting quarterback Elijah Holmes was forced to sit out the second half at FIU, Jason Wright entered the game and proved to be a spark for the Bulls.
The sophomore signal-caller had not attempted a pass in his career prior to entering the game at FIU. He went 13-of-27 for 185 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers.
In his first action, he drove the Bulls down the field on their first possession of the second half, going 4-for-4 for 81 yards and a two-yard touchdown pass to Chance Morrow.
Bulls vs. the Big Ten
Saturday will mark the 10th time in the last 13 years the Bulls will face an opponent from the Big Ten Conference. Buffalo has one win during that stretch, defeating Rutgers, 42-13, in 2018.
Year Opponent Result
2013 at Ohio State L, 40-20
2015 at Penn State L, 27-14
2017 at Minnesota L, 17-7
2018 at Rutgers W, 42-13
2019 at Penn State L, 45-13
2021 at Nebraska L, 28-3
2022 at Maryland L, 31-10
2023 at Wisconsin L, 38-17
2025 at Minnesota L, 23-10
Holmes Sweet Holmes
It was quite the debut for quarterback Elijah Holmes against UAlbany in the opener. The transfer quarterback from Division 2 Wingate threw all three touchdowns in Buffalo's 21-17 win over the Great Danes. He became the first quarterback in the Bulls FBS era (since 1999) to throw three touchdown passes in his first career start at Buffalo.
Utilizing the Tight End
If the first two games are any indication, Buffalo will be utilizing the tight end a lot more in 2026. Newcomers Clint Walker (6 rec., 46 yds) and Trevor Wilson (4 rec., 46 yds) have combined for 10 receptions on the season.
In 2024 and 2025, tight ends combined for 15 catches for those entire seasons.
Only one tight end has caught a touchdown over the last four seasons - Andrew Schnackenberg at Kent State in 2023.
Close Calls
Buffalo's 21-17 victory over UAlbany in the opener was another one-score game for the Bulls. Eight of UB's last 12 games, dating back to last season, have been decided by one score. The Bulls are 4-4 in those eight one-score games.
Spreading the Wealth
UB quarterback Elijah Holmes had 27 completions in the opener against UAlbany. He connected with eight different receivers.
Chance Morrow led the way with seven receptions, followed by Clint Walker (5), Jaylen Andrews (3), Dwayne Early (3) and Terrance Shelton (3).
UB quarterbacks again found eight different receivers in week two's game at FIU.
Last season, eight different players registered catches in a game only once.
New Faces
Buffalo has 54 new players on the roster from a season ago. Of the new faces, 23 are transfers and 31 are freshmen.
There were 22 newcomers on the week-one depth chart.
Elijah Holmes (QB), Clint Walker (TE), Logan Goodwin (Edge), Zach Bergmann (LB), Stevie Bracey (LB) and Joseph Stoever (LS) all started the season opener.
New Coordinators
Coach Lembo has new coordinators on offense, defense and special teams entering this season. Offensive coordinator Tony Tokarz and special teams coordinator Garrett McLaughlin are new to the staff while defensive coordinator Brian Dougherty was elevated from safeties and nickels coach.
Tokarz came to Buffalo from Florida State where he spent the past six seasons, including the previous four as quarterbacks coach. Prior to Florida State, Tokarz was tight ends coach at Memphis where he coached with Lembo.
A native of Orchard Park, McLaughlin returned to Western New York after spending the past two seasons as special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at Columbia.
Dougherty is in his third season on Lembo's staff and first as defensive coordinator. He previously served as defensive coordinator at both the University of Indianapolis and Valparaiso.
Youth Up Front
Buffalo's offensive line is full of new faces and all five projected starters will be making their first career starts for the Bulls when they take the field against Albany.
Left tackle Gabriel Arena has the most experience, appearing in 15 games over the last two seasons.
Arena's backup at left tackle, Tyrone Davis, appeared in five games last season and made one start.
None of the other nine offensive linemen on the depth chart have seen any game action for the Bulls.
Experience in the Defensive Backfield
One area the Bulls do return a lot of experience is the defensive backfield.
At cornerback, Kobi Blackwell played in all 12 games and made seven starts last season. Keontez Bradley played in 12 games and started six a year ago. Oliver Bridges has appeared in 21 games and made three starts over the last two seasons.
At safety, Miles Greer returns after playing in all 12 games a season ago. He ranked third on the team with 74 tackles in 2025. John Keough is back for his third season and has also been a special teams ace. He played in all 25 games over the last two seasons.
Big Shoes to Fill
Buffalo has had an All-American at linebacker in each of the last two seasons. Shaun Dolac was a Consensus All-American and MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 and Red Murdock was an All-American last season.
The Bulls only return two linebackers who saw action last season and both mainly played special teams. Mathew HIlty and Jordan Owens are both in the their third season with the team.
Sophomores returning, include Bradley Ilunga-Bisselele and George Hill.
The Bulls welcomed three transfers at linebacker - Zach Bergmann (Missouri Southern State), Stevie Bracey (Virginia) and Joey Cheshire (Cornell).
True freshmen Jack Garbolino, Anwar Witherspoon, Jr., Matthew Heininger and Na'Rod Jarvis will also be in the mix at the linebacker spot.
Six Bulls Named to Phil Steele's Preseason All-MAC Team
Six University at Buffalo football players have been named to Phil Steele's Preseason All-MAC Team.
Wide Receiver Jasaiah Gathings was named to the first team. Safety Miles Greer was named to the second team. Defensive tackle Cornell Evans and nickel SaVeon Brown were named to the third team. Tight end Clint Walker and cornerback Kobi Blackwell were named to the fourth team.
Gathings is in his second year with the program after transferring from UConn. The graduate receiver had 36 catches for 410 yards and three touchdowns in 2025.
Greer is also in his second year with the program after transferring from Shepard University. In 2025, he ranked third on the team in tackles with 74 and added three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Evans, who has started 16 games over the last two seasons, had 14 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in 2025.
Brown had 52 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in 2025.
Walker is a newcomer to the program after transferring from Davenport University. He spent four seasons with the Panthers and was an All-Conference selection in 2025.
Blackwell had a breakout season for the Bulls in 2025. The redshirt-sophomore had a team-high seven pass breakups in 2025 and added 20 tackles and an interception.
It's Broadview Stadium Now
Thanks to a partnership with Buffalo Athletics and Broadview Federal Credit Union, Broadview Stadium is the new name of the former UB Stadium. The landmark agreement will have the Broadview name on both the stadium and arena for the next 15 years.
Bulls Picked Sixth in Preseason Poll
Buffalo was picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll according to the MAC head coaches.
Western Michigan was picked first with 138 points, followed by Miami (134), Toledo (115), Ohio (107), Central Michigan (101), Buffalo (81), Eastern Michigan (76), Kent State (64), Bowling Green (59), Akron (52), Ball State (34), Sacramento State (28) and Massachusetts (25).
Western Michigan was selected as the preseason favorite to win the MAC Championship.
On The Airwaves
Again this season, University at Buffalo football can be heard locally on ESPN 1520, a 50,000-watt station with one of the strongest signals in the nation. Calling all the play-by-play action of Bulls football for his 27th year, and 19th consecutive, will be Paul Peck. Scott Wilson is back for his 10th season as analyst. Brad Riter also returns as game host.
The UB Football postgame show will once again be hosted by Bob Gaughan.
