Chris Godwin just about did it all for Penn State on Saturday.
Even if most folks didn’t notice.
No big deal, he says. But it is.
“I just tried to do whatever I could do today,” Godwin said in a soft voice with an understated grin, “to help my team come out with a victory — whether I was recovering fumbles, tackling, making catches or blocking.”
Add humility to that list.
In Penn State’s 37-21 victory over San Diego State, Godwin had a big hand in 17 of his team‘s points.
And another hand in keeping San Diego State from scoring six more.
You may think the margin of victory was 16 points. I say it was the 6-foot-1, 208-pound Chris Godwin. As in, good win.
LET US COUNT THE WAYS
First, the “making catches” part – which is Godwin’s primary duty. A sophomore wide receiver from Middletown, Del., he had five reception for 78 yards to help raise Penn State’s record to 3-1.
Four of Godwin’s five receptions went for first downs, one for a touchdown. That was an 11-yarder from quarterback Christian Hackenberg with 38 seconds left in the first half for a 27-14 Penn State lead. See it here. (That’s 6 points; plus the PAT is 7.)
And one catch was a leaping grab Godwin made while reaching backwards over SDSU’s Malik Smith to snag a 32-yard halfback pass from Nick Scott. Three dud plays later, Big Toe Julius kicked a 26-yard field goal. See it here. (Three more points, 10 total.)
On the Big Ten Network’s TV broadcast, Matt Millen said he saw the Nittany Lion offense practice the trick play earlier in the week. Godwin may do it all, but he doesn’t kiss and tell.
“I honestly didn’t know Nick could throw the ball like that,” Godwin said. “From what I hear, he was a quarterback in high school so I guess those skills just carry over. It’s something we talked about every now and again.”
In the second quarter while playing on Penn State’s special teams, Godwin recovered a fumble by San Diego State punt returner Lloyd Mills at the SDSU 27. That directly set up a Hackenberg TD pass to Mark Allen. (Count the PAT, too, and that’s 17 points.)
“My first job on that is to block and make sure we get the punt off,” Godwin explained. “Then I have to release downfield. After that, I beat the guy who was trying to block me on the punt return. I was just trying to be the first man down the field. The returner muffed the punt and I saw the ball, so I attacked it. I was little surprised. I was trying actually trying to advance it, but it’s my understanding now that you can’t advance a muffed punt. But I was erring on the side of caution.”
Godwin also made two key tackles, one of them on a kickoff return by San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny. It came early in the fourth quarter, immediately following Austin Johnson’s 71-yard TD run that put Penn State ahead, 34-21. Penny, who ran back a kickoff 100 yards for a score earlier in the game, was almost gone for another one when Godwin dropped him and stopped any momentum-shifting on the SDSU 37. (Points saved: 7.)
Finally tally: Give No. 12 credit for 24 points — directly and indirectly — on Saturday.
Godwin, a quiet-talker but fast-mover who later dropped Mills for a 5-yard loss on a fourth-quarter punt return, said he was just doing his job.
“I try to be the most complete player I can be,” said Godwin, who was a two-way player in high school, holding down a hybrid safety-linebacker spot on defense while accounting for 88 touchdowns. “I definitely like being on special teams. It allows me to see the game from a different angle. I’m just trying to focus on being the best receiver I can be. All this other stuff is just extra, me just trying to help my team as much as possible.”
THE REAL THING
Godwin is Penn State’s leading receiver in 2015, with 19 receptions for 283 yards, a big-league average of 14.9 yards per catch. He’s already close to his output for the entire 2014 season, when as a true freshman he caught 25 passes for 321 yards and two TDs. His breakout game came in the Pinstripe Bowl, when he caught seven passes for 140 yards and a score.
Since that point, Godwin has worked his way into supplanting DaeSean Hamilton as the No. 1 target for Hackenberg, utilizing a combination of speed, jumping ability, timing and sure hands. He has a skill set he’s happy to use anywhere on the field.
“We talk a lot about potential, but you need to turn potential into production,” he said. “And I’ve been really working on that.”
So, he was asked, is the Chris Godwin we saw all over the field against San Diego State the real Chris Godwin?
He chuckled, but couldn’t deny it.
“Yeah,” he said, “that’s the real me.”
