Penn State coach Matt Campbell provided an update on receiver Koby Howard during his press conference late Tuesday morning.
Based on Campbell’s words, who wanted to see Howard back for the Oct. 17 clash with Michigan in The Big House won’t get to.
Howard’s Instagram story from Sept. 22 indicated that his goal was to be back for the 17th, but Campbell said that, while Howard is getting better, He’s not back and I still think we’re a couple weeks away from getting Koby back.”
Penn State has lost two straight, with the most recent being a 21-point loss at Northwestern Friday night, so it’s fair to say that the team’s issues go far behind Howard.
But it would be unwise to say that Penn State isn’t a different team when he’s on the field.
Howard went off for 100+ yards in two of Penn State’s first three games, the first time since 2021 that a wideout has had multiple 100-yard games in a season.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.At the time of his injury during the Buffalo game, Howard was fourth in the Big Ten in receiving yards per game (114.7), leads the Big Ten and is third in the country in yards per catch (28.67).
So, yeah, he’s a guy Penn State wants out there, and the passing game has suffered without him.
Against Wisconsin, Chase Sowell performed well, catching six passes for 70 yards. The problem was, no other receiver had a reception, which contributed to Penn State losing. Things didn’t get much better against Northwestern.
Although Sowell again did his part (68 yards and a touchdown on five catches), the second-leading receiver, Brett Eskildsen, only had 45 yards on six receptions.
It sounds like the earliest we can expect to see Howard back will be Oct. 24 against Purdue.
