Matt Campbell didn’t linger after Penn State’s 55-13 win over Buffalo, and that says plenty about where his head is right now.
Once the alma mater finished, the Nittany Lions’ coach took off, sprinting past the cheerleaders and disappearing into the tunnel without sticking around for the victory-bell routine or the “win cam” celebration. He’s already locked onto what comes next, and for Penn State, that means the part of the schedule that will tell the real story.
Conference play is here, and Campbell’s first year at the helm is about to get a much sharper test.
The numbers from the nonconference slate look clean enough: Penn State outscored its first three opponents 127-22. But Campbell made it clear Saturday that the record of progress is still incomplete.
“Not where we would need to be,” Campbell said when asked where his team stands heading into Big Ten play. “But I think a team that has certainly grown in different entities each week, and still a team that, in my opinion, has got so much ability and growth to go.
“We were sloppy at times in some things that were focal points for us today, and then we grew in some areas that were really critical focal points. This is college football, and I think our ability to grow from Week 3 to Week 4 will be really important.”
That growth showed up where Penn State needed it most against Buffalo: in the running game.
Coming into the game, the ground attack was still searching for answers. Carson Hansen had struggled to get rolling against Temple.
James Peoples had been used sparingly. Quinton Martin Jr., the highest-upside young runner in the mix, didn’t get any snaps at running back against the Owls.
Against Buffalo, the picture looked different. Hansen got going after a slow start.
Peoples saw more work and turned it into more production. And Martin led the team in rushing, topping 100 yards for the second time in his career.
Campbell noticed the difference in Martin’s preparation during the week, and Martin said the response started long before kickoff.
“Just extra meetings, getting on the JUGS machine. Doing more,” Martin said, when asked what changed for him.
“Because obsession is going to beat talent every time. You got to be obsessed with this to get to the level that I want.”
It was a productive day, but nobody inside the program is pretending that a 100-yard game or a 55-point outing changes what’s ahead. Wisconsin comes to State College next week for the Big Ten opener, and that is where the standard will be measured in a different way.
Linebacker Kooper Ebel, who has emerged as a vocal leader and a revelation for an elite defense, said the same thing after the win. The focus, he said, is not on the scoreboard but on the way Penn State plays.
“That starts at practice every week - what’s our standard?” Ebel said after the win.
“And our standard is, man, we’re going to run to the ball, we’re going to be physical, we’re going to do all those things. We’re doing our job.
Do your job, do your 1/11 out there on the field, and that’s when that production comes.”
So Penn State moves on from three games, through three of the 12 opportunities Campbell keeps talking about. The team has been tested, stretched and at times dominant, but the mistakes have not cost it yet.
That changes now.
With Big Ten play beginning, the margin gets thinner and every snap carries more weight. The Nittany Lions are about to find out who they are, and how much more they can become.
In Other News...
Penn State Just Got Fresh Fuel For Its Scheduling Debate
Penn States home date with Buffalo in Week 3 still drew a massive crowd by most college football standards, but the official attendance of 103,817 was the smallest at Beaver Stadium since 2019, not counting the fan-less 2020 season. It arrived at a time when the Nittany Lions non-conference schedule is already under a microscope, with plenty of noise around whether the program should be pushing harder for more demanding early-season matchups.
Matt Campbell said he has not yet discussed scheduling with the athletic director, and that sort of ambiguity only adds to a conversation that is likely to keep coming back as the sport changes. With the playoff format now expanded, future scheduling decisions may be viewed through a different lens, and Penn State is right in the middle of the debate over whether strong gate numbers are enough when the conversation turns to resume-building games. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Has A Personal Reason To Mourn Ernie Accorsi
Penn State has another familiar NFL tie to reflect on with the death of Ernie Accorsi at 84, a longtime league executive whose influence stretched well beyond the front office. Before his work as general manager of the Giants, Colts and Browns made him one of footballs most respected builders, Accorsi had already left his mark in State College as a Penn State player, a connection that gives his passing a more personal weight for the program.
Accorsis football life was defined by the kind of moves that changed franchises, from helping bring Tom Coughlin to New York to helping set up the draft-day path to Eli Manning. The Giants later credited him with helping shape their 2007 Super Bowl run, and his place in multiple halls of fame reflects how widely he was admired across the sport, including by those who knew him long before his NFL fame. [Read more 🡒]
Chase Sowells Path To Penn State Says Plenty About Matt Campbell
Chase Sowells decision to head to Penn State says as much about Matt Campbell as it does about the wide receivers own priorities. According to Sowells father, the receiver passed on bigger money from other schools, including Florida, to play for Campbell, a detail that fits the larger picture around this move. Campbell has long carried a reputation for building real trust with his players, and Penn State looks to be benefiting from that pull.
The Nittany Lions have already seen plenty of Iowa State players follow Campbell to State College, a sign that the coachs influence travels well beyond one roster. For Penn State, that kind of loyalty matters because it can help make a transition feel less like a reset and more like a continuation of something already established. Sowells path adds another layer to that trend, even if the full impact of the move will take time to sort out. [Read more 🡒]