Penn State left the bye week with a much cleaner look, and the 31-17 win over Purdue came with a few clear signs that the Nittany Lions are starting to sort themselves out. The defense was sharper, the run game finally had a spark, and the special teams still managed to leave a mess behind.
The biggest bounce-back came on defense. After a season that has swung wildly from dominant to shaky, Penn State put together one of its best efforts of the year against a Purdue passing attack that entered the weekend ranked fourth in the Big Ten at 280.7 passing yards per game.
The Nittany Lions held the Boilermakers to 175 total yards and just 33 on the ground, both their lowest totals since 2023. Purdue managed only 32 yards on 22 plays in the second half, and Penn State’s pass rush showed up with six quarterback hurries, including two apiece from Caleb Bacon and Alexander McPherson.
That kind of performance looked a lot more like the defense Penn State thought it had early in the year. Through the non-conference slate, the first-team unit had allowed only one touchdown, and for a stretch it looked like that side of the ball could carry the Nittany Lions toward a College Football Playoff berth.
Then came the fourth quarter against Wisconsin, when Penn State gave up 208 yards and started struggling to get the kind of stop it had been living on earlier in the season. Against Purdue, though, the defense looked far more stable.
On offense, the surprise name was Wallace. The redshirt junior wasn’t the player most people expected to headline the day, but he took over with 135 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, while also adding nine yards on three catches.
It was a huge leap for a player who had previously carried the ball 22 times this season. More than two years after breaking both legs on one play, Wallace doubled that workload in one afternoon and gave Penn State’s ground game the burst it had been missing.
His impact was hard to ignore. Wallace’s 135 rushing yards topped what the entire running back room produced against Michigan and USC combined, when the group finished with 134.
He also now owns two of Penn State’s four longest runs of the season, with gains of 48 and 59 yards. If that kind of production keeps coming, it changes the feel of the offense in a hurry.
There was also a rougher note in the secondary for Zayas, who has otherwise been one of the more dependable pieces in the nickel spot. He has already flashed with plays like his one-handed leaping interception against Michigan and his one-handed pick-6 against Wisconsin, but Purdue found a crack.
On the Boilermakers’ only offensive touchdown, Zayas was beaten deep, drew a pass interference call and allowed a strange-looking score. He had also been targeted earlier in that drive, which turned into a 38-yard completion.
In all, he gave up two catches for 71 yards and a touchdown across four plays. He settled in after that, but it was one of the first clear hiccups in his young career.
Special teams, meanwhile, remains a problem area that Penn State probably hoped would be a strength. That was supposed to be a reliable unit after a season of major roster turnover, especially with head coach Matt Campbell giving up part of his office for it. Instead, the Nittany Lions have fallen to 91st in special teams efficiency after leading the nation in that category last year, according to ESPN’s College Football Power Index.
Barker was one of the offseason’s most underrated additions, and his track record made that move look smart. He was tied for the best field-goal percentage in the FBS in 2025 at 94.7 percent, and his career mark of 89.2 percent was the highest in program history.
But this season has been a different story. Barker is now at 84.9 percent for his Penn State career, and he went 12-for-16 this year after missing two against Purdue, including one from 55 yards.
Punting hasn’t helped much either. Nathan Tiyce is averaging 40.8 yards per attempt, which ranks 10th in the Big Ten, and while he has shown some leg with punts of 54, 55 and 60 yards, the consistency just hasn’t been there.
Then came the low point: a blocked punt returned for a touchdown after a protection failure by redshirt senior Dom Rulli. It was the first special teams score Penn State had allowed since 2019, ending a stretch of 97 games without one. The Nittany Lions did answer earlier with a fake field goal on fourth-and-7, but the overall special teams picture still looks shaky.
In Other News...
Penn State Players Just Got Pat Krafts Message Before Washington
Penn State players walked into a familiar kind of week with a new reminder from above. In the wake of James Franklins firing, athletic director Pat Kraft gave the team Own the outcome T-shirts, a simple message meant to keep the focus on what comes next as the Nittany Lions prepare for Washington.
Kraft has been unusually visible around the football program, showing up at games and making his support for players hard to miss. With the season moving on and the next test already waiting, the message was less about the past than the responsibility that still sits in front of the locker room. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Could Still Shape The CFP Race In A Frustrating Way
Penn States season has already taken a sharp turn from the expectations that followed an AP preseason ranking of No. 18. A four-game losing streak pushed the Nittany Lions to 4-4 before they steadied themselves with a win over Purdue in Week 9, and now the path ahead looks a little more manageable than the one they just navigated.
That softer finish matters beyond State College, because an 8-4 Penn State team could still end up shaping the College Football Playoff conversation in a frustrating way. USC, ranked No. 20 in the first CFP rankings, has its own rsum-building stretch ahead with games against Indiana and UCLA, and a 9-3 Trojans finish would look a lot better if it includes a win over Penn State. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Still Has A Koby Howard Problem Fans Didn't Expect
Koby Howards season has become one of the quieter frustrations around Penn State, and it is starting to linger well past the point when anyone expected a second-year wide receiver to be back in the mix. Howard has been sidelined since Week 3 with an undisclosed injury, and by Week 10 he still had not returned to game action. Head coach Matt Campbell has said Howards work in practice has been very limited, which is never a promising sign this far into the fall.
The uncertainty is the part that stings most for Penn State, because this is no longer a short-term absence with a clean timetable attached. Howard has been listed as questionable for upcoming games, but the available signs point to a recovery that is moving slowly, if it is moving at all. For a team that expected to have him available by now, the wait has turned into a real roster concern. [Read more 🡒]