State College, PA - Central Pennsylvania Links - Home of Penn State
 |
 |
2007 PSU Football
|
|
Penn State vs. University of Buffalo Pregame
Lions Licking Chops Over Bulls
By: Mark McConnell
Not since 1900 has Buffalo played Penn State. In that game Buffalo defeated Penn State 10 - 0 in Buffalo. This weekend, Penn State will look to even the series and extend their winning streak to six in a row over the last two seasons.
Coming off of a 31 -10 victory over the Fighting Irish and looking forward to a rematch with Michigan, the Nittany Lions look to feast on the Bulls Saturday.
The Bulls, however, are no pushover team. They may have only won two games last season, but they’ve started off this season 1 - 1 defeating MAC opponent Temple 42 - 7 last week. Their junior quarterback, Drew Willy holds the no. 1 passer percentage in Buffalo history, completing 61.4 percent.
Short of any injuries he likely will set the school record for number of completions. He currently is fifth on the list at 363, just 30 completions shy of the former leader Cliff Scott, who tossed the ball from 1991 - 94.
“They lost to Rutgers, but they manhandled Temple,” said Head Coach Joe Paterno during his Tuesday press conference.
Complimenting Willy is Mario Henry at running back, the redshirt sophomore, who played defensive back as a freshman. Henry jumped to the offense and immediately made an impact against rushing for 174 yards this season, averaging 7-yards per carry.
“I could never imagine that I would be playing against Joe Paterno,” Henry said Tuesday at the Bulls press conference. “Penn State, I could not imagine.”
Penn State’s defense will need to be focused on the Bulls this weekend to shut down this multi-faceted attack.
Dan Conner, a team captain, will look to make an impact already holding 11 solo tackles, six assisted tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. Sean Lee is a close second with nine solo tackles, two assists and 2.5 for a loss.
Conner was named the Big Ten and Walter Camp National player of the week last week for his role in the Lions’ mauling the Irish.
“Pantheon, is that the word you used [to describe Conner]? Back to my Greek days,” said Paterno to laughter of the media room.
The defense will look to hold strong once again protecting its current streak of not allowing a single defensive touchdown this season as Notre Dame scored their six plus PAT on an interception return on the Lions’ very first drive of the game last week.
Quarterback Anthony Morelli will look to correct some mistakes he made in the last two games proving he’s got what it takes to lead the Lions. So far this season he’s 35 of 60 for 426-yards with 4 touchdowns and one interception.
Backing up Morelli is a solid core of running backs. Austin Scott has 39 attempts for 162-yards averaging 4.2-yards-per-carry and punching the ball in four times. Rodney Kinlaw follows with 115-yards on 17 touches. Kinlaw has tasted the endzone once so far this season and averages 6.8-yard- per-carry. Following up the two veteran running backs is freshman Evan Royster, who on eight attempts has 1 touchdown, averaging 8.8-yards-per-carry and totaling 70-yards this season.
Statistically, the match looks good for the Lions. The only MAC team to defeat the Lions in the Joe Paterno era was Toledo in 2000. However, as Michigan found out in week one against Division AA Appalachian State, statistics are more of a guide and after 60 minutes of football either team can come out on top.
“It’s all determined by who’s going to play the best, who is going to execute the best from 12 O’clock until 3:15 pm,” said Bulls head coach Turner Gill. Kick off is set for noon on Saturday.