University Park— Penn State pounded Purdue Saturday afternoon without its top two receivers, and coach Matt Campbell addressed that situation in his post game presser.
WHAT CAMPBELL SAID
Penn State was playing without Chase Sowell, who leads the team with 510 yards and three touchdowns on 34 receptions. Sowell might not be the team’s leading receiver if not for Koby Howard, who eclipsed 100 yards in two of Penn State’s first three games before suffering an injury against Buffalo Sept. 19. Penn State was hoping to have Howard back for Purdue and, earlier this week, was expecting Sowell to play.
But Sowell popped up as questionable on the Big Ten’s injury report Wednesday, and ended up being ruled out.
The good news is, it appears both will be back soon.
“I think Chase is really close. I think Koby’s really close. It would be great to get those guys back.“
PENN STATE’S RESPONSE
Without two of its best players, Penn State’s offense scored 31 points against Purdue.
The running game had its best output of the season, going for 269 yards and three touchdowns on 51 carries (5.3 YPC).
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The tight ends did well, too, catching nine passes for 115 yards.
Penn State still got big plays out of its receivers, with veteran Brett Eskildsen and true freshman Amarion Jackson combining for 48 yards on three catches (16 YPC).
Overall, Campbell was pleased with the effort.
“Yeah, I thought they (the offense) did a really great job from a game-planning standpoint…,” Campbell said. “Man, I thought Amarion stepped up. Another young man who has really showcased himself in practice over the last couple of weeks and was waiting for his opportunity. I kind of think that’s what offensive football is. You have a good player go down, the next guy’s got to step up. I thought the tight ends stepped up in a great way, and obviously the running game helped that, too.”
Campbell also thought QB Rocco Becht (16-for-24, 175 yards, TD, 0 INT) was “outstanding.”
“I thought he played the type of football that we’ve seen him play a lot of, but he played it for four quarters and really did a great job with his consistency,” he said. “Again, I think a lot of credit goes to him. It’s funny, every time a great player goes down, that guy continues to be the focal point of why the offense keeps moving the football down the field. “So I’m really happy for him, too. I thought he played a great football game.”
