Penn State 45, Buffalo 24 Penn State Nittany LionsBuffalo Bulls
September 15, 2007
Beaver Stadium - University Park, PA
Attendance: 107,506
Kickoff Time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Buffalo 3 0 0 21 24
Penn State 0 17 14 14 45

Scoring Summary
1st 06:37 UB - AJ Principe 19-yard field goal
2nd 06:29 PSU - Kevin Kelly 27-yard field goal
  02:34 Andrew Quarless 21-yard pass from Morelli (Kelly kick)
  00:59 PSU - Jordan Norwood 5-yard pass from Morelli (Kelly kick)
3rd 12:39 PSU - Terrell Golden 27-yard pass from Morelli (Kelly kick)
05:24 PSU - Andrew Quarless 4-yard pass from Morelli (Kelly kick)
4th 11:55 UB - James Starks 5-yard run (Principe kick)
  08:07 PSU - Rodney Kinlaw 6-yard run (Kelly kick)
  06:44 UB - Ernest Jackson 9-yard from Henry (Principe kick)
  04:02 PSU - Austin Scott 40-yard run (Kelly kick)
  00:12 UB - LaRon Haymore 2-yard pass from Willy (Principe kick)

UNIVERSITY PARK — For the first three quarters, Saturday’s game followed the early-season script — Penn State’s offense, after a sleepy start, had found its footing and was making frequent visits to Buffalo’s end zone. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions’ defense was its usual sideline-to-sideline stone wall, keeping the Bulls — like Florida International and Notre Dame — out of its own end zone. But this script saw some late editing.
  Unlike No. 12 Penn State’s first two opponents, Buffalo wouldn’t roll over. Instead, the stone wall finally broke, allowing three touchdowns in the final quarter of the Nittany Lions’ 45-24 win in Beaver Stadium.
  “It’s just one of those things where we’ve got to stay focused all game,” Penn State cornerback Lydell Sargeant said. “As the game went on, we kind of lost our edge, our drive. It’s really our first time having a team be down and still going at us.”
  No one would have blamed coach Turner Gill’s Bulls (1-2) for going through the motions in the final quarter. After picking up just 15 yards and losing two Austin Scott fumbles on their first three possessions, the Nittany Lions (3-0) poured on 31 points between the six-minute mark of the second quarter and the five-minute mark of the third. Quarterback Anthony Morelli threw a career-high four touchdown passes during that span — one to Jordan Norwood, one to Terrell Golden and two to reinstated tight end Andrew Quarless — while the Penn State defense didn’t even allow the Bulls into the red zone.
  As the third quarter wound down, though, the Bulls began to find cracks in the Penn State defense. Junior quarterback Drew Willy found Ernest Jackson for a 30-yard gain to midfield, but was intercepted three plays later by Penn State safety Anthony Scirrotto, who returned the ball 45 yards to the Buffalo 25-yard line. The Buffalo defense finally held and Kevin Kelly missed a 46-yard field goal attempt wide left.
  Then the Bulls’ James Starks ran for seven yards, then for eight. Then Mario Henry ran for seven. And after 12 plays — none which went for more than 11 yards, Starks burst into the end zone from 5 yards out, ending a 13-quarter streak in which the Penn State defense had not surrendered a touchdown.
  Penn State responded with a nine-play, 61-yard scoring drive capped by Rodney Kinlaw’s 6-yard touchdown run, but the Bulls went right back to work. Skyler Hagg took the ensuing kickoff 52 yards to the Penn State 48, and Willy — working against the second-team defense -— found tight end Jesse Rack on a seam route all the way down to the 10-yard line.
  Penn State coach Joe Paterno had seen enough. He sent first-team defensive backs Anthony Scirrotto, Justin King and Lydell Sargeant back into the game, along with middle linebacker Dan Connor.
  “I thought, ‘Let’s not get silly, let’s not take any chances,’” Paterno explained.
  It didn’t have the desired effect. Henry took a handoff from Willy and then lofted a halfback pass to Jackson for a 10-yard score to

