Buffalo @ Penn State preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 15, 2007 ) Buffalo 24, Penn State 45

After getting drubbed in its season opener at Temple, Penn State players took a shovel and literally buried a hard copy of the game film at the school's practice field to help them forget the historic loss and "move forward." The Nittany Lions will start the process of digging out of the early-season hole they dug for themselves and attempt to bury visiting Buffalo on Saturday when they host the first of five consecutive home games at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State entered last week's contest in Philadelphia 38-0-1 since 1941 against the middling Owls and hoping for a win that could jumpstart a possible 6-0 start and return to the top-25 for the first time since 2011, but the Lions yielded 27 unanswered points in the 27-10 defeat. After scoring in its first two possessions, Penn State managed just 57 yards on its final 12 possessions. Junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg, projected to be one of the first quarterbacks selected in the upcoming NFL Draft, was sacked 10 times and completed only 11-of-25 passes for 103 yards – the second-fewest yards during his career – while throwing a costly interception that led to the go-ahead touchdown. "If you look offensively, obviously the sacks were the big story line on the offensive side of the ball," second-year coach James Franklin said earlier this week about a line that returns four players with starting experience from 2014. "Everyone had a role in them, the offensive line, the quarterbacks, the receivers. We had communication issues in all three phases – offense, defense, and special teams."

TV: Noon ET, ESPN2. LINE: Penn State - 20.5

ABOUT BUFFALO (1-0): First-year coach Lance Leipold's crew romped FCS member Albany 51-14 last week behind 246 yards passing from senior Joe Licata and 104 yards rushing and two TDs from Anthone Taylor. Licata holds the school record with 62 career touchdown passes and led the MAC with 29 throwing scores last season, which was also a single-season school record. Taylor, who is on the Doak Walker watch list, is coming off a junior season in which he rushed for 1,403 yards and 12 TDs.

ABOUT PENN STATE (0-1): Akeel Lynch ran for 78 yards on 10 carries in the opener but 42 came on a TD run that provided the Nittany Lions a 10-0 lead. DaeSean Hamilton, who led the Big Ten with 82 catches for 889 yards last season as a freshman, was held to one catch for five yards by Temple and certainly will be targeted early this week. Penn State's defense, which ranked second in total defense (278.7 yards) in FBS last season, yielded 269 of its 313 yards after the first quarter and struggled against the pass and run on third downs.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Penn State has won both games in the all-time series which dates to 1900, including a 45-24 victory in 2007.

2. Nittany Lions junior LB Nyeem Wartman-White, the second-leading tackler on the team in 2014, was lost for the season in the opener with a leg injury.

3. Leipold compiled a 109-6 record and won six NCAA Division III national championships in eight seasons at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

PREDICTION: Penn State 35, Buffalo 14