Penn State Football Bye Week Briefs: Bowls, Coach Terry and Trick-or-Treat

During this Penn State football bye week as the Nittany Lions are riding a four-game losing streak, let’s think about happier times — like Halloween trick-or-treat and college football bowl season.

The Nittany Lions’ next game is Saturday, Oct. 31 in Beaver Stadium, against Purdue. The Boilermakers, like Penn State, are 3-4. And are coming off a loss. And are not playing this Saturday, either.

But, unlike Penn State, they already have not just one, but two wins in the Big Ten Conference in 2026. That’s not a trick. And, very likely, playing the Boilermakers won’t be the treat for the Nittany Lions many expected a few months ago.

For Penn State and coach Matt Campbell to have their sights seriously set on a bowl appearance, they will very likely need to beat Purdue. Otherwise, they will need to get three wins in their final four regular season games — at Washington and at Locksley-less Maryland, and at home vs. Minnesota and Rutgers.

Here’s a look at the Penn State bowl outlook, more Halloween news re: Beaver Stadium and a few thoughts on a pair of college football OGs:

1. BOWL ELIGIBLE: Penn State now has five chances to win two games, go 6-6 and be bowl eligible. However, the Nittany Lions could go 5-7 and still have a shot at getting into a bowl game, if the Big Ten Conference wants/needs PSU to fill one its contracted bowl slots and no .500-or-better Big Ten teams are available — albeit an unlikely scenario.

Would Campbell & AD Pat Kraft decline a bid if they go 6-6? Again unlikely, but if they do it would come with a cost. Big Ten member schools are contractually bound to accept valid postseason bowl invitations tied to the conference’s selection arrangements. Same goes for the Big 12. Last year, after Campbell departed for Penn State, Iowa State at 8-4 was fined $500,000 by its conference for declining a bowl bid.

Either way, if Penn State qualifies, Campbell seems to be the type of human being who would want a bowl experience for his players, especially after the trials and tribulations of this season.

2. BOWL PROJECTIONS: In their most recent weekly projections, USA Today, On3 and one of ESPN’s two prognosticators (Mark Schlabach) have Penn State missing out on bowl season. Other projections:

• Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Dec. 26, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C., 3:30 p.m., ABC — vs. James Franklin and Virgina Tech (Kyle Bonagura, ESPN; Scott Dochterman, The Athletic).

• Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Dec. 26 — vs. Bill Belichick and North Carolina (CBS, and Bryan Fischer, Sports Illustrated).

• Cactus Bowl, Dec. 26, Mountain America Stadium, Tempe, Ariz., 7:30 p.m., ABC — vs. Eric Morris’ surprising Oklahoma State team (College Football News).

3. COACH TERRY: Some words from The OG of Penn State Football right about now might be reassuring for an unsettled fan base. In the spring and summer, in multiple interviews and public appearances, Terry Smith was laudatory of his new boss and the direction of Penn State football. But that was, at best, 10 weeks ago. A renewed public vote of confidence now could help quell the storm.

Smith, Penn State’s 2026 associate head coach and cornerbacks coach, was the 2025 season-saver as interim head. As such, he has built a Mount Nittany-sized tower of credibility. But he has not spoken with the press since Penn State’s local media day on Aug. 7. And it could be at least another six weeks — or more— until the football program’s most trusted member speaks on the record about the State of State.

Under Campbell, his offensive coordinator (Taylor Mouser) and defensive coordinator (D’Anton Lynn) alternate Tuesdays meeting with the media for 10-15 minutes. This is a bye week, so neither has had a press availability. Under James Franklin, on the first day of the December recruit signing period, Smith met with media in his then-role as head of recruiting for the defense. He has no such title under Campbell.

High school signing days this year are Dec. 2-4. If Penn State does go bowling, perhaps Smith will then be available. Per custom, there is a local media day after bids are announced and before the team departs for the bowl locale.

4. CAMPBELL’S OG. “Trust” is a huge word in Campbell’s coaching vocabulary — along with globally holistically, human beings and growing forward. His most trusted football assistants at Penn State are Mouser (with Campbell for 12 years), strength and conditioning director Reid Kagy (five years), general manager Derek Hoodjer (11 years) and chief of staff Skip Brabenec (15 years).

The biggest part of Campbell’s braintrust, on and off the field, at Toledo and Iowa State, was Jon Heacock. Heacock was Campbell’s defensive coordinator at Toledo, when it had a 19-6 record and shared two MAC titles in 2014-15, He then followed Campbell to Iowa State and was his DC there for all 10 seasons. Prior to working for Campbell, Heacock was the head coach at Youngstown State (60-44), the DC at Indiana and Kent State, and coached defensive backs at Purdue.

In the early days after Campbell was hired by Penn State on Dec. 5, there was a lot of talk of Heacock following him to Penn State. But it never materialized, and on Dec. 23, 66-year-old Heacock announced his retirement. (Jimmy Rogers was named the Iowa State head coach the day Campbell left Iowa State, and Rogers brought along his own DC from Washington State.)

Heacock’s son, Jace, did follow Campbell from Iowa State to Penn State, where he is a recruiting and scouting analytics coordinator. Jon still follows the PSU program — he’s liked a tweet or two of mine — and was on campus for the White Out.

Penn State’s defense has had its problems that an experienced and steady hand may have ameliorated: The second-half collapse against Wisconsin, the embarrassment of the Northwestern ground game and the inability to stop Michigan from converting Rocco Becht’s repeated mistakes into 7 points x 3.

Perhaps the elder Heacock’s daily, stable presence and wise counsel might have served Campbell and the Nittany Lion defense — and head coach’s office— well during this losing streak and public outcry about Penn State quarterbacking. There’s a great photo of Campbell and Heacock on the Iowa State sidelines that accompanied The Athletic’s story that Heacock was retiring. It says it all: Campbell is angry, flashing his teeth in a snarl, while Heacock is next to him, his headphones on, looking stoically at the field.  

5. KICK TIME TRICK OR TREAT. The 4:15 p.m. kickoff time against Purdue is the sixth different kick time in eight games for Penn State in 2026. And counting. The tally so far: noon (twice), 3:30 p.m. (twice), 4:15 p.m., 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

While the late afternoon start time may be optimal for tailgating and then still getting out of the crowded Beaver Stadium parking lots before midnight, it may negatively impact attendance — more than what is already the case, given Penn State’s victory drought.

With a noon kick, most folks could be home in time for neighborhood trick-or-treating. The 4:15 p.m. start certainly does not allow for that. State College and its surrounding municipalities do celebrate Halloween with trick-or-treating on Thursday, Oct. 29. But the vast majority of Penn State fans — not counting students, who celebrate Halloween Thursday, Friday and Saturday — come from outside Centre County.