Matt Campbell Discusses Penn State’s Run Game Against Marshall, Injuries and More

Fresh off the team’s first win of the season, Penn State head coach Matt Campbell met with the media on Tuesday inside Beaver Stadium to field questions.

He discussed the team’s rushing performance against Marshall, provided several key injury updates and spoke about the new “success with honor” sign in the team tunnel.

Here’s what he had to say.

Ground Game Struggles

The Nittany Lions largely dominated the Thundering Herd on Saturday, rolling to a 45-0 win with a massive 487-147 yardage edge. But if there was one area of concern for Penn State, it was the running game.

Carson Hansen, James Peoples, Quinton Martin Jr. and Cam Wallace combined for 40 carries for 159 yards (just under four yards per carry) against a noticeably outsized Marshall defensive front. After reviewing the film, Campbell pinpointed two factors in the lack of success.

“Number one, we felt like we were going to get loaded boxes early in the game, and I felt like that was something that, in a way, opened up the passing game early, and we felt like that was going to have to happen early in the football game to kind of get us going,” Campbell said.

The second issue was skill position players “falling off blocks.” While the offensive line generally gets blamed for a lack of push up front, Campbell said the tight ends and wide receivers were inconsistent with their assignments and allowed too many defenders chances at tackles.

Though none of the four pulled away from the pack (Hansen led with 4.4 yards per carry), Campbell’s view of the room hasn’t changed.

“I thought all those guys kind of proved what they are,” Campbell said. “I thought those guys all ran really hard, I think they made the most of their opportunities … We think all those guys have the ability to be really great players for us, physical at the point of attack, falling forward, and I thought all those guys ran really hard on Saturday.”

Recovery Timelines

Several players didn’t participate during the season opener while going through various stages of recovery, but Campbell gave three names who are “questionable” to return this Saturday at Temple, beginning with offensive tackle Owen Aliciene.

“Owen kind of got dinged up towards the end of camp,” Campbell said. “He did practice last week. We just didn’t feel like he was at full strength to be ready to go back on the field.”

The other two are defensive tackles Alijah Carnell and Armstrong Nnodim, who were also limited participants in practice throughout the week but weren’t at full strength.

A new name to monitor is defensive end LaVar Arrington II, who was seen on crutches last Saturday. Campbell was transparent with his status, saying it’ll “probably be four to six weeks” before he’s available.

Additionally, tight end Gabe Burkle and linebacker Alex Tatsch, both of whom Campbell called doubtful a week ago and didn’t see the field, “will certainly be available this week.”

“It’ll be it’ll be big for us to have both of those guys back on the football field,” Campbell said.

Tunnel Vision

The “success with honor” mantra made famous by former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno made its return to Beaver Stadium on Saturday, appearing on a sign over the team’s tunnel to the field. Previously, a sign had displayed James Franklin’s “1-0” tagline.

Campbell said he was asked for a slogan and joked that he’s “not smart enough” to come up with his own, so he brought back the phrase from the Nittany Lions’ winningest head coach.

“Continuing to pay honor to what’s come before us, that to me means a lot,” Campbell said. “When you talk to these former players, when you talk to so many guys that have come through here, what that value system has meant to this program, I just felt like I’m in an absolute alliance with that value, and I think it means exactly what it should mean here at Penn State. And I thought that was the right thing for our football team to continue to honor and continue to carry forward.”