Buffalo will walk into West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026 at 12 p.m. ET with a simple job and a hard one: slow No. 14 Penn State and find enough offense to stay inside a 40.5-point line. Penn State is 2-0, Buffalo is 1-1, and the gap between them has already been written in the numbers.
That is why Buffalo Vs Penn State is drawing attention now. Penn State has not allowed more than nine points in a game this season, while Buffalo’s offense has leaned on Elijah Holmes and Chance Morrow. Holmes has thrown for 253 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and Morrow leads the Bulls with 221 receiving yards and five scores, giving Buffalo two clear entry points if it wants to make the afternoon competitive.
Penn State has answered every test so far. The Nittany Lions beat Marshall 45-0 and Temple 27-9, and Rocco Becht has been sharp through two games with 539 passing yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. His 150.6 passer rating ranks second in FBS, a sign that Penn State has been efficient enough to control games without needing the scoreboard to swing wildly.
The issue for Buffalo is not only finding completions. It is finding them against a defense that has not given away easy points and has already turned opponents back before they could build momentum. Buffalo comes in after a 21-17 win over Albany and a 33-20 loss at Florida International, which means the Bulls have shown they can score but have not yet shown they can do it consistently when the game tightens.
That is where Morrow matters most. He has 30 points through two games and has been Buffalo’s most productive target, but Penn State’s defensive edge leaves little margin for a passing game that needs clean early drives. If the Bulls cannot extend possessions and cash in when Holmes gets the ball moving, the favorite’s depth and pace can quickly make the line feel even larger than 40.5.
Penn State also has enough production on the other side to keep pressure on Buffalo without taking risks. Koby Howard has 229 receiving yards through two games, and Rojas has added 14 tackles and an interception, numbers that fit the same story: Penn State is winning with balance, control and efficiency. The total is 50.5, but the more relevant number may be whether Buffalo can score enough to force Penn State beyond comfort before the game turns one-sided.
The next answer comes at kickoff. If Buffalo’s passing game can challenge Penn State early, the game can live longer than the spread suggests. If it cannot, the Nittany Lions are built to do what they have done in two straight weeks: take the lead, squeeze the field and leave little room for a comeback.
