Penn State knows what it has seen from Koby Howard. The wider concern now is Alex Tatsch, because his injury has turned into the kind of uncertain situation that can linger well beyond one missed game.
Matt Campbell said Tuesday that Howard will not be back for Week 7, leaving Penn State without its most dynamic playmaker for a fourth straight game. But Campbell also gave an update on two young linebackers, and the contrast was stark: Cam Smith is “working back into practice this week,” while for Tatsch, who got hurt in practice last week before the 31-23 loss to USC, “we still don’t know” how long he’ll be out.
Smith’s return would at least give Penn State another body in a thin linebacker room. In Week 6, the team used only three off-ball linebackers - Tony Rojas, Kooper Ebel, and Cael Brezina - and Smith could do more than simply rejoin the mix. He has enough buzz around him to potentially push Ebel, who has struggled since the start of Big Ten play.
Tatsch is the bigger long-term question. He has been projected as the future green-dot MIKE linebacker since flashing as a true freshman last year, and this is exactly the sort of season where Penn State needs answers. With three losses already, the playoff picture is gone, and the rest of the year becomes about evaluation.
That matters for Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer, who are trying to reshape a roster that was assembled quickly after leaving Iowa State late in the process. They also have a thin 2026 recruiting class, which makes finding certainty wherever they can even more valuable. If Alex Manske ends up taking over at quarterback, or if Tatsch proves he can handle the MIKE spot next season, those are the kinds of outcomes that help Penn State avoid spending money and resources on problems it can solve internally.
The issue is that the MIKE job is too important to hand out without confidence. It sits in the same broad category as quarterback in terms of importance, even if it is not quite on that level. If Tatsch cannot prove he can handle it, Penn State may have to keep searching.
From a talent standpoint, a healthy Tatsch gives the defense more than Ebel does. He had been working mostly as a SAM linebacker in 4-3 looks, but with Ebel struggling the last two weeks, there’s a clear opening to try Tatsch at MIKE if he is available.
That would have given Penn State something valuable: a chance to see whether Tatsch can handle the mental side of the position under first-year defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn. If the injury drags on, that evaluation gets pushed back. And unlike Tatsch, the staff already knows what it has in Howard - when he is healthy, he is great.
Howard will still matter plenty when it comes to sorting out the offense, especially if Campbell eventually turns to Manske in place of Rocco Becht. Even with Becht still in the picture, Howard helps everything else fit more naturally in the passing game and gives Campbell and OC Taylor Mouser a better read on which receivers should be back next year to complement him.
For this season, though, Howard’s absence and Tatsch’s injury are being measured for different reasons. Howard changes games right now.
Tatsch may shape what Penn State looks like next year. And that makes the murky timeline around Tatsch the more unsettling one.
In Other News...
Penn State Still Feels The Fallout From One Costly Decision
Penn States coaching change in October 2025 set off a stretch of uncertainty that still shapes how the program is being judged today. James Franklin was dismissed after a third straight Big Ten loss, and what followed was a 54-day search that eventually landed on Matt Campbell. The move gave the Nittany Lions a fresh start on the sideline, but it also came with the kind of scrutiny that never really disappears once a high-profile job opens up.
The process drew plenty of attention along the way, including interest in Bob Chesney and Kalani Sitake, and it has only sharpened the conversation around athletic director Pat Krafts decisions. Penn State opened the next season 3-0, but the losses that followed knocked the team out of College Football Playoff contention and left the program dealing with the bigger question of whether the right call was made when the search finally ended. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Used White Out Weekend To Turn Up Recruiting Pressure
White Out weekend has long been Penn States best stage for making a first impression, and this years recruiting version leaned hard into that advantage. More than 100 prospects came through campus, giving the staff a chance to showcase the atmosphere to a group that included most of the 2027 class and several highly regarded 2028 players. Eighteen of the 22 committed players in that 2027 group were on hand, a useful sign for a class that is currently ranked No. 20 nationally.
The event also gave Penn State a chance to keep pushing ahead while the calendar still has room to shift. Along with hosting the visitors, the program handed out new offers to players in the 2028, 2029 and 2030 classes, widening the board while the buzz from the weekend was still fresh. For a staff that knows how much the White Out setting can matter, the message was clear: the pressure is on now, long before these recruiting battles reach the finish line. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Suddenly Has A Defensive Problem It Cant Ignore
Penn States defense hit a rough patch in Week 6, and Marcus Neal Jr. ended up at the center of it. The Iowa State transfer safety was benched after struggling in coverage during Big Ten play, a reminder that the Lions portal-heavy approach does not always come with instant answers, especially when the schedule tightens and the margins get smaller.
Neal is not the only former Cyclone who has had trouble settling in. Linebackers Kooper Ebel and Jeremiah Cooper have also underperformed, with tackling and coverage issues becoming part of the conversation. For a defense that wants to stay dependable deep into conference play, the question now is whether Penn State needs to lean less on some of those Iowa State transfers and give younger options a bigger look. [Read more 🡒]