State College—The Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the Buffalo Bulls 27-14 on Saturday afternoon in Happy Valley.

Following a disappointing loss to the Temple Owls the week before, Penn State got themselves back on track with a huge home opening win.

Junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg played much better in week two and was kept on his feet more in the rain-soaked game.

Hackenberg completed 14 passes on 27 attempts for 128 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown pass from Hackenberg to wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton sealed the deal to put the Irish up 20-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Penn State got on the board first Satruday afternoon when true freshman running back Brandon Polk rumbled his way 22 yards to the endzone to put Penn State up 7-0.

The Nittany Lions added a 22-yard Joey Julius field goal to go up 10-0 to end the first quarter.

Buffalo finally broke their silence and cracked the scoreboard when senior quarterback Joey Licata threw a 14-yard strike to wide receiver Ron Willoughby to put the game in reach and cut the Nittany Lions lead to 10-7.

Julius tacked on another field goal of the 21-yard version to push the lead to 13-7.

The Nittany Lions capped off their offensive day with a rushing touchdown by true freshman Saquon Barkley for nine yards and the cherry on top of the win to make it 27-7.

Licata finished the day for the Bulls throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Marcus McGill to make it 27-14 and solidified the final score.

Penn State was able to keep pressure off of Hackenberg in the win by utilizing other weapons on the offensive side. They rushed for 200 yards, led by Barkley who had 115 of those, and scored two touchdowns on the ground.

The offensive line was able to keep Hackenberg on his feet, unlike in last week’s loss to Temple, and it proved to be the difference in the first win of the season.

Defensively, Penn State pressured Licata all afternoon and stacked the front seven only allowing 69 total rushing yards. Senior Carl Nassib had an interception of Licata after catching a batted ball out of the air.

Buffalo (1-1) travel south to Florida to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls (0-2) in Boca Raton. Kick-off is slated for 12:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, September 19.

Penn State (1-1) will remain at home in Happy Valley as they welcome in the Rutgers Scarlett Knights (1-1). Kick-off is slated for 8:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, September 19.