Andrew Quarless

make it 38-17.
  Again the Nittany Lions answered, going 44 yards in five brisk plays after Navorro Bowman recovered an onside kick attempt, but the Bulls weren’t finished either.
  Working against the second-team defense, Willy led his team 76 yards in 10 plays, finding LaRon Haymore for a 2-yard touchdown with 12 seconds to play.
  Understandably, the 107,506 in attendance didn’t provide the same kind of atmosphere they did a week ago during Penn State’s prime-time, 31-10 dismantling of Notre Dame. The student section was less than two-thirds full at kickoff. The Nittany Lions didn’t offer much to cheer about until the section had all but filled in late in the second quarter.
  Connor attributed the sluggishness to a hangover effect from the Notre Dame game more than his team overlooking Buffalo, saying that team practices didn’t have the desired tempo last week.
  “We were working hard, but we just weren’t on the same level,” said Connor, who tied fellow linebacker Sean Lee for the tackles lead Saturday with 12 stops.
  “I wasn’t happy with the way I was practicing, and with the defense in general. So I think we need to step it up in practice and that’s gonna help us in the games.”
  Morelli, who finished 20-of- 27 for 202 yards and no interceptions, continues to remain optimistic that his offense will overcome its habit of crawling out of the gate. Its quick-strike scoring ability, on full display Saturday, backs that up. Five of Penn State’s scoring drives took fewer than three minutes.
  “We’ve got to stay patient, that’s the whole thing with us,” Morelli said. “Maybe we try to come out and make too big of plays off the bat, and that’s why we start off slow, but as long as we stay patient and let things develop, we’re going to be fine.”
  Kinlaw carried the ball 23 times for 129 yards, both career highs, and added a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Scott had nine rushes for 53 yards and a score, and Deon Butler led Penn State with five catches for 72 yards.
  Willy was 28-of-39 for 330 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Buffalo’s Naaman Roosevelt led all receivers with seven catches and 114 yards.
  The Nittany Lions open their Big Ten season Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., where they will face a Michigan team they haven’t defeated in their last eight tries. The fourth quarter against the Bulls will give them as much to think about as the Wolverines’ erratic start. “I don’t know where we are yet,” Paterno said.
  His players’ hope is that those final three Buffalo drives will help them find out.
  “We’re gonna learn the most about our defense from watching tape of this game more than any other game,” Connor said. “When a team drives down the field on you and puts up a couple touchdowns, that’s when you’re gonna improve. It’s good to do it this early in the season, without taking a hit in the Big Ten schedule later in the year.”

BUFFALO
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing Att Gain Lost Net TD LG
Starks 18 47 6 41 1 8
Henry 10 23 7 16 0 8
Thermilus 1 0 0 0 0 0
Willy 6 21 22 -1 0 18
 
Passing Att Comp INT Yds TD LG
Willy 39 28 1 330 1 38
Henry 1 1 0 9 1 9
TEAM 1 0 0 0 0 0
 
Receiving No. Yds TD LG
Roosevelt 7 114 0 37
E. Jackson 6 74 1 30
Hamlin 4 46 0 35
Starks 4 30 0 17
Henry 3 24 0 10
Rack 1 38 0 38
T. Jackson 1 5 0 5
Thermilus 1 4 0 4    
Brey 1 2 0 2    
Haymore 1 2 1 2    
 
Punting No. Yds AVG LG In20 TB
Woods 5 203 40.6 50 3 0
 
Returns PR KOR INTR
Hagg - 2-76 -
T. Jackson - 4-60 -
 
Field Goal Attempts
Principe 1st 06:37 19 yds Good
Principe 2nd 00:00 49 yds Missed
 
