Penn State’s Matt Campbell Praises His Offensive Coordinator: ‘It Wasn’t the Plays’

The Penn State running game has been taking a pounding — on and off the field, and all over social media — two games into coach Matt Campbell’s regime. On Tuesday, Campbell said don’t point your finger at his offensive coordinator, Taylor Mouser.

“Now you’ve got to make me say something nice about Mouse,” said Campbell, who brought Mouser with him when he came from Iowa State. “I think Mouse has done a really good job. Even on Saturday, it wasn’t the plays — it was the execution and the detail. Those are things that we just have to be better.

“Again, I think you see the first play of the game, then you’re a hair off on a couple of the next four. It wasn’t the plays, it was the execution and the detail of the plays…I think Mouse has done a great job.”

Penn State (2-0) is ranked No. 14 in the country and plays host to Buffalo (1-1) of the Mid-American Conference at noon on Saturday in Beaver Stadium. It will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. PSU is a 39.5-point favorite.

Buffalo lost 33-20 last week at Florida International. Penn State, after a slow start, defeated Temple 27-9 at The Linc in Philadelphia. The Nittany Lions ran for 148 yards, with a 3.9-yard per carry average, against the Owls and have been under criticism for a running backs rotation that is heavy on Iowa State transfer Carson Henson.

WHAT CAMPBELL SAID: Here are six takeaways from Campbell’s press conference in the Beaver Stadium media room on Tuesday:

1. I’VE HEARD. Veteran reporter Mark Brennan got the presser off to a light-hearted start, when he made a subtle reference to Virginia Tech coach James Franklin’s repetitive “Hey, Michael” at his Hokies press conference on Monday.

Brennan (wearing Philadelphia Eagles garb): “Hey Matt, how are you today?”

Campbell (good friend with Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni): “I see, good Eagles. I like it, I like it.”

Brennan: “My, ‘How are you today’ was a little bit of a joke.”

Campbell (mic drop): “I’ve heard.”

2. INJURY UPDATE. TE Gabe Burkle and LB Alex Tatsch, back in action last week vs. Temple, should play more snaps on Saturday. DT should be deeper, with the return of Aklijah Carnell and Armstrong Nnodium. DT Dallas Vakalahi is “just coming back into his own,” Campbell said. LB Cam Smith is questionable. Campbell: “Tatsch did play. Got about 20 reps in the game, which was really good. Gabe Burkle played, which was

really good to have him back.”

3. ADVERSITY. Penn State trailed 3-0 early vs. Temple, and had major troubles in the red zone on its first three drives. A key long scoring drive to end the second quarter put Penn State up 13-3 at the half. Campbell, citing a familiar refrain: “As I’ve said before, we’re going to play a bad quarter, play a bad half. It’s going to happen. How you respond to that is indicative of the team you become. The negative is we had it. The positive is we responded to it. Now how do you grow forward to understand those things can’t happen again? That’s a challenge to the coaches and obviously our players.”

4. ENDING D-END WOES. The season-ending loss of DE Max Granville was a crushing blow to the Nittany Lions, especially at a position where they were not the strongest. Campbell praised the play of DE’s Yvan Kemajou, Caleb Bacon and Alex McPherson, and said the following three players will be part of the DE rotation: Jackson Ford, Liam Andrew and Ike Ezegu. Campbell: “It’s really tough losing a guy like Max. More than what his capability and high-end ceiling is, it’s what he’s already been through. You lose a season. That guy, nobody worked harder to get back and be on the field. That’s a gut punch. It was a gut punch for our staff, for him.”

5. PROPS FOR THE DEFENSE. Penn State has allowed just nine points through two games, and its 4.5 points against per game average ranks tied for No. 1 in the country. Campbell praised the play of young cornerbacks Daryus Dixon and Jahmir Joseph, and lauded the work of veteran linebacker Tony Rojas, who had an interception against the Owls (and old teammate, current Temple QB Jaxon Smolik). Campbell: “When you say your A-players make A-plays, Tony has made A-plays the last two weeks. I’m so proud of Tony because it’s hard to be injured and come back from injury, I don’t care who you are, how talented you are…To see him play the way he has the last two weeks has been a great lift for our entire defense and certainly for our football team.”

6. SPECIAL TEAMS. Campbell is often a man of few speaking notes and short opening statements. So it’s noteworthy that he began the presser on Tuesday giving shout-outs to two groups who will be acknowledged during Saturday’s game — THON and the 1986 Penn State national champion football team.

Campbell: This will be “a meaningful weekend this weekend for us, honoring some important things in our community, especially the Penn State community. First, it’s THON Weekend — which obviously for me, being a part of this community this past year, one of the most powerful events I got to take part in was honoring the THON community. The work they have been doing has been unbelievably impressive. What a great tradition. Two, the 1986 team, it’s their 40-year reunion. So many of those guys were back this past offseason. To be having a great group coming in this weekend means a lot to our football program. Really excited for both of those groups.”