Buffalo Bulls vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 09/19/2026

Game Time: 12:00 pm ET, Saturday, September 19, 2026

Venue:  West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA

Where to Watch:  Big Ten Network

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Buffalo +39.5, Penn State -39.5; Over/Under:  48.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Buffalo +39.5, Penn State -39.5; Over/Under:  48.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Buffalo +39.5, Penn State -39.5; Over/Under:  48.5 points

Buffalo Bulls:  1-1 (0-0) (3rd place, MAC)

Penn State Nittany Lions:  2-0 (0-0) (2nd place, Big Ten)

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Buffalo Bulls:  lost their last game on the road against the Florida International Panthers 33-20.

Penn State Nittany Lions:  won their last game on the road against the Temple Owls 27-9.

Buffalo is entering this game with a 1-1 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 1-0 in their home games, 0-1 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They lost their last game against FIU 33-20. Elijah Holmes was the starting QB and he completed 9/14 passes for 64 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Terrance Shelton Jr. led the team in rushing yards with 34. Chance Morrow led the receivers with 173 receiving yards on 11 receptions and 2 TDs. SaVeon Brown led the defense in that game with 10 tackles while no one on the defense recorded a sack for them. No one on the defense came away with an interception for them in that one.

 

 

 

Penn State is entering this game with a 2-0 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 1-0 in their home games, 1-0 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They won their last game against Temple 27-9. Rocco Becht was the starting QB and he completed 21/27 passes for 268 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Carson Hansen led the team in rushing yards with 84. Benjamin Brahmer led the receivers with 79 receiving yards on 5 receptions and 2 TDs. Tony Rojas led the defense in that game with 7 tackles while Yvan Kemajou led the defense in sacks with 1. Tony Rojas came away with the only interception for them in that one.

The current betting odds have Penn State listed as a 39.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Penn State has looked good in their games this season with their 2-0 record overall. They have looked good on their home field too with their 1-0 home record so far. Meanwhile, Buffalo hasn't looked great this season with their 1-1 record overall. They haven't been a good road team either with their 0-1 road record so far. Buffalo is coming off a 33-20 loss to FIU in their last one and their offense didn't look great. FIU isn't a great team either, so they had a chance to win that one, but they have gotten worse in every year that Lembo has been coaching and could be headed for the bottom of the MAC this year. Their only win was in week 1 against a team from the FCS, but they still barely beat Albany at home 21-17. Penn State is coming off a 27-9 win over Temple in their last one and their offense didn't look great, but they were on the road in only their 2nd game with this new head coach and the defense has looked great in both games. They shut out Marshall at home in week 1 and now they are going to be back at home where the offense looked a lot better. Buffalo doesn't have the talent to compete with Penn State either and with the way that offense has looked in both games, Buffalo isn't going to get much done against this Penn State defense. Buffalo's defense hasn't looked great in both games either, so Penn State is going to have a better day on offense here at home and they will be looking to fine tune things before starting conference play next week. The best way to place a bet here is on Penn State to cover the spread in this game. 

Buffalo Penn State Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 19, 2026 (12:00 pm ET start time) is Penn State 52 Buffalo 3.

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Buffalo Bulls: 10-3 ATS against Big 10 conference opponents. 4-1 ATS off a road loss. 7-3 ATS after 1 or more consecutive straight up losses. 8-3 UNDER in non-conference games. 

Penn State Nittany Lions: 1-4 ATS as a favorite of 31 or more points. 3-13 ATS after allowing 14 points or less last game. 3-10 ATS after a win by 17 or more points. 9-5 UNDER when the total is between 42.5 and 49.

Buffalo Bulls:  N. Leonard (TE) Questionable - Undisclosed. B. Mays (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. J. Gathings (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. T. Richards (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed.

Penn State Nittany Lions:  B. Kortovich (TE) Questionable - Undisclosed. C. Alexander (TE) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Sheffey (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. G. Burkle (TE) Questionable - Knee. M. Granville (DL) Out - Undisclosed.

"So, Elijah got banged up when you saw his helmet come off, and he got tangled up pretty good, and was really ginger on his knee. So, Jason came in, and we decided to let him keep playing. We weren't sure if Elijah would be able to return. I think he would have fought through it and tried to, but the fact that we were also coming from behind, and you know, giving Jason a chance to use his arm." - Pete Lembo after his team’s loss against FIU in their last game. 

“I don’t think there was any explanation other than we didn’t play very well.” - Matt Campbell after his team’s win against Temple in their last game. 

WR Morrow, Chance

WR Gathings, Jasaiah

WR Clacks III, Patrick

TE Walker, Clint

QB Holmes, Elijah

RB Shelton Jr., Terrance

WR Sowell, Chase

WR Eskildsen, Brett

WR Howard, Koby

TE Rappleyea, Andrew

QB Becht, Rocco

RB Hansen, Carson

Passing: Elijah Holmes (253)

Rushing: Messiah Burch (90)

Receiving: Chance Morrow (221)

Touchdowns: Chance Morrow (5)

Passing: Rocco Becht (539)

Rushing: Carson Hansen (132)

Receiving: Koby Howard (229)

Touchdowns: Benjamin Brahmer (3)

Coaches:

Buffalo Bulls: Pete Lembo (3rd season)

Penn State Nittany Lions: Matt Campbell (1st season)