There’s No Catch to Koby Howard’s Success at Penn State: It’s All About Hard Work

The numbers that Penn State wide receiver Koby Howard has put up in the initial three games of the 2026 season are mind-boggling. So is the work that has gone into making them happen.

THE STATS: In the 14th-ranked, 3-0 Nittany Lions’ trio of non-conference games, the second-year receiver has 13 touches for 364 yards, an average of 28.0 yards per play, and three touchdowns.

THE WORK/Penn State head coach Matt Campbell: “I know I have talked about this a lot with Koby. None of this has surprised me because of how I’ve watched him work. Even tomorrow morning, he’ll be the first guy in the facility and probably beat three-fourths of the coaching staff. And he’s catching the Jugs [machine]. He’s that kind of football player who has this conviction” — Campbell made a fist — “to be great. There’s a difference between good intentions, which get you beat, and elite intentionality in your process, and Koby is a guy who lives that.

THE STATS: Against an outmanned Buffalo squad in Penn State’s 55-13 victory on Saturday in Beaver Stadium, Howard’s first half looked like this: Three catches for 115 yards, including a 70-yarder for a TD, and a 20-yard reverse that he ran in for another TD. Howard didn’t touch the ball in the second half; he didn’t need to.

THE WORK/Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht: “It’s definitely awesome to have a guy like Koby out wide. We have a lot of top guys, but Koby’s a little different — he’s able to go out there and make plays probably when they’re not supposed to be made. So, I have all the trust in him and he has trust in me. He’s continuing to dominate practice and in the games…he’s the first one in the building and he’s the last one out. He’s thriving in every aspect of the facility, whether that’s the training room, nutrition, he’s continuing to grow in everything.”

THE STATS: Overall in 2026, Howard has 12 receptions for 344 yards, for an eye-popping 28.67-yard per catch average. Compare that to college football’s two biggest names at wide receiver, through their initial three games: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith is averaging 19.7 yards per reception, while Miami’s Malachi Toney is averaging 15.9 yards per catch.

THE WORK/Fellow Penn State wide receiver Zay Robinson: “Koby does the hard work. He’s put in so much work prior to this year. And he has a lot to prove. And he’s showing that every snap.”

THE STATS: Talk about power(foot)ball numbers. Here are Howard’s 12 receptions this season, by yardage: 42 (TD), 23, 16, 42, 12, 26, 56, 8, 4, 31, 14, 70.

THE WORK/Howard: “With anything, if you put your mind to it and you work for it, you can do anything you want to do. That’s something I’ve been trying to prove this year. I’m trying to prove I’m an explosive receiver.”

THE STATS: In the 2025 season, Howard didn’t get his first reception until after head coach James Franklin was fired. Interim head coach Terry Smith, a former Nittany Lion star wide receiver and captain, knew what he had in Howard, who started the final four games of last season. Howard’s 2025 stats: 7 catches, 119 yards. Average reception: 19.0 yards. Three of his catches were for 20-plus yards, against Ohio State (26), Indiana (27) and Nebraska (22). This was on a team that averaged just 10.8 yards per reception in 2025.

THE WORK/Howard: The 2025 season “didn’t feel great. It was definitely a learning moment. I feel God put me through that to learn patience. Everything isn’t going to go the way I planned or I’m not going to get the ball all the time…I know I was working, but I knew I had to work harder, I didn’t want to go through the same thing as last year.” 

THE STATS: The Penn State record for average yards per reception in a season is held by Joe Jurevicius, at 21.1 yards per catch in 1996. Jurevicius is No. 2 on the same list, at 20.95 yards per catch in 1997. Reminder: Howard is at 28.67. Big Ten Conference play begins next Saturday against Wisconsin.

THE WORK/Howard: “When the games come, I want to show my hard work off.”