3 Penn State takeaways: Can Nittany Lions continue trends in Big Ten play?
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Penn State rolled to a 55-13 victory against Buffalo on Sept. 19 at Beaver Stadium — Matt Campbell's final tune-up game before the Nittany Lions begin their Big Ten Conference schedule vs. Wisconsin.
The game vs. the Buffaloes featured a fast start for the offense and another smothering performance from the defense, which has allowed just 23 points amid the team’s 3-0 start. The next question is whether the first-year coach can keep it up against a higher level of competition.
Here’s a look at some takeaways from the Buffalo game, and what that means for a Nittany Lions team preparing for the Badgers.
Quinton Martin Jr. creates a good problem
Questions abounded about the running back rotation following two tepid performances from top option Carson Hansen to start the season. The answers to those questions became more complicated — in a positive way — with a dominant effort from pretty much everyone.
Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser deployed Quinton Martin Jr. and Cam Wallace, holdovers from former coach James Franklin’s roster, much more extensively against the Bulls. He was rewarded richly.
Martin took his 10 carries for 100 yards and had Penn State’s most explosive run of the season with a 61-yard gallop in the first half. Wallace was nearly as efficient, with 77 yards on eight carries.
Hansen and Ohio State transfer James Peoples saw less action relative to the first two games, but still had nice days themselves: Hansen finished with 37 yards and a touchdown on five carries, and Peoples scored twice, totaling 59 yards on eight carries.
As a team, Penn State rushed for 304 yards and averaged an impressive 7.4 yards per carry. Mouser now faces the challenge of figuring out which players to lean on most heavily as opportunities figure to become more limited against Big Ten-caliber defenses.
Koby Howard may be Penn State’s best receiver in years
The sophomore had another impressive day against Buffalo, totaling three catches for 115 yards. That effort included a 70-yard touchdown before halftime that put the game out of reach for good.
Through three games, he has racked up 344 yards on 12 receptions. That’s already more yardage than all but two Penn State receivers had last season, and he’s on pace to eclipse the 2025 production of Trebor Pena (552 yards) and Devonte Ross (501 yards) by midseason.
Should he keep producing at anywhere close to this pace, he could be Penn State’s first 1,000-yard receiver since Jahan Dotson in 2021.
Penn State receivers have had trouble maintaining consistency beyond the non-conference schedule in recent years, and have been some of the biggest no-shows in the program’s big-game losses to programs such as Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon and Notre Dame.
Howard still has a ways to go to prove he can buck those trends. We’ll know more after the Oct. 10 matchup with USC at Beaver Stadium. For now, at least, the trendlines are more encouraging than they’ve been for this program in some time at this position.
Defense dominated non-conference foes
Penn State has held its opponents to a total of nine points in the first three quarters of games this season.
Temple and Buffalo added garbage-time touchdowns over the past two fourth quarters. Otherwise, no one has reached the end zone until games were mostly decided and reserve players were on the field.
Despite those late scores, Penn State still ranks third nationally in scoring average allowed, at 7.3 points per game. In terms of total defense, only three teams, Iowa, Kansas State and Notre Dame, have allowed fewer than Penn State’s 201 yards per game. New Mexico is also tied with the Nittany Lions in total defense.
That’s pretty dang good, even when adjusting for the quality of the non-power conference competition. The extent to which that dominance transfers to Big Ten play could determine whether this team is a viable College Football Playoff contender.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 3 Penn State takeaways: Can Nittany Lions continue trends in Big Ten play?
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