Defense T TFL S Int. FF FR
Hawkins 9-1-10 1.0-2 - - - 1-0
Byrom 6-1-7 1.0-2 - - - -
Cook 6-0-6 1.0-1 - - - -
Akingba 4-2-6 - - - 1 -
Shannon 5-0-5 1.0-5 - - - -
PENN STATE
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing Att Gain Lost Net TD LG
Kinlaw 23 132 3 129 1 18
Scott 9 60 7 53 1 40
Hahn 2 10 0 10 0 5
Williams 1 2 0 2 0 2
TEAM 1 0 1 -1 0 0
Morelli 3 2 4 -2 0 2
 
Passing Att Comp INT Yds TD LG
Morelli 27 20 0 202 4 45
 
Receiving No. Yds TD LG
Butler 5 72 0 45
Williams 5 16 0 7
Norwood 4 29 1 14
Quarless 2 25 2 21
Hahn 2 15 0 9
Golden 1 27 1 27
Kinlaw 1 18 0 18    
 
Punting No. Yds AVG LG In20 TB
Boone 2 88 44.0 56 1 0
 
Returns PR KOR INTR
Wallace - 2-77 -
Scirrotto - - 1-45
Williams 1-11 1-24 -
Fentress - 1-1 -
 
Field Goal Attempts
Kelly 2nd 06:29 27 yds Good
Kelly 3rd 01:43 46 yds Missed
 
Defense T TFL S Int. FF FR
Connor 9-3-12 1.0-6 1.0-6 - - -
Lee 5-7-12 1.0-2 0.5-1 - - -
Sales 3-2-5 1.0-1 - - - -
Davis 3-2-5 - - - 1 -
Brown 2-2-4 0.5-2 - - - -
Starting Lineups
TEAM STATISTICS
  UB PSU
FIRST DOWNS 20 22
Rushing 6 13
Passing 13 9
Penalty 1 0
NET YARDS RUSHING 56 191
Rushing Attempts 35 39
Yards Gained Rushing 91 206
Yards Lost Rushing 35 15
NET YARD PASSING 339 202
Passes Attempted 41 27
Passes Completed 29 20
Had Intercepted 1 0
TOTAL OFFENSIVE PLAYS 76 66
TOTAL NET YARDS 395 393
Avg. Gain Per Play 5.2 6.0
Fumbles: No. - Lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties: No. - Yds. 1-8 2-9
No. of Punts - Yards 5-203 2-88
Avg. Per Punt 40.6 44.0
Punt Returns: No. - Yds. 0-0 1-11
Kickoff Returns: No. - Yds. 6-136 4-102
Interceptions: No. - Yds. 0-0 1-45
Fumble Returns: No. - Yds. 0-0 1-10
Miscellaneous Yards 0 0
Possession Time 32:39 27:21
3rd Down Conversion 6 of 17 9 of 13
4th Down Conversion 1 of 2 0 of 0
Sacks By: No. - Yds. 1-4 4-22
 
PSU PARTICIPANTS (60) - 1 King, 2 Williams, 3 Butler, 4 Golden, 5 Hayes, 6 Harriott, 7 Scirrotto, 9 Rubin, 10 Quarless, 10 Sargeant, 11 Davis, 12 Wallace, 14 Morelli, 15 Gbadyu, 16 Claude, 17 Clark, 18 Bowman, 19 Bell, 20 Fentress, 20 Kinlaw, 21 Timmons, 23 Kelly, 24 Norwood, 25 Perretta, 29 Jeffries, 32 Carter, 33 Scott, 34 Hahn, 35 Alfreno, 40 Connor, 41 Boone, 42 Ganter, 43 Hull, 44 Federoff, 45 Lee, 46 Sales, 47 Gaines, 48 Evans, 50 Lucian, 52 Brown, 54 Hill, 55 McEowen, 57 Mauriello, 57 Shipley, 59 Maybin, 60 Weber, 61 Wisniewski, 64 Ohrnberger, 73 Landolt, 76 Cadogan, 77 Eliades, 79 Poti, 82 Shuler, 83 Brackett, 85 Ogbu, 87 Rogers, 90 Taylor, 91 Odrick, 93 Baker, 94 Golarz