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Penn State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser could finally breathe a sigh of relief after the Nittany Lions' performance against Purdue last week. The offense put up 31 points—a season-best in Big Ten play—and engineered four touchdown drives spanning 65 yards or more.
Mouser remarked that Penn State "looked like a real football team" and emphasized the significance of securing the program's first Power 4 victory of the season. "When you say desperate, I would say that I was desperate," Mouser admitted. "When you're not winning here, and you're not living up to the standard, you feel like you're letting a lot more people down than just the players, the coaches. The alumni here, those people built the standard here that you have to live up to. And when you don't do it, you're letting everybody down."
The offense thrived despite missing its top two receivers, Chase Sowell and Koby Howard, who account for 43.5 percent of the team's receiving yards combined. Mouser may need to get creative again on Saturday at Washington, where the Nittany Lions could be without three receivers. Zay Robinson joined Howard and Sowell on the midweek availability report and is listed as questionable for the game against the Huskies. Sowell is probable after sitting out the Purdue game.
If all three are unavailable, Penn State would be without nearly 1,000 yards of receiving production, plus its primary punt returner in Robinson. That scenario would place significant stress on quarterback Rocco Becht and receiver Brett Eskildsen, who have yet to recapture their Iowa State connection. It would also encourage the Huskies to load the box against Penn State's rejuvenated run game and challenge Becht to beat them through the air.
On the road, that hasn't been Becht's strong suit. The quarterback has committed five of his six turnovers in Big Ten road games at Northwestern and Michigan. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumble at Michigan that directly led to the Wolverines' 21 points and subsequent calls for his job. Penn State coach Matt Campbell said Becht's "veteranness" has positioned the offense well despite his miscues. Without one, two, or three of his leading targets, Becht will lean on his veteran status even more.
"He was masterful on Saturday night [against Purdue]," Campbell said on the Penn State Coaches Show. "I think you saw him at his best with consistently putting us in really positive situations, whether it was the run game or the pass game, having the ability to give us the best advantage for us to be successful. I think that's the greatest thing about Rocco at this point of his career. It's almost like having an offensive coordinator on the field, his ability to not only execute the plays but put us in great situations to be successful, and I thought he was fantastic on Saturday."
Who Can Help Becht at Washington?
Cam Wallace's breakthrough game, led by a rejuvenated offensive line, made Becht's life much easier against Purdue. Wallace likely will get his second straight start after rushing for 135 yards against the Boilermakers. However, Washington now has film of Wallace, along with Penn State's adjusted blocking schemes. Mouser devised a solid offensive gameplan against Purdue that will be difficult to repeat, particularly if the receivers are limited.
Campbell is sending clear signals that Howard won't play. He said the receiver was "very limited" at practice this week and continues to reference him being "100 percent" before playing again. Sowell sounds much more likely to play after missing the Purdue game. He took over as Penn State's explosive-play receiver when Howard got hurt, generating five of the team's seven pass plays of 25+ yards in Big Ten play.
Robinson's potential absence is a wild card. He has just four receptions in Big Ten play and hasn't evolved into the big-play threat Campbell projected him to be before the season. However, he's still a receiver who could be a pressure valve for Becht, particularly in the play-action game the Nittany Lions want to run. Likewise Eskildsen, who has just one Big Ten reception of 25+ yards. Becht tried to throw deep three times to Eskildsen last week, leading to three incompletions (one on a contested pass interference).
"You feel like we're getting healthier at wide receiver when you're hopefully getting Koby and Chase back and they're getting better at practice," Mouser said Tuesday before the first availability report of the week. "Seeing those guys run around [could] open some pass lanes, because if you can't run the ball, then you're going to see a lot of two-high [safeties] stuff, and it makes it really, really hard to be able to run the ball because there's more people in the box. So when you're able to do that, you feel like you're able to free up some stuff. And we want to be a play-action pass team and be able to move Rocco and things like that."