Penn State left Philadelphia with a road win over Temple, but the ground game never really found its stride.
The first quarter set the tone. In the red zone, James Peoples and Carson Hansen handled three straight rushing plays, and all three came up short before the offense stalled on fourth down. That sequence fit the larger problem for Penn State’s backs: even when the looks were there, the production never quite matched.
The coaching staff had entered the season with the idea that four running backs could all play meaningful snaps. Instead, the rotation has settled into something more familiar, with Carson Hansen as the lead back and Peoples behind him.
Through two weeks, that setup still hasn’t produced the kind of run game Penn State wants. Hansen and Peoples still haven’t scored a touchdown this season.
Hansen finished with 84 yards and a 4.4-yard average per carry, but his afternoon started slowly before he worked his numbers back up. After the game, he pointed to the details that separate a decent run from a drive-changing one, mentioning stiff arms and beating arm tackles as areas that need cleaning up. In the moment, though, he said his focus is simply on “getting downhill.”
“I need to be able to break some of those tackles in the red zone,” Hansen said. “I’ve got to hold myself accountable for this and have urgency this week to be able to break tackles and go for long runs.”
Hansen also took responsibility in a subdued postgame moment, swaying side to side as he spoke. He said offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser tries to put the blame on himself, but Hansen pushed that back and framed the issue as one of “coming together as a team.”
Peoples was more efficient on paper, averaging six yards per carry for 42 yards, and at one point in the fourth quarter he was up to 7.6 yards per carry. Even so, the inconsistency showed up in the box score, with three of his seven carries going for three yards or fewer.
Tight end Benjamin Brahmer wasn’t interested in spreading blame. His message was simple: Hansen needs more work in practice and has to “hammer away” at it.
“Carson runs the ball really well. He's never going to lose yards for us.
He's always in the gap one, two, three, four yards,” Brahmer said. “We know we can do good in that aspect of the game.”
Hansen said he and Peoples keep pushing each other every day in practice, and that the competition between them is constant. The results haven’t fully shown up yet, but Hansen said the work is there and the response has to come this week.
“We have to have a better start off the rip and be able to finish in the red zone,” Hansen said. “I know we can do it.
I believe that we can do it. So, we're gonna fix it this week and be ready for Buffalo.”
In Other News...
Former Penn State Departures Are Already Becoming A Virginia Tech Problem
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Becht completed 21 of 27 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns, the kind of efficient debut that can change the tone of an entire offense. Brahmer added five catches for 78 yards and two scores, and the supporting cast of newcomers helped Penn State look deeper and more settled than a team still learning itself. The bigger question now is not whether the transfers can help, but how quickly this group can become the backbone of a season with higher ambitions still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States 2-0 Start Comes With One Big Defensive Concern
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The one concern hanging over the football side is a significant one. Head coach Matt Campbell said defensive end Max Granville suffered a season-ending injury, a blow that immediately changes the outlook for a defense that had just started to build momentum. Even with the ranking bump and the rest of the program stacking wins, Penn State now has to figure out how to absorb a major loss up front and keep the early surge on track. [Read more 🡒]