Penn State’s 45-13 win over Buffalo flew under the radar for most on Saturday night given the amount of far more interesting games (though this one was close at halftime) on in the sport. For the most part, everything was as you’d expect in a routine win for a Big Ten program over a MAC one but there was a play that caused both Nittany Lions and Bulls fans to wince in unison after punter Evan Finegan suffered a horrific leg injury after a defender tried to block a punt in the third quarter.
Here’s video of the injury for those interested, which despite being a little blurry is still somewhat graphic:
Finegan had to be carted off as Beaver Stadium fell silent for nearly 10 minutes before applauding the sophomore as he left the field.
Luckily it looks like Finegan is handling the injury well and tweeted on Sunday morning that he was set to enter surgery to repair both his fibula and tibia:
I ask you to keep me in your prayers as I receive surgery on my broken fibula and tibia today. The medical staff from Penn State and UB have done an incredible job taking care of me. I am fortunate to be in such great hands.
— Evan Finegan (@efinegan40) September 8, 2019
The sophomore naturally appears done for the rest of the 2019 season, which is a shame after he was just named to the Ray Guy Award watch list and was hoping to build on first year as a starter in which he averaged 41.8 yards per punt.
Backup quarterback Kyle Vantrease took over as the punter following Finegan’s injury for the Bulls and might be pressed into duty the rest of the year for the team.