PSU coaches preparing Lions for Badgers’ Saturday visit in conference opener
coach speak with penn state football’s Matt campbell
Trending
Following are the highlights of Penn State's Tuesday press conference with coach Matt Campbell, defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, quarterback Rocco Becht, defensive end Yvan Kemajou and linebacker Kooper Ebel:
Saturday's game: vs. Wisconsin (5 p.m., Peacock)
Records: Penn State (3-0 overall, 0-0 in the Big Ten), Wisconsin (2-1 overall, 0-0 in the Big Ten)
Odds: Penn State is a 9.5-point favorite.
Rankings: Penn State is ranked No. 13 by the Associated Press.
Series: Penn State leads, 12-9
Howard injured
Campbell described wide receiver Koby Howard as 'dinged up' when asked for an injury report. He said it happened on Howard's 70-yard touchdown on Saturday.
The Big Ten is mandating four-day availability injury reports before conference games this season, which will start today. There will also be reports Thursday, Friday and two hours before kickoff on Saturday.
"Right now we probably don't know exactly where (Howard) will be by the end of the week," Campbell said. "We went through a couple things yesterday trying to gauge just where he is as we get ourselves ready for the end of the week."
Center Brock Riker left the game early on Saturday, but was a full participant in practice on Tuesday. Tight end Andrew Rappleyea and special teams player Tyler Armstead are both questionable.
Wisconsin's familiar faces
Campbell noted his respect for Badgers offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. Grimes has been around college football for more than three decades, and Campbell was familiar with him through his time as Baylor's offensive coordinator from 2021-23.
"We always felt like it was one of the top offenses we'd go against year in and year out," Campbell said.
The Lions will also be facing a former player of Campbell's in running back Abu Sama III. Sama spent his first three years of his college career at Iowa State, where he rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and racked up 13 touchdowns for the Cyclones.
Campbell called Sama 'dynamic' and 'can hit a home run on every run.'
Ebel said his former teammate is still a good friend, and just got the opportunity to speak with him on the phone recently.
"He's a great player. He's got the home run hitter speed," Ebel said. "I'm excited to get on the field with him Saturday. I'm sure we'll see a lot of each other."
SUBHD: Help from NFL quarterback
The similarities between Becht and former Iowa State quarterback and current San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy are striking.
Becht was being recruited at Iowa State when Purdy was the starter there. Becht eventually became the Cyclones' starter a couple years later after Purdy was in the NFL.
Purdy finished with a career record of 30-17 in college and finished with 12,170 passing yards over his four years. Becht is one win short of Purdy right now and just passed the 10,000-yard milestone on Saturday, making it a good possibility he may pass Purdy by the end of the season as long as he stays healthy.
Becht still texts Purdy on occasion.
"He's a great dude," Becht said. "He's always a person I can go and reach out to if there's any information that I need or any knowledge I need for a big game. He's a resource that I have that I'm able to use that I'm super grateful for."
SUBHD: Managing new defense
When you are installing and implementing a new defense, there are inevitably going to be growing pains. The key is usually to work out the kinks as fast as possible.
Lynn said the defensive players have done well in learning the new system, but there will always be things to improve on such as communication and alignment.
"My biggest thing is each game there's going to be things we do well and there's going to be things we need to improve on, but as a team we have to grow each week," Lynn said. "The things we do well, we can't just say we're good. We have to keep getting better at it. There are things every game we have to learn from, and if we keep growing and learning throughout the year, we have the potential to be a pretty good defense."
SUBHD: Having fun
Ebel had a good perspective on when his teammates are cheering everyone on around the sidelines during game day.
It's a reminder that while college football is becoming more of a business every season, the game is still supposed to be fun.
"Football is hard. The whole year is a grind," Ebel said. "To be able to go out and you only get 12 guaranteed opportunities, that's where you're supposed to have fun. We've been able to do that these last three games.
"When everyone has that great energy on the sideline, on the field, and everyone is rooting for one another, that's really fun to reap all the benefits of the hard work."
SUBHD: Notable ...
— Tuesday was a throwback to the COVID-19 pandemic when Penn State released an email about an hour before the press conference that it would all be held on Zoom. There were issues with electricity inside Beaver Stadium due to the ongoing construction project.
— After this weekend's Homecoming game, Penn State will be on a short week as it prepares for the Friday night game at Northwestern next week. It will be the Wildcats' first game in the new Ryan Field.
(Compiled by Andy Stine of the Altoona Mirror. He can be reached at astine@altoonamirror.com.)